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Arcadian Short Films (2012-2016)

After the unexpected success of “Bloodwood Cannibals,” I wrote a few more screenplays and tried to sell them or get funding to produce them locally with my production company Arcadian Entertainment.

A Midsummer Nightmare

One of those screenplays, “A Midsummer Nightmare”, generated a lot of interest due to its dark take on Shakespeare. I decided to make a prequel short film to help sell the story.

A Midsummer Nightmare – The Betrayal

ToXin

During the long post-production phase of “A Midsummer Nightmare,” I wanted to do another quickie action short like my earlier film “DASH”. So I teamed up with my friend and frequent collaborator L. Jeffery Moore to make “ToXin”.

Toxin

Dream Raiders – Mission Zero

For several years, I worked on the story and conceptual art for a sci-fi series called “Dream Raiders”. The short “Mission Zero” was meant to introduce the series in an exciting way. Looking back, it was one of my weaker films because I was too focused on creating visual spectacle and not on telling a good story.

Dead Drunk

I was itching to make a comedy film, so when actress Cat Campbell pitched the concept of “drunks vs zombies”, I could’t resist. We wrote the script in an afternoon (while drunk) and filmed it in one day (with drunk actors). Fortunately, a sober crew kept things moving smoother than you’d expect.

Dead Drunk

Terminal Glitch

I was writing articles and reviews for Videomaker Magazine, and for one review they loaned me a high-end 4k camera (the exact model escapes me). I wanted to film something a little more interesting than the usual test footage, so I called up some friends for a quick weekend shoot of one of my short sci-fi stories.

Terminal Glitch

What’s next…

“Terminal Glitch” was the last short I directed before getting engaged and teaching at Butte College. In 2018, I was working on a dark comedy called “The Petsitter”, but then the Camp Fire struck.

Although I love making movies, my focus is now on Design and earning my Media Design MFA.

Inspiration from Video Copilot creator Andrew Kramer

“Go in the direction of what you love doing because people take notice of passionate people and of people who work hard.” Andrew Kramer, 2014

When I first starting using Adobe After Effects, I watched every online tutorial I could find. Some of the best came from a website called Video Copilot. Andrew Kramer imparted technical knowledge with wit and humor, educating and entertaining a generation of indie fx artists and motion designers.

Kramer’s skills and passion for his craft soon caught the attention of filmmaker J.J. Abrams, who commissioned Kramer to create titles for Star Trek and other Bad Robot productions.

Andrew Kramer was the keynote speaker at the 2014 AE World Conference. I found his speech to be both inspirational and entertaining.

Cited:

Video Copilot. (2014, Oct. 4). AE WORLD: Andrew Kramer Keynote Speech (FULL) [Video file]. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6KBZj0nHCDw

Bloodwood Cannibals

After moving to Northern California, I spent many days hiking in the beautiful forests and mountains. I had the rough idea for a survival horror film, and over time I found several locations that were perfect for the story.

“Bloodwood” was about the disappearance of a documentary film crew, so we made a few online episodes of “Hunting the Unknown” to introduce the characters.

Hunting the Unknown

Hunting the Unknown – episode 1 – Hunting the Chupacabra
Hunting the Unknown – episode 2 – Hunting the Garberville Ghosts
Hunting the Unknown – episode 1 – Hunting the Jersey Devil
Hunting the Unknown – Dave vs the Electric Fence

With a borrowed camera and a minimal cast / crew (most people had multiple roles), we started production on “Bloodwood”.

Just Add Cannibals

It wasn’t the most original idea… just a fun, goofy horror that I expected almost nobody to see. Bloodwood was meant to be practice and a chance to grow as a filmmaker. But after screening at a few horror film festivals, it was picked up for distribution by Eagle One Media.

Their only change was the addition of “Cannibals” to the title, so audiences would know what the movie’s about. Bloodwood Cannibals was sold on DVD across the world and later online.

Bloodwood Cannibals trailer

In 2014, Bloodwood Cannibals was picked up by “Masters of Horror”. It now has almost four million views on Youtube, though I’m pretty sure not everyone watched it all the way through.

Bloodwood Cannibals full length horror movie

After Bloodwood

Many of the people I met on Bloodwood (I still think of it by that title) became frequent collaborators in the next phase of my film-making life. We spent many days covered in dirt, sweat, and fake blood… and we had a blast doing it.

The Early Videos

Most of my early home movies were lost in the fire, but fortunately most of my video shorts survive on Youtube.

This first post contains the short films I made while living in LA from 1999-2005.

The Cypher

This is the first short I wrote and directed after college. At the time I was acting but felt typecast in “nerd” roles. I thought the role of Danny, an autistic code-breaker, would help me break out of the mold.

Youtube had a 10 minute time limit for videos when I first uploaded The Cypher, so it had to be divided into three parts.

The Cypher, part 1
The Cypher part 2
The Cypher part 3

AKIRA: The Fan Trailer

Halfway through making The Cypher, I met filmmaker Juan Avilez. We are both huge anime fans, so we decided to collaborate on a live action fan film to honor AKIRA.

AKIRA live action fan trailer

Fallen Sky

Fallen Sky was an ambitious fantasy script inspired by my fiction and artwork. We shot several scenes but I was unable to finish the short after losing access to one of the key locations. It was a huge learning experience, and I used the footage to create a trailer for the unfinished film.

Fallen Sky preview

DASH

I wrote DASH because I wanted to direct an action short that could be completed in a few days. It’s the first of three short films that feature a protagonist racing against a deadline… what I call my “Running Man trilogy”.

DASH

After LA

I left Los Angeles in 2005 to teach English in Thailand and tour southeast Asia. When I returned to the United States in 2006, I settled in the town of Paradise in Northern California.

While working as Media Specialist for the Butte College Foundation, I continued acting in local theater and started planning my first feature film.