Tag: filmmaking

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.