"Battle not with monsters lest ye become a monster; and if you gaze into the abyss, the abyss gazes into you." - Friedrich Nietzsche "It's like, how much more black could this be? ... and the answer is none. None more black." - Nigel Tufnel, This is Spinal Tap From the sublime to the ridiculous: musings on horror, movies, indie filmmaking, digital technology and general weird stuff.
Some random tidbits from the corners of my mind: We Need to Talk About Kevin - a tremendously effective and masterfully controlled thriller and the best use of the color red since Suspiria. Boss may just be the 2nd best show on tv right now (behind Breaking Bad of course), too bad no one's watching. JESSE: "Vamanos." SKYLER: "I wish..." Two characters summed up beautifully in one off-handed…
It's every film maker's worst nightmare. The lights go up, an uncomfortable silence envelopes the theater. A moderator walks to the front, microphone in hand. "Let's talk about the film you've just seen" he says, innocently enough, and unleashes from the audience a chain reaction of hate-filled vitriol, all aimed squarely at your baby - your carefully crafted, defenseless little speck of a film.…
The life of an indie filmmaker is one of fits and starts: you have a flash of inspiration; you carefully and lovingly coax that spark into a fully formed idea; you motivate your friends and colleagues to join you in making this dream a reality; you toil through the process of production and post production; you do the dance of the press and film festival circuit and then... Well then, your real…
Thanks a lot Oscar nominators - you wrangled 10 bucks out of my pocket. Oh yeah, Golden Globes, you didn't help much either. And to all you Yahoo! movie reviewers who gave this 4 1/2 stars - I'll see you in HELL! After all the buildup and buzz, I felt I finally needed to see The Artist . You know, on that one night out in like 6 months when I actually get to see something in the theater that…
Ok folks, I don't ask for much and I rarely beg, but I just got this email, so hopefully y'all can help me out: "Dear Todd, With two days left we wanted you to know that your film "Enter The Dark" is only 12 purchases away from being in second place in the Social Shorty Contest. In other words, if 12 of your friends purchase your film for $1 each, you will be in second place and you could win t he…
Since it's February, I thought now would be the perfect time to post my year-end best of list. You know, to beat out all the competition from the rest of those other bloggers and get my list out first to show how smart I am and stuff. Oops. Truth be told, it's just too dang difficult to get my arse out to the theaters and see new flicks as they premiere. With two young kids in my house, I'm lucky…
After more than a year and almost 40 festival screenings , Enter the Dark 's World Tour 2010 - 2011 is finally at an end. It's been a great experience and I've learned quite a few things that will help me as I move forward with new projects. I figured I might as well pass along some of these hard-earned nuggets to anyone who dares venture forth into the world of indie filmmaking. First, in order…
When I'm not scaring myself silly with new story ideas or ranting about media wackiness, I actually have a real job (sort of) as video editor. Outside magazine recently posted a short film "Rhinos' Flight" I edited for the series "The New Environmentalists." Check out the story of Raoul du Toit , working to save the last of Africa's black rhinos. To see the whole six-part series, narrated by…
Happy Halloween! To celebrate the day when the dead walk amongst the living, I've posted my award-winning horror short film, Enter the Dark on YouTube and Vimeo for all to enjoy absolutely free. Just make sure to watch it fullscreen. At night. With the lights off! Then, if you liked what you saw, you could help me out tremendously by heading over to our facebook page and "liking" us (I know, that…
It's been a great run. My little horror film which started out originally as a simple exercise in micro-budget filmmaking has now played in over 30 film festivals worldwide , garnered 6 awards , and introduced me to a whole new family of horror and indie film enthusiasts. Along the way, I've traveled with the film from it's premiere in Chicago last year, to screenings in Sacramento and San…
We are living in turbulent times my friends. Most of us live under a cloud of uncertainty - an omnipresent gloom that permeates every waking moment. How will I pay my rent? Keep my house? Find a job? What happens if I get sick? What kind of a world will my kids live in? How will our country move forward into these uncertain times without fracturing into a million splinter groups of special…
So, it's been a while since I posted about my little bundle of cinematic chills - or about anything for that matter. Seems like "real life" has been taking most of my time lately. My day job as freelance video editor has finally picked up again and since I've been quite slow the past two years, it's been time to simply bear down and bank some coin. This is good since it means I can continue to do…
Remember those halcyon days when the web was abuzz with the idea that a dedicated writer could wax poetic on their blog and actually get paid for it... The two main sources of income usually presented were Google Adsense and Amazon Associates. Google Adsense is responsible for some of the ads you see down the right side of my page. Most times they actually have some relevance to my content. In the…
I woke up last week to a brand new world. The business I had grown and nurtured for more than a decade was changed overnight . Steve Jobs decided that I no longer mattered. I've been editing for most of my life. I started out on a CMX 3600, cutting videos on BetaSP and D2 tape. Actually, strike that... I really started out splicing Super8 film in my bedroom, then moved on to VHS tape to tape…
So I was in Vegas recently, and while I was there I was stopped not once, but twice by strangers who wanted to comment on the shirt I was wearing. I happened to be sporting my Black Country Communion t-shirt. Who are Black Country Communion you say? Shame... Shame on you for not knowing. Well, actually it's not that surprising. Black Country Communion are a super-group of sorts, fronted by Joe…
... you know, like, "San Francisco needs another film festival like it needs another hole in the head." Except in this case, San Francisco really needs this festival, because this is the only bay area film fest that celebrates horror, sci-fi, exploitation and general wackiness. And y'all are invited to attend two weeks of mayhem from June 3 to June 16 at the Roxie Theater in the happening Mission…
You probably haven't heard of Chauntal Lewis yet. Hopefully, that will soon change. I was lucky enough to work with her on the indie film, The Commune. She recently took some time off her busy schedule to do this interview with me for Horror Society. Take a sec to read about her inspirational story:
I've been so fortunate with the success that Enter the Dark has had so far: screenings around the world, great reviews and multiple awards. More importantly, people really seem to respond to it and have encouraged me to keep going. And therein lies the problem. That dreaded sophomore slump. It's time to start writing the next one. With Enter the Dark , my main goal was simply to finally finish…
I was worried. You see - with all the buzz surrounding the new film by James Wan ( Saw ), I thought maybe someone had made the new classic haunted house/demonic possession movie before I could. Turns out I needn't have worried. Insidious is an empty shell of a movie, adrift in a nether nether land, with other nasty, scary movies forcing their way into it's lifeless corpse. Hey... that also happens…
A nasty little satanic horror short to check out:
Ok kiddos, hate to go on a rant here, but let me make this perfectly clear... BLACK SWAN IS NOT A HORROR MOVIE!!!! (phew... glad to finally get that off my chest) It is psychological thriller that examines a young woman's descent into madness. Is it scary? Yes. Is it disturbing? Yes Is it a horror movie? No. Just because a film is scary, suspenseful, disturbing, even terrifying, that does NOT make…
Watch Enter the Dark for FREE and help us win a spot at the FirstGlance Film Festival! Friends, family, fans and horror freaks - now is your opportunity to watch our award-winning horror short, Enter the Dark for free in the comfort of your own home. But be sure to hurry, this event only lasts until May 13th. Simply bounce on over to the FirstGlance Online Competition website -…
Check out my review of the indie horror movie, The Feed at Horror Society :
Big money baby - Big Money!! Who says filmmaking doesn't pay off? My first official check for Enter the Dark from DVD and streaming sales at IndieFlix is a whopper! $21 big bucks! Looks like I can now pay off that line item for Oreos eaten during production of my little horror flick . ... In all seriousness, any money, no matter how small, generated from this film represents a huge success! And…
My good friend and blazingly smart filmmaker Elizabeth Fies has been working her tail off to promote amazing work written, produced and directed by women. With the tireless help of her sister Brenda, they have created the Bleedfest film festival to showcase badass genre work that would otherwise go unnoticed. If you're in the L.A. area, be sure to check it out! Los Angeles, California-- March 4,…