Hospital Hill - Script Completed (0)

Posted on 17 August, 2008 in Hospital Hill

I am extremely happy to announce that I have finished the script for Hospital Hill!  I actually finished it two days ago, but I have been reading over it a few more times just to make sure it was ready.

This is by far the shortest script I have ever written for one of my Horror projects.  I have written a few comedy skits for things I did in the past, but that was about it. The grand total on this puppy is 6 pages long - not including the cover page.

I have already drafted the character breakdown and whipped up some concept art.  Next I’ll start with the storyboarding.  I’m 80% sure of my filming locations as they are mostly all studio based, so location scouting is pretty much done too. 

I have an idea of a few of the actors I want to use, but I’m still going to be holding a casting call because I am very interested in casting an awesome femme fatale for the role of evil nurse I have created.  

Be sure to sign up for the Steel Web Studios Newletter if you are interested in working on this film with me. All official casting/crew calls will go out through the newsletter.

Tags: Pre-production, Screenplay

Hospital Hill - 1st Draft Completed (0)

Posted on 31 July, 2008 in Hospital Hill

I stayed up late tonight scripting out the first draft of the Hospital Hill screenplay.  It needs a little work, but I am very happy with it so far.  The poem the film will be based on is rather creepy and disturbing in its own right. 

I do not think I will have any problem getting this film to run around five minutes, yet I hope to have more blood and gore in this film than Slaughter Disc had in its entire 90 minutes. 

If all goes according to plan, this is going to be one hell of a film as it is already one hell of a script - and I still have some work to do!

Tags: Pre-production, Screenplay

Redress - Another Script Update (0)

Posted on 12 June, 2008 in Redress

I have been working hard on finalizing Redress over the past few days.  The story is growing and growing all the time, and right now that is a good thing.

I’ve said this before and I’ll say it again, the backbone of the story for Redress could stand alone byitself with all of the horror elements torn out of it.  That being said, when I embarked upon writing this script I wanted to make a hard hitting horror film, so I am working on increasing the level of supernatural terror in the story.  From what I’ve seen when most people have physical encounters with ghosts, there is a very emmotional connection at a psychic level which usually leaves people in a state of shock for a matter of moments. As I look back on horror films I have watched in the past that deal with “ghosts” in general, I’ve never seen this type of characterization used very much.  Usually people scream and run or they scream and die.  A few cower in terror before they get killed off.

I’m trying to do something a little different.  I’m trying to do something a little more real.  When the characters in my story get exposed to a few supernatural elements, they will have long lasting effects from the encounter, if they survive that is.  This film isn’t about racking up a body count like most horror films try to do.   There are a number of corpses and brutal deaths, I can’t let my gore hungry fans down, but the sole purpose of the movie is not to just create horror by killing people left and right with a monster that suddenly pops up.  There is a growing element of psychological horror and dread that is beginning to evolve in the script.  Every time I touch the script this happens more and more and now I find myself hopping all over the place patching up little inconsistencies and shoring up the characters a little more.

When it’s all said and done, I think this film is going to turn out to be very good. At the very least, I have had a great time developing it even if it’s taken longer than expected.  My goal is to have this baby all wrapped up by the end of June so we can seriously start filming this fall.

For those of you dying for the next project from this guy, I think you will be happy to know it will all be worth the wait.

Tags: Pre-production, Screenplay

Redress - Script Update (0)

Posted on 29 March, 2008 in Redress

Wow - 2008 is flying by fast. On that note, the month of April is here! I wanted to start filming bits and pieces of Redress this month, however the script is not done yet. My writing partner Kreg and I have been diligently meeting and writing and the story is much more focused than it was a month ago. There is far more character development - in fact, I’m very sure the story could stand by itself even if we removed all of the horror elements. We’re getting close - not just close enough to film yet. The nice thing about being a small studio is that nobody breathes down our back - the bad thing is that budgets are small, so sometimes day jobs and errands get in the way of a good writing session

Once the cameras finally start rolling I plan to send out a press release and hopefully have a trailer ready in time for Comic-Con.

On other fronts, I have been busy designing our new company shirts and promo items for the Fangoria Weekend of Horrors in Los Angeles at the end of April. I think our table is in a great place this year, it’s on an end over by some of the bigger booths, so traffic should be kind to us - I hope…

Tags: Pre-production, Screenplay, Script, Writing

REDRESS is becoming a Feature Film! (0)

Posted on 10 February, 2008 in News Blurbs, Redress

It is finally official and now I want to start hyping the news: Redress is becoming a feature length film!

As I had more time to sit and think about the story I passed it around to a few people for review. One of my friends has some ideas to add and the project pretty much exploded from there. We are still hashing out the script at this moment, but since I had already done a lot of preproduction on the film in its short form, the project is on the launch pad waiting for its tanks to get filled. Most of the cast and crew are placed; we just have a few more roles to fill once the story if flushed out some more.

The goal for now is to start filming around Mid April. I will be releasing a press release later in the month. We will have a teaser ready for the Los Angeles Fangoria Week of Horrors in late April. We hill have the film wrapped by the time Comic-Con rolls around in July.

Stay Tuned… our website is going to get busy again

Tags: Development, Pre-production, Screenplay, Script, Writing

Bedbugs from Hell - Script Update (0)

Posted on 19 November, 2007 in Bedbugs from Hell

I am happy to announce that I have officially started work on the screenplay for Bedbugs from Hell. I have had a TON of interest in this project from a number of producers so I am putting this one on the fast track.

The original treatment I wrote for the film was around 14 pages. I am already on page 27 of the screenplay - and that’s after only adapting about 4 pages of the treatment. I think the first draft of this is going to come in around 120 pages and I should have it completed near the end of November.

Tags: Pre-production, Screenplay

Production Continues - For the Most Part (0)

Posted on 2 November, 2007 in News Blurbs

Well… the fires are out - thank God. We are again moving ahead with production on several new fronts.

I have gone ahead and made the decision to postpone the filming of Redress until a later date. The area we were going to film in was burned up pretty good in the fires. While the actual road we were going to use is unscathed, there is a ton of charred forest around it. One gust of wind and ash goes everywhere. The script is written, so now once the location heals a little more we will go back and film the movie.

I am going to continue developing Ghost Lights and I am going to start on the script very soon. At the same time, I will finish the script for Bedbugs from Hell. I have been talking with several producers in regards to Bedbugs, but I know it will be a while before we start filming this one.

Tags: Film Treatment, Pre-production, Screenplay

Redress - 1st Draft Completed (0)

Posted on 4 October, 2007 in Redress

I have finally found time to sit down and finish the first draft of the script for Redress. The problem with being an indie filmmaker is that your job and other responsibilities always take priority over your filmmaker duties. I’ve been talking with producers and musicians on numerous projects. We’re also getting ready for a huge vacation in one week so there has been a ton of planning for that. Now that I have some time to myself I was able to sit down again and write.

The funny thing about this story was that I knew where it would start and I knew where it would end, but I did not know exactly how it would end. After hammering out the last few pages I sat back and thought, “Wow, how the hell am I going to pull this off?” While some people just let their imaginations run all over the place while they are writing, I always try to remain grounded and think about how I would have to pull off an effect or camera angle with every scene that I write. Sometimes this limits me because I’ll have a great idea and then realize there is no way in hell, unless I my numbers come up in Super Lotto, that I could never pull off the shot. At the same time, I need to constantly push myself as a filmmaker. There will be a lot of filming at night with this one and we’ll be doing some crazy lighting effects both in photography and in post to create some of the ghost effects. Hopefully, in the end, the film will pay off. I think it will.

I will be posting the casting call for this one very soon.

Tags: Pre-production, Screenplay

Cinco de Mayo Massacre - Update (0)

Posted on 2 September, 2007 in Cinco de Mayo Massacre

The script treatment for the film is finally completed! I have been been really busy and scattered lately, but some recent events have allowed me to get time to work on the story. It has always been there, rattling around inside my head. Now it is finally on paper and the script will follow soon.

Tags: Film Treatment, Pre-production, Screenplay

Redress - Script Update (0)

Posted on 25 August, 2007 in Redress

I am pleased to announce that the 1st draft of the script for Redress is about 2/3 complete. Most of the people I’ve clued in about the story say this will be the scariest thing I’ve done yet.

Tags: Pre-production, Screenplay