NEWS / BLOG

SEPTEMBER 30, 2024
After having spoken with a few people, my plans to get an expensive ($155k+) criminal attorney to get my cousin exonerated using a movie (what we thought of as our final, last resort) have been altered.
MAYBE we can get a good movie to interest audiences. MAYBE we can get a known-tv/movie actor attached to increase the awareness of the film & enjoy the performances more. MAYBE we either get a studio (99% doubtful) or enough audience to watch (paid by the number of views, but that is completely OUT OF OUR CONTROL). MAYBE we'll earn enough from the film or donations from audience members to fund the criminal attorney and finally give this story a happy ending. So MAYBE in 10 years, Anthony can be exonerated! That is a LOT of maybe's!
Instead, while we will continue to save as much personal financing as possible, while preparing to launch a huge crowd-funding campaign, recent events have indicated it is very, VERY likely to see an influx of cash within the next two years that could rid us of all the maybe's and we will have enough cash in hand to get a loan to simply immediately pay for the attorney and then using some of the wrongful conviction/incarceration payout to pay back the initial loan to get the attorney.
We are cautiously optimistic.
So yes, we are still in VERY EARLY development of the "GUILTY UNTIL PROVEN INNOCENT" Docudrama, but since that will take about four years to get the full funding, perhaps this alternative will take care of the entire reason we were going to make that film.
Having said THAT, I can't go five or six years without making my own films.
Although helpful for audiences and potential crowd-funding donors to confirm my filmmaking abilities, I do not desire to make just any film for the sake of making a film - as my health and resources are quickly dwindling. However, I am developing a minimalist short film that is just too good to pass up, even if it is not my normal, signature-style of film. Also, the opportunity to work with local actor Henry Carter and others before they retire is too good to pass up as well. So, by end of January, I will have the funding for this $4,000 minimalist short film, "GAZING INTO THE ABYSS." And perhaps, we will see it shown at a local film festival exclusive for local, Texas filmmakers early in 2026. I have little expectations for GAZING to be accepted at the larger DEEP In THE HEART/WACO INDIE FILM FESTIVAL; but, if I can edit it down to 17 minutes, it doesn't hurt to submit. Why a 2026 live premiere? "Teenage Inquisition" will premiere at the small local "254 Showcase" festival in early 2025. I only want to submit ONE twenty-minute project a year.

AUGUST 30, 2024
Taking 2025 off to focus on my personal life and to catch up on all the unfinished projects i've made in the past - both professional and amateur. ("Teenage Inquisition", "Bob", "Insanely Sane", "Timespawning")
In very, VERY early pre-production on a large-scale docudrama "Guilty Until Proven Innocent." We'll have to create a quick, VERY-low-budget CONCEPT TRAILER, obtain crowd funding and donations to make this important, epic feature in 2027 or 2028.
After "Teenage Inquisition" - which I am PROUD of and could not imagine a more perfect cast who not only did the best they could, but brought more than I could have ever hoped for- I still feel.. empty, pointless. I made TEENAGE INQUSITION just to prove I could make a short film. Period. I succeeded at that. I understand I will need to make at least three more short films to validate the faith people will have in me. HOWEVER, I am no longer going to make a story simply because I CAN make it - being affordable and minimalist enough - but also from now on, a requirement will be, I will make a movie that REPRESENTS ME AS A FILMMAKER - showcasing my individual, unique style of filmmaking and story-telling. If TEENAGE INQUISITION was perceived as a competent, traditional film, that's great; but those are a dime a dozen. I want MY films to STAND OUT, to have a signature style to them that is unmistakably MINE. By no means was TEENAGE INQUSITION a waste of time nor a "bad film" in any sense, but it is not the story or style I want to be associated with when people think of me as a filmmaker. I believe, even with a minimalist approach/budget (for now until crowd funding/donations can become a sustainable revenue for production costs), I can still convey my signature style in an epic-yet- minimalist film (with embarrassing myself by trying to mimic those millions-dollars Hollywood films -0 I will stick to what I CAN do).
Once we get these docudrama done, the best is yet to come!

JULY 22, 2023
I went to the local film festival and was informed by two of the Powers That be (who select and program the festival) that even if I had a fast paced, cool40minute short film, they will instead accept two or three ten or fifteen minute shorts. FIFTEEN MINUTE RUNTIME is the target for them. And since THIS is THE festival I care about (local for my parents to be able to get to in spite of their failing health), I want to increase my chances as much as possible to be accepted in THIS particular festival.
I had a 40 minute script ready to film. I cut over half of it to meet the "suggested" running time, but it took out the entire heart & soul of the story; if the audience doesn't care about the characters, the plot-heavy movie is POINTLESS.
I DO have another story 100% ready to film that falls in the fifteen minute range, but SCHEDULDING and LEAD ACTOR AVAILBILITY (a teenager & guardian) is the biggest hurdle on that project. I may find an actor that is available to film on a WEEKEND for this TWO-DAY SHOOT despite the fact that SCHOOL is starting back up very soon (with no time to prep and memorize the script before then). If THAT doesn't work out, I just have to hope my parents can hang in there ANOTHER year to see my name on the big screen in 2025. But i'm NOT giving up a 2024 release without a fight.
I also have another 17 minute story almost ready to produce (with adult actors) to film next summer, so there's that.

JANUARY 7, 2023
So, on December 31, 2022, the future was not only looking promising but indeed bright: the scripts were in development, coming along nicely, the production budget was already 33% saved, I had a new more reliable income, everything was running smoothly.
Then, LIFE happened. My vehicle died. It had been falling apart, something new every month, and I had already invested well over a thousand dollars in the last few months - I had now invested more parts than the vehicle was worth. I was always planning on buying a another vehicle.. in about A YEAR AND A HALF from now. i.e. every dollar I was going to make was already spoken for during the next 18 months. Also, I had two other unexpected, COSTLY emergencies come up.
So I had to take everything I had saved to use as a down payment on another vehicle and deal with these other emergencies. I'm broke again. Thus, with the movie deadline in early April, there is NO WAY to saved up enough money to make a film by then.
I won't give up, that is not the issue. My concern is my parents health are both RAPIDLY declining. I wanted them to be able to see my name on a theater screen before they passed.
I don't do things to prove myself to others (except for investors), or for a "I told you so", and I really don't care what people think of me. But I have to admit, it WOULD have been really, REALLY nice for my parents to see the black sheep of the family FINALLY succeed at one thing in life - which they point out on a regular basis (every time I talk to them) that I have YET to do.
Oh well. Maybe this is a life lesson, or maybe my parents will hang in there and be around in a year or two if I can make my film by then and accepted into a local festival, or maybe this is just a "shit happens" with nothing to come of it (or anything to "learn" from, as in most cases) except an unavoidable delay. We'll see. Just take whatever life throws your way, learn from it if you can or adapt, while being grateful for everything that IS still going good.

DECEMBER 20, 2022
Our website host upgraded so we lost all previous news/blog entries.
No big deal, not missing out on much anyway.
All it did was show how sometimes plans do not go as planned when unforeseen circumstances interfere.
All the best content is already included in the making of/behind the scenes portions on individual film project pages.

Currently writing "CHIMERA". Hoping it will be ready to film in March so we can meet the April deadline for a local film festival entry.
No, Chimera is not our best, but it IS a film that we CAN MAKE! And,. we are making it as good as possible incorporating our own style so audiences and investors can see hints at our future potential when we have more resources. We have learned to start small (2 or 3 shooting days on a short story) and work our way up, thereby giving us a portfolio to prove our capabilities. Hopefully, we will get resources to some day make the bigger, much, MUCH BETTER feature length stories