The Birth of a Filmmaker

As a 30 something year old seeking solace from the workaday routine, I became invested in a local competition that has spurred a love for "indie film production" and sparked a personal renaissance in both my personal and public lives. The premise of the 48 Hour Film Project is both simple and enormous in scope, all at the same time. Groups of area filmmakers will pre-register for a weekend of filming where they will have 48 hours to write, shoot, edit, and deliver a 4 to 7 minute film. This film will be in the genre that the team "pulls" from a hat at the Kickoff event, and will feature a required character, line of dialogue, and prop that all teams in the city share for their respective films.

I first participated in the 2005 48 Hour Film Project in Greensboro and served as the lead actor for a little film called "Three Little Furies and a Golden Lock." Although the film was marred administratively by the folks running the team (in other words, they failed to sacrifice Ego and coalesce as a team, which is So Important in the 48), I did feel a certain thrill participating in the contest and the film was blessed with some incredible locations. Although I wince when I get the rare occasion to see that film, I am still struck by some of the cinematographic moments we captured. That's one beautiful thing about the 48... Even the "bad films" can have excellent moments, while the best ones are often far from perfect.

After an intense weekend of filming and people manipulation, I was speaking with a a good friend of mine (Jaysen Buterin) about the contest, and we decided we would produce a film for the 2006 competition. Such was the genesis of "Z-Day" and Mad Ones Films, and we have been hard at work ever since. In the space of 3 years, we have produced a 45 minute featurette called "The Devil's Tramping Ground" and approximately 11 additional "shorts." We took most of 2009 off so Jaysen could write scripts for a trilogy of 30 minute films, but have ramped up production in 2010 with the addition of new teammates and new ideas for films.

I plan to use this blog to chart the conception, development, pre-planning, and actual weekends of filming and screenings for the 2010 48 Hour Film Project. That gives me about 5 months to bore the hell out of the Internet. Thanks for taking the time to join me...