Saturday, March 2, 2013

Production Report

Well, damn it,  I'm putting CHTHONIC on the shelf for a while. Thanks to a Hollywood movie recently released which contains key elements way too close to my film, I simply can't justify all the work on something that -- regardless what reasonable and understanding people say -- will be considered a copycat by the snarky jerks in society. Honestly, as a director, I like to think I'm doing something that fifteen other guys are not doing at the same time. Another director I know, plus one of my actors, said to do it anyway, and I understand where they're coming from, but once my directorial mind is made up, I pretty much know what I'm going to do. So CHTHONIC gets shelved, for now. It's a really cool script and idea and I want to return to it later, but now is not the time.

So, that's why we always have multiple projects in various stages of development! With CHTHONIC put on the back burner, I simply slide another project forward. A few months ago, I got an idea for a feature and started making notes. With this recent development, I've considered the various ideas I have on file. For the longest time, I've wanted to do a horror film. Usually the best thing a microbudget indie filmmaker can do is a horror film. That's why a lot of microbudget indie horror films are made. That's why I started CHTHONIC. I've come to a new conclusion in the last few weeks that a LOT of microbudget indie horror films are made so it's increasingly difficult to be "original". Don't get me wrong, not much is truly original. Perhaps the better word is 'fresh', as in not like a hundred other projects being made or not done recently. And once Hollywood comes out with the specific type of horror film you're working on, forget it. Doesn't matter that you had no idea or even started yours first (which you didn't, most likely, because their stuff starts way before it's released. You just didn't know about it.), you're gonna be called a copycat by the internet trolls and down your sales potential goes. So what to do?

Not a horror film, I decided.

Originally, I saw CHTHONIC as a film I could enter in Lovecraft festivals, as something that would appeal to HPL fans. In fact, Hell's Bells has been submitted to a Lovecraft festival (keep your fingers crossed). However, I realize that things Lovecraftian are becoming the hip darling of the indie horror world even more lately. Now, as an HPL fan, I'm digging that! I can't wait to see what shows up on screen in San Pedro this year (maybe Hell's Bells among them...?). But as a film producer/director, I realize that things Lovecraftian are becoming the hip darling of the indie horror world even more lately. Upside, downside. Maybe I'm tilting windmills, but I have to at least reasonably think I'm doing something not everyone else is doing. Therefore, I pulled myself away from the Lovecraft draw and have decided to go a different direction. There will be horror elements, naturally, because they fit. But I won't be doing Lovecraft. (I'll be happily attending Lovecraft events as a fan -- and hopefully seeing Hell's Bells on one of their screens!)

So, keep an eye out for an announcement here regarding the new project. I am developing the project further. Finishing the script, bringing the team together, putting the financing in place. Once I have things where they need to be, and a graphic to go with it, I'll announce the title and the basics. I can tell you that it is inspired by a different author and it's more ambitious in certain aspects than what you've seen me do so far.

More to follow...

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