Welcome back to the series where I post the behind-the-scenes details of our Just Scare Me Horror Shorts.
After all the time, money, and emotional energy spent behind the scenes to make Autoslay, Erica and I wanted to keep this round’s horror short simple and confined. We wrote a story with two actors in a room, and little else. Yet, we didn’t just want any two people. We wanted Erica’s best friends in the whole wide world to embody these characters.
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UPDATE #2: The short is out now on YouTube and Vimeo!
UPDATE #1: The new poster is attached, and the short premiered at the Sin City Horror Fest in Las Vegas as part of Short Block 4, Saturday, November 5th, 2022 at 12pm.
Original Post: Our second Just Scare Me short, Autoslay, was our biggest production (as of press time), but was almost mired by a real-life death.
Read More »First, I must state for those of you who do not know me: I’m white. I’ve lived in a middle class setting for most of my life, and for many reasons, I’ve struggled in that life. But I cannot even begin to comprehend the discrimination, hatred, and racism the BIPOC (Black, Indigenous, and People of Color) have endured over the past several hundred years. My point in this post is to equate a striking revelation I had while out on the street today. It’s not meant to ignore the situation, but it’s about how we, as a society, have become cavalier about racial bias in this country. Most importantly, it’s not enough.
Silent solidarity isn’t going to cut it anymore.
We need to enact change so that our “new normal” post-COVID includes a revolution on how we treat the BIPOC.
On the street today, a woman in yoga pants and a sports bra chatted with two men on the street. Her husky laid at her feet, with striking blue eyes, panting happily in the shade. They likely went for a run, and the poor pup sure needed the rest. I didn’t hear the specifics of the conversation, but it was one of a friendly manner. They spoke in length about something. They all shared a smile as they chatted. They candor was that of people on the same level.
Read More »I know I said in last year’s post that 2019 was going to be my biggest year yet, and while it was indeed the biggest year ever, 2020 will be even better. Just like last year, I’ve outlined my goals below to make 2020, The Year of the Gagnon.
Here we go:
Let’s start with the obvious. I’ve been away from this channel for quite some time, and yeah, I miss it. I thought that in order to be more productive in my writing career, I had to focus on the projects that could lead to paid gigs, like my screenplays. But then, I’d get home after a long day, and I’d do nothing, or waste time. The point is, I wasn’t writing.
When I wrote new blog posts in the past, it utilized a different part of the brain, but at the end of the day, I used my brain. The constant stream of output allowed the narrative functions to relax, and the analytical processes to ignite. I loved the feeling of being productive in multiple facets. If I was able to paint something (that I didn’t hate), I’d do that more, but even if I painted something God awful now, it would serve the same purpose as a blog. It’s an expression of the mind through other channels and that’s freeing. I miss that.
So here’s what I’m going to do.
Today, I was gobsmacked with a wave of nostalgia. I went to a new restaurant for my office’s lunch run, Belcampo, on 3rd Street in LA, and it was there (in the Verve coffee shop next door) where I spent many a day typing away at my creative endeavors. Whether the focus was My Cancer Story, a screenplay, or the then-numerous blog posts (yeah, sorry about that), I spent my free time (of which I had ample supply then) ticking away at my form of expression. On November 8th, it will have been three years since I moved into my first apartment here, the temporary room rental on Blackburn Ave.
I’ve done it. After five painstaking months, I’ve completed the third draft of “Thank God for Cancer” (formerly My Cancer Story). If you’re a consistent reader of mine, you’ve likely noticed my absence from the blog. Now that I’m a Writer’s PA (first on Ratched, now on 9-1-1), finding free time is hard, especially when I was knee-deep into the hardest draft of any piece of written work I’ve attempted in my life.
It’s that time of the year again! Ever since the #DLMChallenge of 2015, I’ve been fascinated with keeping track of all of the films I’ve watched over the year, even though it’s been a rather busy year! (See the lists for 2016 and 2017.)
I watched 121 Films TOTAL with 87 of those NEW TO ME.
I’m an amateur statistician, and this list is one of many for me. So here are some superlatives and statistics before I unveil the complete list (Top Ten of 2018 coming soon)!Read More »
2019 will be my biggest year yet. I’ve outlined a few goals to ensure this, and most of them revolve around writing.
UPDATE 1/14/20: How did I do?
EDIT: Completed one goal already (see below).
Here we go:
Last night, I experienced the worst flare-up of my Crohn’s Disease yet; the third instance of 2018. The kicker? All of these were following my revelatory dietary changes via the Whole30 Elimination Program. And no, this is not an attempt to correlate the two, but only to shed light on how Crohn’s Disease can strike no matter how much one arms themselves with preventative measures.
Read along as I describe these flare-ups (two of which occurred on film sets) and general tips on how to best prevent them, and ask YOU, the reader, about some of your worst Crohn’s battles.
GuyOnAWire 