CHILDREN OF THE
SKY
It was the summer of 1996 and I had seen an ad in a local paper looking for
production help on a low budget movie. I was thrilled at the prospects of
being on a real movie set. My friends that I had made short films with were
all gone and I had no one of similar interests to hang with anymore. I was
definitely excited. The name of the company was Salt City Video.
I did answer the ad and discovered that the film was a
bit smaller than I had thought. But that didn't bother me. I was on a movie
set! People all around me focusing on the same goal! It was a very exciting
time for me. And very inspiring . The director of the film had pretty much the
same resources as I did and I learned that there actually was some sort of a
market for movies shot on digital/video. A thought that had never occurred to
me before.
As usual that year like every other I was consumed with
thoughts of making my own movie. This was the next best thing. The name of the
movie was THE VICIOUS SWEET.
Not only was I doing DP work and donating some of my equipment but had a
small part in the movie as well. It was a lot of fun and I met some great
people. This led to other work with that company and a starring role in
another director's film. GUT-PILE.
A year went by and I continued to help them more and
more. I worked on STRAWBERRY
ESTATES(1997), LESS OF TWO EVILS, and did editing work on PERMANENT
WAVES and I'VE KILLED BEFORE. But what I was really itching to do was direct.
There had been some talk about this company helping me produce a project of my
own. After turning in one script that was deemed too expensive I began writing
CHILDREN OF THE SKY.
As a matter of fact the idea came to me on the STRAWBERRY
ESTATES shoot. I
had always been fascinated by UFO's and the myths of alien abductions. So that
was what I based my story on
In the end I wound up parting company with Salt City.
They began to produce the film but after a few discussions and conflicts I
took the project and left over creative differences. A split was eventual
anyway. Our goals were very different.
I was still determined to make this movie. I REFUSED to
be stopped. So here I was. Big script, large cast, huge special
effects, no money.... Didn't sound like it was going to have a happy
ending did it? But it did. With the help of a whole lot of really great and
talented people we did it. I will be introducing to several of these people in
these pages. They deserve my undying gratitude.
The movie itself was built on the sacrifices of time and
comfort by many people. The shoots ranged from wonderful to difficult to
actually painful at times. Have you ever tried to coordinate a scene with ten
volunteer actors all with different lifestyles and schedules? Let me tell you
it is not fun.
Below you can learn about......
THE CAST THE CREW PRE/POST
PRODUCTION and SPFX
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