Directing
When I'm not working on other people's projects, I'm developing my own.
Starship Detritus
An original episodic serial consisting of thirteen 10-minute episodes. We're in the early stages of development, we expect to begin releasing in 2011.
Starship Detritus follows the misadventures of the crew of interstellar freighter RT-7411, led by captain Corelie Meyers, as they embark upon a salvage operation that’s not what it seems to be. Along the way they grapple with pirates, corrupt Transit Authorities, the mechanizations of their shipowner, and above all the fragile state of their own malfunctioning vessel…
For more information, see www.starshipdetritus.com.
Four Weeks, Four Hours
After four years of production and post, I completed Four Weeks, Four Hours in 2006, with a wildly successful New York sneak preview at Manhattan's Two Boots Pioneer theater.
Left to right—Alexis Van Hurkman on camera, lighting/grip Alex Robinson, actress Judi Beecher, and PA Jeff Sorensen |
To date, Four Weeks, Four Hours has had six terrifically successful film festival screenings. It's been featured at the San Fernando Valley Film Festival in Los Angeles, the Longbaugh Film Festival in Portland, Oregon, the ReelHeART International Film Festival in Toronto, Ontario, the 26th annual Breckenridge Film Festival, the Salento Film Festival in Tricase, Italy, and most recently at the Hollywood FAIF International Film Festival.
Left to right—Alexis Van Hurkman behind bush, PA Jeff Sorensen, lighting/grip Alex Robinson, Matt Chubet on Steadicam, Michael Wohl running audio, and actress Judi Beecher |
Two tales of survival unfold in this intense character study of two vastly different women. Judi Beecher (The Shield, JAG) and Kaylynn Raschke (Nash Bridges, Artistic License) respectively star as a trophy wife and photojournalist, each stranded in a desert on opposite ends of the world, one for four weeks, the other for four hours.
As each woman looks for rescue, they are forced to face the decisions that have led to the life-or-death moment in which they're trapped. Also starring Eric Pierpoint (Alien Nation, Enterprise) and Scott Escamillo.
For more information, go to www.fourweeksfourhours.com.
Dating the Devil
The script for my supernatural sex comedy Dating the Devil has been a favorite with readers, and in 2002 I directed a terrifically successful readthrough for a packed audience in San Francisco's Theater 450.
When Peter found out that his new girlfriend was the devil, he had a choice to make– Risk eternal damnation, or dive back into the dating pool. The decision was easy...
As Peter tries to settle into his new relationship, his best friend decides that something must be done. What begins as a casual affair soon turns into an outrageous tug of war over Peter's soul as his friends risk everything to stop Peter from Dating the Devil...
Visit www.datingthedevil.com for more information.
The Forbidden Zone
In 1999, I collaborated on The Forbidden Zone with Harrell Fletcher, Chris Johanson, David Jarvey, and Elizabeth Meyer.
"Video, drawings and sculptural models were used to address Jarvey's interest in an early Star Trek episode. Jarvey, who has Downs Syndrome, identifies with a character from the episode, Captain Christopher Pike. Pike has been disabled and wants to go to the forbidden planet, Talos 4, where he can live with the illusion of being "normal" once again." (quoted from harrellfletcher.com)
Combining bluescreened shots of David Jarvey composited against shots from the Star Trek episode "The Menagerie" with interview and home footage, The Forbidden Zone explores a unique intersection of fantasy and reality.
It functions both as a component of a larger gallery installation, and as a self-contained video short that has been exhibited worldwide. The original installation was first featured in the Yerba Buena Center for the Arts exhibit, (extra)super[meta]. Most notably the video was featured at the 2004 Whitney Museum of American Art in New York, in their biennial exhibit of emerging artists.
Peace & Quiet
Peace & Quiet is a 27 minute science fiction video short that I wrote and directed in 1994—an offbeat story of a space freighter engineer who wants to leave his job for a life of quiet contemplation, and ends up getting exactly what he asks for when he winds up stranded on the high plains of a distant planet.
Subject to the limitations of low-budget video production in the times before DV, it was shot on S-VHS, complete with in-camera effects including glass-mattes (painted by artist Andrew Georgeades), studio sets, and on-location shooting.
Postproduction at the time involved a capture resolution of 320x240, but working at this resolution enabled me to include 3-D graphics and compositing effects which before that time were unavailable to this type of independent production. The QuickTime Movie master was originally intended for 1990's CD-Rom playback, and so was compressed rather more heavily then the average web movie these days.
Time and technology have marched on since I finished this project all those years ago, but I remain proud of my first foray into digital video as both a director and postproduction artist. To see the entire movie, go to www.starshipdetritus.com.