How did you get into making films?
I have loved movies my hole life. i remember my mom working late foaling horses late at night and i have to go with her and there was a t.v. in the lounge. i would watch old gladiator movies or Ray Harry Hausen late night showings. back then it was the three or four channels you could pic up on antenna. on Sunday manatees on the t.v. would be some of the worlds worst b-grade horrors and i loved them. my father was a w.w. II vet and i would watch films and documentaries about the war and relate through play with toy machine guns as a method of connecting with my father. my mother and i would catch rainy day matinees for three dollars so there was a sense of relating to the world around me through film. by the time i was twelve i was shooting editing and modifying super eight film and eventually stepped up to beta max and my friends and i would make elaborate spoofs of action films and horror films, buddy cop films and the like with titles like "the incredible bulk," and "blunder woman" pursuing the career i attended A.I.P. and after leaving school went on to do mostly studio work at Local Link Teleproductions. Editing mostly and directing acquisition. we shoot mostly live performance videos, and sporting events.
What inspired you to make your movie?
Life. the real life. the life that happens when nothing is happening and the world around you seems to only exist in your head sort of life. i came to the realization that movies had stopped speaking to me in sense. i had to ponder had the generic formats and scenarios that the commercial film and television industry were churning out becoming less and challenging and more predictable. The industry had almost given up entirely and just began to shamelessly recycle its self with remakes and redoes and churned out quasi-entertainment meant for an audience with the intellect and maturity of 12 year olds. i began to experiment with films that conveyed experience not story. speaking directly to the emotional and intellectual core of the experience of being human, of being self.
How has your style evolved?
Initially i started making traditional (yet stylistic) music videos and narrative films and documentaries. basically because i liked being paid. but as the need to receive compensation or recognition took a back seat to the need to express my life experience i began organically shifting into a more "avaunt" style. it is a comfortable place for me as my work (photography, paint, charcoal, graphite, pastel) has all ways flowed out of me as a surrealistic metaphor. i am constantly trying to present challenging ways of expressing myself through visual medium yet the style remains the same as an unintended consequence as a result of "just being me"
Tell us any strange or funny stories while making the film?
The strangest part of many of my productions is an ongoing 26 year relationship with the composer Steve Kusaba. it is unusual to find two people who share some many of the same opinions knowledge. and the fact that we compliment each others talents in such a way that it is hard to imagine one without the other as two parts of the same hole is unique in that we have never personally met each other face to face.
The Misrule Film Movement & Pink8 manifesto bring what to mind?
Freedom of expression is the first thing that comes to mind. the ability to simply create and even build upon another's works without regard or want and worry over some third party mafia rule over creativity. the ability to explore new dialog and open new doors in an industry that demands that square pegs fit in square holes and that only square pegs will be recognized. A scream into the void is the second thing that comes to mind. my inner old school punk shows its roots through expression and the shoe fits the manifesto/movement.
What can we expect from your next film?
Amazing music and visuals that require mind altering substances to discern tend to be the norm these days. the next film is already in the works and has been years in the making. it's called "bringing light to darkness: tales from the centrifugal satz clock" im making it with Steve Kusaba my right hand collaborator. It features music videos i've created to selected works from the 48 hour rock opera "the centrifugal satz clock" and Omni musical experience that metaphorically addresses issues that are relevant to our social/ economic and political structures of today.
