Last year, at around this time, I had the honor of working the camera for Ryan David Roger's film, Anxietatem, which JUST released on YouTube this month. A sweet story about humanity, heart, and anxiety, this little film is a terrific example of  the kind of stories I want to tell. 

Needless to say, I am proud of the film and proud to know Ryan, who has tirelessly worked his way up in the filmmaking world from production assistant to running his own videography company making music and wedding videos, running his own film festival (seriously, who does that???), making his own films (humble-brag - I was in one of the first!!), and becoming a valued member of the New England filmmakers circuit. 

Here, Ryan talks about inspirations, how anxiety inspired his new film (watch it here and below!), and all of the chaos that goes into creation. Check it out here and read onwards for Ryan's insights!

 Really looking back, I had a creative mind at a young age as I would draw and play around with my family's camcorder a bit. Although for a while, I was led off the stereotypical "What inspired me to make films" path because my mom kinda steered me down the road to the culinary arts. Ended up taking culinary classes my junior and senior year of high school as well. (No, she doesn't have a culinary background, why do you ask?)

Anyway, my junior and senior year of high school where I met this senior that was interested in creating an animated series and I wanted to help make it happen. Ultimately, the series didn't happen. The episodes I wrote never got made. He just gave up after a pilot episode. But he said he still had ideas for films he wanted to do. He ultimately moved to Arizona and cut all ties with me. But around that time, I discovered a YouTube channel called "Film Riot" that were making videos about every aspect of film productions. That has really helped with actually learning how to make films, especially when other resources about both the craft and how to get it out there started popping up and made it possible to get your work out there.

It was really also films from various filmmakers from different decades and different parts of the world that also helped inspire my love for the craft and keeps me going, even when it feels like it feels like it'll never happen for me. While I started actually getting on small time film productions in 2012, it wouldn't really be till 2018 till I started getting on film sets more regularly and ended up filming a wedding as well. Since then, I've been working towards more regularly getting hired to do sound on films, music videos, and live events such as weddings.  Also started getting into photography a bit, but that's only like over the past few months.

It was....an experience. The original plan was to film it in late September 2022, but I had to push it back a couple months simply for financial reasons. Surprisingly, everyone that was on board for the September shoot stayed on board when the shoot dates changed to late November. Until the script supervisor tested positive for COVID and had to drop out as a result.

With the production itself, it was originally scheduled that it would be 2 shoot days, 8 hours each; one day for interior scenes, one night for exterior scenes. That's not what ended up happening. 

We got there right when the restaurant open (a little past 11am if I recall correctly) with the plan to get in there and get the equipment ready before the talent arrives.

That's what should've happened.

Instead, the opening staff had ABSOLUTELY NO IDEA what we were talking about. We had to wait till a bit past noon before one of the owners showed up and told us we had to be out no later than 3:30pm (we were originally in agreement about being out by 7pm). Essentially, we had about 3 hours to shoot about half of an almost 8 minute short film. Not impossible, but we ended up having to handheld for a vast majority of the shoot and throw out any elaborate shooting style we had planned out in pre production.

But, we were able to shoot everything we needed, and clean it up to make it look like we were never even there by 3:30pm on the dot (with me having a couple of well earned drinks after that).

Strangely enough, during that shoot I felt both stressed and not stressed. We were in a major time crunch, yes, but the entire flow of getting everything we needed in the time we had felt doable.

Day 2 rolled around and since we had to wait till it got dark out to start shooting, we were able to arrive at location later in the day and we had plenty of time to plan everything out and get everything we needed shot. With the streetlights and the lights from the various buildings at Eagle Square in Concord, NH, it really did give some pretty good production value on this.

But there was one catch to shooting exterior night scenes in late November: it was an exterior night scene....in late November. It was cold. Really cold. At various points, members of the cast and crew went inside to warm up while I decided to stay outside with the equipment and be ready to lunge at anyone that would try to steal it. No one tried to steal anything and I ended up being so cold that at one point during the production, I had to crouch down so I wouldn't appear in the reflection of one of the windows that Paul and Beatriz are talking in front of and I could not get back up on my feet the cold was starting to get to me.

​After finally going inside to warm up for a little, we were finally able to wrap up production in around 4 hours (because, again.....really cold) and after taking my sweet time editing it together, it was ready to be seen.

 A few things. I've signed on to edit and help produce a feature film called "Drepper: The Happiest Man on Earth", which is a film about this guy being transported to an alternate world to help find the joy and gratitude in life. The film was about half way shot before I came on board, so I'm helping them get it finished, including working on launching a crowdfunding campaign to help raise the finishing funds. We're looking at a late 2024 release window. It's also being shot in a couple of different aspect ratios, which is a pretty interesting approach.

I'm also working on 2 different series. "Lycanitis": a 3-D animated mini series involving werewolves because I decided I'm going to learn how to use Blender by trying to make something a lot more complicated than a donut. The other is Sacha Kenton's "I Meow Back", a series about now this high schooler's life is essentially thrown way out of whack after getting diagnosed with chronic fatigue. We're going to be shooting a proof of concept short film early 2024 with both the short and series being written by Sacha.

Of course, there's always more and more stuff I want to be able to do and want to try to do, but there's only so much one person can do. So I need to be smart about what I do, how I go about it, and how much I try to do by myself before I turn to my friends and peers and see if they're willing to help me out with whatever insane idea I want to try and do next!

I am so inspired by musical theater (Phantom of the Opera, Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat, and West Side Story being my faves) and of course Disney. Not to mention all the 80s fantasy movies I grew up with that had the most magical of soundtracks (The Neverending Story, Return to Oz).

​Plus, just like you, I was an avid reader and it kept my mind always going. I think the impact from all the fantasy books I read eventually formed melodies in my mind that stayed with me forever after. Some of the songs on my album were from a few of those melodies, others were written on my keyboard while living through some of the best and worst times (mostly best). ​

I hope people can use the emotions from my songs to help them through a difficult episode in their life. My hope is that the songs speaks to them in some way. Whether it be therapeutic or just purely enjoyable. I hope I can put a melody in someone's head and have it stick, in a good way. My wish would be that my songs can paint a picture the listener can visualize or experience with me. That I can take them into my world. ​

The Story: When popular podcaster Alix Summer meets Josie Fair, it seems like fate: both women share a birthday and, beyond this, both are deep believers in the power of reinvention. Alix because this is the subject of her podcast and Josie because this is what she wants more than anything else in the world: to leave her increasingly unhappy married life and start again. So Josie has a proposal - Alix should follow her as she begins the separation and reinvention process. It seems like a dynamite subject for a podcast and Alix agrees.

But all is not as it seems. Alix's picture-perfect life is flawed, but Josie's story... the deep Alix goes, the more she realizes that Josie is not at all what she seems either. The cat-and-mouse games begin as the two women begin to investigate each other, each learning more than they ever wanted to know. It's all perfect fodder for a top-rated podcast season - until the bodies begin to turn up.
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The Review: Lisa Jewell is a master at the page-turner. The pacing here is terrific and I found myself unable to put this book down. The characters, especially the two leads (for they are very much both protagonists in this twisty little tale), are well-fleshed out and feel grounded in reality. Jewell also excels at family dynamics and, even when they are twisted (like they are here), you still find yourself saying, "Yeah, I've met people like this before."

I must confess, I guessed the major twist and the secondary twist pretty early on. But even so, this is immensely entertaining and surprisingly uplifting. Unlike a lot of modern thrillers, Jewell knows that there are good and decent people in the world and they are present and accounted for here. It's not a happily-ever-after book and it's definitely PG-13 rated for blood and domestic violence. But if you're after a very readable and relatable thriller, this is the one for you!
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(Note about my reviews: As much as I love a well-written, witty critique or movie take-down (and I ADORE them!), I know all too well how badly it feels to be on the receiving end of a bad review. I will only post books here that I can speak well of - if I can't recommend it, I won't post a review of it!)

LogoSophia Magazine is an ecumenical musing on the religion, life, and culture. It's a quarterly magazine (with a weekly blog online) that delves into every aspect of life, from Sunday morning worship traditions to musings on the virtues featured in Sailor Moon. Each print magazine is centered around a theme (this summer, it was "God & Country - an Issue of Patriotism") and attempts to view any given subject from multiple viewpoints. It is heartfelt, respectful, and thought-provoking. 

Helmed by the redoubtable Sarah Levesque and featuring contributors from all over and from every walk of Christian life, LogoSophia is one to watch. Submissions are welcome and, in a feature I particularly like, you can listen to the magazine, often read by the writers themselves. 

I've contributed a few pieces in the past and have been interviewed with my sister on The Encounter Series. But beyond my affectionate regard for a publication that has published me, LogoSophia is well worth looking into, both as an example of ecumenism, but also as an example of strength, courage, and determination. Publishing a magazine is no easy feat - but these folks make it look easy!

Today, I am interviewing friend and fellow author, Steve Van Samson. Steve is, among many other things, a podcaster who combines horror and nostalgia to great effect in his fun and funny show, Retro Ridoctopus. He writes gritty and memorable horror and his latest book, published through Weird House Press, is the horror western Year of the Rattlesnake. As anyone who knows me for longer than three minutes will tell you, I heart westerns muchly and, having read Steve’s Predator World vampire series (highly recommended, but do not read while you’re eating!), I can not WAIT for this one to hit the shelves!

    Most of my book ideas are born of me trying to figure out a new angle to something. In the case of the first Predator World book “The Bone Eater King”, my initial thought was there was nothing more to say about vampires. But, I started thinking about it. Was there really no way to make this tired monster feel fresh or, more importantly, memorable? 

   I reasoned that the first thing to go was the typical settings and character tropes. No castles or cities. No sex-starved alabaster-skinned goth models. I wanted monsters, and I wanted them to face off against characters that were very different from the sort we usually get in these kinds of stories. 

   The darkened plains of Africa quickly emerged in my mind as the natural choice. One that accommodated everything I was looking for, but also came equipped with a wealth of dangerous natural predators (like lions, leopards and hyenas) that could add to the menace our characters were going to face. 

    Sure! The idea was initially born from reading “The Dying Earth” by Jack Vance. For those who don’t know, that book is a collection of short stories that all occur in the same general area, around the same general time. What makes the book so special to me is the way that characters will appear in more than one story. Sometimes what feels like a small chance encounter with someone on the road, will actually serve as an introduction to the protagonist of a different story. You just never know who’s going to show up where. 

   At some point, it occurred that a western full of notorious wanted men, might be the perfect vehicle for trying out that linked-short story format I loved in “The Dying Earth”. I needed stories that would really stand out on their own, but with the knowledge that certain characters were going to show up again. I don’t expect every reader to catch all of the connections on their first read, but my sincere hope is that the stories are good enough to keep them coming back. Maybe discovering new things every time.

   ​I was drawn to horror because it’s been in my blood since before I was allowed to consume it. I was that kid who was always always sneaking off to the horror section of the video store, ogling all the tapes I knew my parents would never rent in a million years.

    For me, I have to have silence to write. My best writing rhythm is when I start first thing in the morning. I’ll get up an hour early and go make a cup of tea. Then I’ll sit down and force myself (whether I want to or not) to start typing. Even if I only type 100 words, this AM session forces my brain to start thinking about the story. Then it’s with me on my morning commute and by lunch, I’m ready to get back in and get back to the story. If possible, I’ll finish up with another two or so hours before bed to finish the day out. My daily word counts are never much compared to most professional writers, but on a day like that I can never feel like I didn’t give it my all.

   ​I’m currently working on a novella for Weird House Press. After that, my plan is to get back into my original series and write the third Predator World book.

    I honestly am a fan of both Trek and Wars, but Star Wars will always be my favorite. Favorite modern writers are Joe R. Lansdale, Neil Gaiman, Joe Hill, and of course, Stephen King. For classics, I love me some Robert E. Howard and Phillip K. Dick. And for authors you may not have heard of, Jonathan Janz, Ed Kurtz and Rob Smales are all incredible and should be household names. Currently I’m reading “Fright Night Origins'' written by the writer/director of the movie, Tom Holland. It’s like a director’s Cut of Fright Night and I’m loving every apple-chomping second of it.

The Story: Therapist and best-seller self-help writer Sarah Slade and her handsome husband have just done the unthinkable. They've bought and intend the ill-fortuned Renovate Black Wood House. Abandoned after bloody murder-suicide forty years ago, Black Wood House is more than just a neglected Victorian mansion - it lives. And it does not want to be changed or saved.

Soon it becomes apparent that there is more going on with the house and the neighborhood than Sarah previous thought. The neighbors are suspicious and hostile. There are threats and warnings everywhere. And Sarah's own life, perfect on the outside and built almost entirely on lies, is falling to pieces as she watches. Can she hold on long enough to discover the true secret of Black Wood House? Or will the truth kill her?

My Review: Truth be told, I almost gave up about a third of the way into this book. But I dearly, dearly love haunted houses, so I pushed on and I am so glad I did. Black Wood House is a terrifically creepy, gothic nightmare, set in Australia (for a change of flavor) and the house is almost a character in it's own right.

But the true fascination is watching Sarah Slade go from annoying media star who has it all to the girl who might just make it out alive. Sarah is not at all what she seems to be and, although unreliable narrators are very much a done thing now, Matlin paces her reveals very well and the trip is twisted, dark, and very entertaining. Warning for sensitive readers - there are plenty of triggers in this book. But for those of you who are looking for a creepy read this October, The Stranger Upstairs will do the trick.
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(Note about my reviews: As much as I love a well-written, witty critique or movie take-down (and I ADORE them!), I know all too well how badly it feels to be on the receiving end of a bad review. I will only post books here that I can speak well of - if I can't recommend it, I won't post a review of it!)
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​Synopsis:
​In a sleepy English village in the 1950s, a housekeeper dies. But was her death an accident? Or murder? Atticus Pund, a holocaust survivor and famous private detective, has nothing to go on and his own problems to deal with: a terminal illness is threatening to take him before he can finish writing his book. But then housekeeper's employer, Sir Magnus Pie, is beheaded in his own mansion. Can Atticus solve one last murder before his own clock runs out?

Meanwhile, in present day London, editor Susan Ryland receives the first draft of Alan Conway's latest Atticus Pund novel, she has no idea that her life is about to be flipped up-side-down. Not only is Alan about to kill off the most popular character in her publishing house's library, but the last chapter is missing - and Alan Conway is dead. Now she has to find the last chapter... and possibly solve a real live murder on her own. ​

At long last, the Time Travelers have arrived! You can watch it on Rumble and on YouTube - when you do, be sure to leave a comment about what time period YOU would want to visit!
Many thanks to everyone who worked on this film, including the fabulous cast and crew - visit the Time Travelers page for more information about all of them. We have more little films and books in the works, so stay on the look out for those!

I am so excited to announce that my new short film, The Time Travelers, is on its way into post production!
This past Sunday, a small group of enthusiastic filmmakers, actors, extras, and behind the scenes geniuses gathered together to shoot a short film set in 9 time periods. It was a packed day, but a fun one and I can't wait to share the film with you. This film is the first of my solo production (with Book Sisters Productions able assistance)!

Stay tuned! More fun is on the way!