THE STRONG ONE wins...

This Sunday I was blessed to be awarded the honor of Best Picture, as well as Best Director at Campus Movie Fest at NC State. This means my film, ‘THE STRONG ONE’, will be screened in Hollywood at the CMF Grand Finale in June, and has the potential to screen in Cannes in May!

Winning at NC State CMF Premiere!

On stage accepting awards!

As I look back at the work that I’ve done on THE STRONG ONE, I also look forward to the next month of shooting on ‘UNFORGOTTEN’.

UNFORGOTTEN is by far the largest project I have ever worked on. I began writing the script years ago, and we began pre-production last October. 

Table Read- The first time directing Cast and Crew.

First Rehearsal with Charlie, Katherine, and Abigail.

One of our most extensive shoots.

I can say with all sincerity that UNFORGOTTEN is going to be the best project that I have worked on. THE STRONG ONE is just the beginning. I could not be more excited to spend the next month of my life working with these actors and crew.

To everyone working on this project with me- The next month of shooting will be the best yet!

To everyone watching this project come together- you will not want to miss this next month.

The future holds some unbelievable things ahead of us. THE STRONG ONE is the first step in an exciting and thrilling journey. 

Reminiscing...

Looking back and remembering Campus Movie Fest 2012. Good times. I hope that tomorrow night's premiere brings my co-workers and I the same excitement and achievement! 

Winning Campus Movie Fest with 'THE REVOLUTIONARY'

Jenn Halweil, Charles B. Allen, Paul Frateschi, Matt Harris, and I.

THE STRONG ONE, and other adventures...

THE STRONG ONE is finished! Click here to watch it!

I could not be more happy with the result of THE STRONG ONE. Working with Josh Bielick, Tim Reavis, and all of the actors was absolutely phenomenal. I am excited to see where this film will take us!


 Josh Bielick, Tim Reavis, myself, and a handful of actors shot on Wednesday night, Thursday morning, Friday morning, Friday evening, all day Saturday, and Sunday afternoon. Editing began on Sunday night and it was scored by Josh Bielick on Monday, and finished up on Monday night.

We turned it in to Campus Movie Fest on Tuesday afternoon at 6, and immediately after I headed to North Raleigh to shoot a scene for UNFORGOTTEN.

This past week has been crazy.

Last night in Raleigh we shot a scene with Charles B. Allen, Katherine Drew, Abigail Cornell, and Abigail's father, Bryan Cornell. Bryan proved to be a great asset to the scene and literally threw himself into the role as a hitman trying to kill Ian Tesh.

Enjoy the pictures!

Audrey Tesh (played by Abigail Cornell) hides in a dangerous moment.

Preparing for a creative shot ended up taking a little longer than expected.

Bryan Cornell (playing the intruder) after a deadly encounter.

Applying some blood makeup to Bryan Cornell.

More shooting for CMF

Today was a long, eventful, productive day of shooting for our Campus Movie Fest project, now titled, 'THE STRONG ONE'.

I met the project Cinematographer, Josh Bielick, at 5:20 am, drove to Rolesville to drop off his vehicle, drove to Durham to shoot a time-lapse video of the sunrise at our location there, then we drove back to Rolesville to pick up our talent (Tyler and Brandon Benson, Josh's cousins). We made it back to Durham at 10 am in time to shoot with our fearless actors Leah Caruana and William Stadler in an.... adventurous shoot (More details on that later). After finishing this shoot around noon, we headed back to Rolesville for our next location. After lunch, we shot at a local park at 2:30, an interior scene at 3 (with actors Constance Collins and Eric Davis), then an exterior scene at 6 pm.

It's been a long day.

Enjoy this still frame. One last scene to shoot tomorrow, and by the looks of it, we'll be shooting in the rain.

There is nothing I'd rather be doing.

Stay tuned for more pictures and the finished film on Wednesday, Feb. 22nd!

Photographing a life-size Brontosaurus at Sunrise.

Still frames from CMF short film

This week I have been working on a 5 minute short film with Josh Bielick for Campus Movie Fest, a student film festival in which all entries must be made within a 7 day period!

Josh and I started filming Wednesday night, and have shot several scenes over the past couple of days. This film is very different from 'Unforgotten', but I am extremely pleased with the footage shot thus far.

Check out some of the screen shots from the footage, and stay tuned for more pictures this weekend!

Behind the scenes- Preparation

Started out the week by working with Andrew Richardson on music for the first TEASER TRAILER! The music sounds great so far, so stay tuned for more updates on the trailer release!

Andrew Richardson, working away at some intense music for the Trailer.

After working with Andrew, I'm finishing off the night with Josh Bielick and Tim Reavis, working on our CMF Short film that begins shooting this Wednesday.

Josh Bielick and Tim Reavis working on scheduling the CMF short film.

Stay tuned this week for more updates on the CMF project, more updates on the Unforgotten Trailer, other news and behind the scenes!

Weekend shoot

This weekend we shot two scenes: One part of a scene in the home of Ian Tesh, between actors Charles B. Allen (playing Ian Tesh) and Abigail Cornell (playing Ian Tesh's daughter, Audrey Tesh). We ran into some minor technical difficulties, and were only able to shoot part of the scene (however, the parts that we did shoot looked very good).

The second scene we shot this weekend was a funeral scene at Historic Oakwood Cemetery (You might remember the location scouting blog post from back in December). We started shooting Saturday morning in the cold. Special thank to all the extras that came out and braved the cold to be help out in the scene. Check out the pictures below to get a sneak peek at the still frames and behind the scenes.

Me, Matt Harris, Megan Bridges, Taylor Adams, Paul Frateschi, Andrew Richardson, and Christine Hansen preparing for the scene!

Friends and family gather for Marcus Welles' Funeral.

James Caldwell (as the Pastor) leads the funeral ceremony to honor Marcus Welles.

There is no shoot for Unforgotten scheduled for the weekend of the 17-19th, but stay tuned for a 5 minute short that I am working on with Photographer/Cinematographer Josh Bielick!

Campus Movie Fest, and Unforgotten- At the same time?

As if Unforgotten wasn't enough...

For your sanity, don't try making two films at once. Not for the faint of heart.

In addition to shooting two scenes this weekend (10th and 11th), I am teaming up with Josh Bielick, local photographer and business student at NC State to make a film for Campus Movie Fest over the weekend of the 17th-19th. Campus Movie Fest is an international film festival that hosts film festivals at different college campuses around the world.

The catch: You have one week to make a 5 minute short film.

Last year my film The Revolutionary won Best Picture, and Best Actor at the campus level, as well as Best Editing in the Grand Finale.

The winner of Best Picture of this competition, which is premieres February 26th, will be screened in Los Angeles at the International Grand Finale this summer!

I'm very excited for our project this year, and hope to make some great connections working with a different crew and cast. The story is very different than 'Unforgotten', but with some great people working on this project, I know that the finished product will be a refreshing and beautiful perspective.

Stay tuned for updates from this weekend of shooting for Unforgotten, as well as the updates on the new CMF production!

More pictures from this past weekend of shooting

Here are a couple of pictures that didn't make it in the first blog post earlier this week-

In this picture from the Saturday evening shoot is Leah Caruana (playing Vince Malcolm's wife, Elizabeth), Megan Bridges (the faithful Production Assistant), and the young Jennifer Pates (playing Vince Malcolm's daughter, Tiffany).

Leah Caruana, Megan Bridges, and the young but enthusiastic Jennifer Pates on set.

Below are some pictures from out Saturday morning shoot, which took place at NC State's Health Center. In this scene, Ian Tesh (played by Charles B. Allen) seeks out some wise advice from a kind doctor (played by the wonderful Pat Yeary).

Check out the pictures below, and stay tuned this weekend for more pictures and updates!

Production Slate

Megan Bridges, Charles B. Allen, Pat Yeary, and I prepare for the scene.

Running through the lines.

Pat Yeary, Megan Bridges, and Charles B. Allen prepare for the scene.

Pat Yeary playing the Check-up Doctor.

Saturday night's shoot - Vince Malcolm's Scene

Saturday night's shoot was extensive and long, but fulfilling. We shot the scene that takes place at the end of the film- between Vince Malcolm (played by Mike West), the over arching villain in the film, and Ian Tesh (played by the dedicated Charles B. Allen). Vince Malcolm's wife was played by Leah Caruana, and Vince Malcolm's daughter was played by Jennifer Pates.

Check out the pictures from this scene below! And stay tuned for updates on our Saturday morning shoot!

Special thanks to the Pates, who generously let us shoot at their home late into the night. Also, a special thanks to Jason Pates who snapped these behind the scenes pictures.

Dinner at the Malcolm's

Paul Frateschi and the crew frame a shot with Leah Caruana.

Ian Tesh (Charles B. Allen) faces off with Vince Malcolm (Mike West)

Megan Bridges, Paul Frateschi, Me, and Charles B. Allen discuss a shot.

Charles B. Allen prepares for a shot.

Mike West as Vince Malcolm.

Weekend Preview

This weekend is a short weekend of shooting- Considering that we are not shooting on Super Bowl Sunday!

Tomorrow morning we are shooting a quick scene with Charles B. Allen as Ian Tesh, and Pat Yeary as a Check-up Doctor with some wise advice for Ian.

Tomorrow evening we are shooting a climactic scene that takes place at the end of the movie- The scene where Ian finally confronts Vince Malcolm, one of the main villains. We had quite a time casting Vince Malcolm, and offered the role to several actors. Finally we arrived with actor Mike West, who is a theater actor and works with a comedy group in Raleigh.

Stay tuned for pictures and updates from our shoot tomorrow!


"You can believe what you want, but you can't change who you were"
- Vince Malcolm