I’ve emerged from an intensive writing sanctuary just in time.  The fests are beckoning once more.  I wonder if this is what it feels like to be a parent -  little time for a personal life, but our children are keeping the long hours of work mighty  interesting.  Regardless, it looks like we’ve got 2 exciting months ahead…

I’ve just knocked out three new feature drafts and am trying to readjust to the non-fictional world once more as I head back out on the road.  LAST SEEN ON DOLORES STREET is off to a fun start, venturing out to all new fests for our Deviant team.  We have our world premiere at the Nevermore Film Festival in North Carolina, which is extra exciting as it’s the first time we’ve made their highly selective cut (they only accept 15 shorts.).

Meanwhile across the pond, both DOLORES and I SPIT ON ELI ROTH will screen in London at the super exciting Bird’s Eye Film Fest.  SPIT will screen amid some other super cool looking female-directed horror shorts to be followed by a moderated panel of prestigious women in horror experts and DOLORES will open for a special screening of Ms. Bigelow’s fabulous NEAR DARK. Needless to say, we are honored and humbled.

SPIT will also screen at the Pretty-Scary Bloodbath Fest and even DEATH IN CHARGE continues to forge new ground – first at the Taos Film Fest in New Mexico and then across the pond at a special screening with the Lund Fantastic Film Festival in Switzerland!  tRIPPIN’ will screen (along with DEATH IN CHARGE) at the Saint Regis Club in Warsaw, Indiana as part of a special screening series.

Finally, DOLORES has carved yet another 2 new notches in our festival belt.  It’s been selected to screen at both the Phoenix Film Festival and the International Horror & Sci-Fi Film Festival, which now run concurrently.  Congrats, Team!

I’m currently in snowy, but sunny Indiana getting ready for an evening of hot toddy with old friends. Finals and grades from last semester turned in. I’ve got 10 days ahead to focus on nothing but fests, film financing and our upcoming shoot as we march toward our next big production.

Congrats, Team Death in Charge and actress Marina Benedict for winning Best Dramatic Short and Best Actress at the annual Tabloid Witch Awards!  We’ll be screening Halloween weekend.  Death will also screen at Carnival of Darkness the same weekend which promises to be a rockin’ good time.

We’ve just been bestowed with a Deviant trip through time as Anything Horror revisits our early shorts.  Take a journey with reviewer Scott Shoyer as he explores the films that have brought us to where we are today HERE.  And then for Deviant purists, or just for kicks, check out the very first Deviant picture ever, my 1996 film school project: THE GAP inspired by a walk home through the Haight in San Francisco when I wondered what was wrong with “these kids today” and heard myself sounding like my parents for the very first (but certainly not last) time.

I decided to explore what the world would be like when Gen-X-ers had teenagers of their own and the inevitable generation gap that would ensue.  And, yes, I got permission from Rik Ocasek himself for that Cars‘ tune.  Ah, the 90’s – such an innocent time (ahem).  We hope you enjoy our humble beginnings.  I sure did.  Now, onward and upward!

For those of you who want to practice your French, check out trippin’ directrix’s interview with Sci-Fi Universe HERE

Merci, Frederic!  Vous êtes très agréables!

So this past weekend was filled with blood and ovaries, but, fear not, I do not speak of menstruation (ever, actually. It’s not a very engaging topic quite frankly.)  I speak, instead of the first official Mistresses of Horror gathering followed by the Viscera Film Festival at the Downtown Independent.  Kudos to Shannon Lark and Heidi Martinuzzi for putting together a fabulous event.

On Friday evening, women horror directors from near and far gathered for an old-fashioned girl party – tickle fights in our panties as we giggled about boys…NOT!  As fun as those activities always are, this evening was devoted to women who make horror films bonding with their peers.  I saw a lot of old friends and made some wonderful new ones.  Topics ranged from our own endeavors to collaborations to marketing strategies and film financing.  More importantly, it was about how we can support each other.

The highlight of the evening was when the group of 30 or so women formed a circle, introduced ourselves and sacrificed a virgin.  Then we shared what we’ve done, where we’re headed and got to know one another.  We are not alone.  Cool!

On Saturday we reunited at the Downtown Film Independent to watch all manner of female-directed horror shorts and trailers amid a much-larger-than-I’d-expected, very enthused crowd, including familiar horror actors, filmmakers and a good deal of press.

It was a lovely sight to behold as these impressive women walked the bloody carpet and shared their work – each with her own unique voice and style.  Admittedly, it was a bit hard to watch some of our older, more amateurish projects now (they screened Confederate Zombie Massacre! and I Spit on Eli Roth) rather than our newer, more polished films.  So, it was fun to revisit in some ways, painful in others.

Still, it was a fun event, though I have to admit I chuckled when I reviewed my sparce photos the following day to note most were in soft focus.   This is how I fear I was seeing things this past weekend.  I commented earlier this week that I’ve felt like an extra in my own life lately and, much to my dismay, that feeling had reached its peak by Saturday.  Some concerned friends asked if I was okay.  A few who knew my schedule the past few months were concerned I was suffering from “mental exhaustion.”  Personally, I‘d always thought that was merely a diplomatic term they coined for when a rock star needs to cancel a show to go back to rehab.  I Googled it and certainly related to a few symptoms as seems inevitable with most Internet diagnoses.

However, after spending my first evening home since I can’t remember when, as I felt the world gradually slough off my skin, as I lounged for an evening in the reverie of my long neglected solitude, I realized it was not mental exhaustion, but rather social exhaustion.

We artists are a tricky bunch.  We need the stimulation offered by discourse and interacting with others.  But we also require our alone time.  And having had none in literally months on end, I felt myself slipping away.

When I first went out on the fest circuit (was it really just 5 years ago?  crazy!)  I discovered a new part of myself.  I call her “Cinderella.”   She’s the one who breaks free from my slightly OCD subconscious which harbors a Greta Garbo complex (“I want to be alone.”)  She’s the belle of the ball, dancing around the world endlessly in her fabulous glass slippers, hungry for adventures and chasing whims.  Her real job of course is to give a life to projects completed as well as soak up more life to create the next project.

After this latest, most comprehensive world tour to date that Death in Charge and trippin’ have afforded me the past 30 months or so, I have hit my Cinderella saturation point once more.

So as of now, I’m discarding my glass slippers and feather boa for a spell in favor of my writer’s cap and quill (as we continue to move toward next summer’s big feature production, 2 more shorts, post on Dolores and a webisodes series, that is!)  Cinderella is officially “back in box” until the beast, my ever-ravenous muse, must be fed again.  Fortunately, I suspect she’s chock full for quite some time.  Thanks for the inspiration, Everybody.  It will all be coming to a screenplay, film or webisode near you shortly.

If only I smoked, I’d so light up a cigarette ‘bout now.  I just engaged in the most satisfying discourse.  My co-conspirator,  Theron Neel, editor of the fabulous Slammed & Damned, asked some very provocative questions which I thoroughly enjoyed answering HERE.  Little did he know, he was helping me transition to the “NEW 20.” Phew!  At last everything makes sense…

June’s been filled with unexpected surprises:  a tornado, 2 best picture awards, major life changes and exciting opportunities. Amidst all the craziness, yes, I turned the “new 20.”  For some reason people seem to think that’s a big deal.

On a recent trip to Cleveland, Mum had asked me, “So, how do you want to celebrate your big birthday?”  She was not the first to ask me this and I responded with the same dazed look on my face, “I, uh, guess, I uh…duh (drool)…etc.”

I actually felt bad for not having some creative, meaningful response to this oft-asked question.  Was there something wrong with me?  Was I ungrateful? Uninspired?  Too jaded for porn?

Over the years, I’ve taken great delight in determining how I might make others feel special on their day, but for me personally, birthdays have never really meant too much. Hell, Mum did all the work on that fateful day back in 1970.  If anybody deserves a cake and a wish on this day, shouldn’t it really be her?

Funny, too, I’ve actually spent a vast majority of my more recent birthdays on a plane.  Twice I skipped my date entirely, hopping a plane in the U.S. on June 15^th and arriving in Asia on June 17^th.  One year I was going through customs in Paris when the guard said, “Bon Anniversaire!” and only then did it dawn on me, “Oh, right.  As of today I’m now legally a year older. Fancy that.”

But this year I felt almost pressured to make an event of it. I felt like I should accomplish some major feat:  climb a mountain, swallow fire, walk on burning coals?  What is the rite of passage for entering mid-life? Luckily I found my answer without even looking for it.

As I continued to stare blankly, Mum just smiled, “Yeah, I guess it doesn’t really matter.  I mean, look at your whole life.”  She looked proud.  I was suddenly filled with relief.

Shortly after, Theron Neel of Slammed and Damned, having reviewed our entire Deviant oeuvre, asked if I might be interested in doing an interview with him.  If you haven’t checked out his site you really must.  Wonderful, insightful reviews and the kind of interviews that don’t just offer stock answers to stock questions – they reveal the personalities of the artists behind the art. Naturally, I felt honored to be included.

However, as I pondered his thoughtful questions, I realized this was no mere interview.  It was time travel, taking me back through time on the journey that’s brought me here:

I was a starry-eyed child in Ohio, a would-be Shirley Temple in California, a punk rock girl in Cleveland, a teenage gypsy in Venezuela, a college co-ed at Sarah Lawrence and in Spain, a bohemian in NYC, a lost soul in New Orleans, a free-spirit-turned-film-student in San Francisco, a writer/college professor in Washington and Indiana, a filmmaker who travels the world, and each magical era with so many sidebars, hair colors, travels and wonderful people throughout.

How many lifetimes does one live in a single lifetime, I wondered…

Then I felt a giant weight lifted from my shoulders.  My rite of passage has been the last 40 years – d’uh!   I don’t know why people fret so much about their age.  As Randall, a darling teenaged boy I met in Echo Park, told me as he (blush) hit on me the day before my birthday, “I think age is irrelevant.”   Of course this was one situation where age wasn’t entirely irrelevant, but admittedly it was a nice ego booster (as was getting legitimately carded on my 40^th – yay!)  But such things are hardly of any real consequence.

I’ve been told repeatedly I should lie about my age.  Apparently I can still “easily pass for late 20s.”  But why would I want to do that?   I’ve earned this age dammit.  I feel bad for a lot of folks who feel compelled to resort to such petty  antics.  I truly believe the only reason to feel concerned about the passing years is if one is not spending her time well.  If I had looked back having not seen and done all that I have, perhaps 40 would bother me.  Perhaps I would hear some creepy biological clock ticking, warning me time’s a wasting. But I don’t feel I’ve wasted much time at all.  To the contrary, I can hardly believe so much has happened in a mere 4 decades. And how exciting to think I might be afforded another 40 – this time without the inconvenience of having to learn the language, potty-training and puberty.  I can make even better use of my time this next half or so.  That rocks!

So thanks, Mum, Theron and the wonderful friends and family who made this a truly special birthday.  This year as I sat surrounded by wonderful friends, blowing out the candles on my traditional thematically-inspired black-and-white-cookie, I could only make a silly little wish, because the bigger one has already come true:  my dream of a lifetime is this lifetime itself.  A happy birthday indeed!

*p.s. For the record, I don’t know that Theron’s a vampire-lover per se.  I do know he likes Near Dark and the  horror genre in general though.  I merely took some poetic license because I was fresh out of clever blog titles today.

Ahh, just reading that title probably evokes images of Julie Andrews spinning in circles in the Austrian Alps as she sings all about music in the hilltops.  And while I enjoy The Sound of Music as a movie, that’s not really what this post is about.  It’s about movie music in general.  You see, I’ve always enjoyed movie music, yet many people don’t realize what a huge part of the soundscape movie music is.  When it’s done right, you might not even notice it’s there, but it really influences how you experience a movie.  It’s a part of the story telling devices we film makers have at our disposal, and it can help us cue the audience what they are supposed to be feeling during a particular scene.  Be it some tense notes right before the killer pops out and scares you, to the theme for a hero as he comes flying to the rescue.  It can make you feel sad, tugging on the heart strings, or make you feel happy as two characters finally realize that they’ve fallen in love.

Just think about it, would Psycho be the same without Bernhard Hermann’s screaming violins as Marion is stabbed to death during the shower scene?  Or would the shark have been nearly as scary without John Williams iconic theme to Jaws?  A simple alternating pattern of just two notes, E and F, played on the tuba, yet it’s a classic score of American cinema.  And while I did come to discover those scores later, the first one to really grab me and make me a fan of film music was another John Williams score, his classic work for Star Wars: A New Hope (or just plain Star Wars back in the day).  As a matter of fact, they played the Throne Room music from the end of Star Wars as we entered the reception at our wedding.  Yeah, that’s right, I’m that much of a geek.    and I haven’t even told you about the lightsabers…

Anyhow, I digress.  The main point of this post is film music, and that doesn’t always mean just score.  Sometimes it’s the producers trying to get a hot recording artist to write a song for their movie so they can sell more soundtracks (a process I’m not entirely fond of), and sometimes it’s some great songs that really pull the movie together and reflect it’s personality.  And that’s what I think we’ve done with trippin’.  I love the soundtrack to this movie.  I mean, how can you not love a soundtrack that has songs such as “Holly’s Tits”, “Teenage Zombies” and “Heavy Medication”?  It’s great, and they all help to capture the spirit of trippin’ and make this movie that much more entertaining.

So, to all of the artists who contributed work to this film (and I won’t try to list them all here, lest I forget one), a big hearty Thank You from trippin’s Sound Designer.  Without you, our movie would be only a shadow of it’s current self.  Great work and thanks again!  Trippin’ rocks!

(Share with us below, what’s your favorite film score or soundtrack?)