Feature Films
From The Rough, 2014
From The Rough was an indie feature inspired by the true story of Catana Starks, the first female head coach of a Men’s D1 Team whose unconventional recruiting methods led to a record-setting performance from her diverse, talented squad from the Historically Black Tennessee State University.
A feel-good throwback family sports film in the style of Cool Runnings or Remember the Titans, From The Rough stars Taraji P. Henson (Hidden Figures) and Michael Clarke Duncan (The Green Mile), with Tom Felton (the Harry Potter franchise) leading a brilliant young ensemble cast.
This was my first produced feature. I wrote the screenplay and worked alongside the Director from casting through editing, but was later named Executive Producer after managing the Post-Production efforts all the way to its theatrical release.
It has since played on BET and the Golf Channel, and currently streams on Apple TV.
Livin’ Like Ribich, 2020
This was a true labor of love.
Two of my longtime collaborators in Los Angeles, Mike and Rebecca Trehy, were forced to move back to Rebecca’s family hometown after the tragic loss of her younger brother Tyler. A precociously gifted creative himself — and beloved, as he was also elected class president — Tyler was involved in a car accident the summer before his senior year that left the community devastated and Rebecca’s family in mourning.
Mike got me involved early while he and Rebecca filmed people and places from Tyler’s childhood, and I personally completed the editing, special effects, and post-production.
Livin’ Like Ribich premiered at a drive-in theater in Aspen, CO in the summer of 2020, after the graduating class was forced to skip their ceremonies due to the Covid-19 pandemic. It later played on the local public access station, and became a much-needed catharsis for all manner of missed potential.
The Righteous Lads, 2022 (Projected)
The Righteous Lads does not have a movie poster or release date, but it does have a script, budget, strategy, partial funding, and a handful of animated shorts showcasing the tone of this LIVE-ACTION POLITICAL LGBTQ+ HORROR COMEDY SATIRE. (See below)
This is a film that savagely mocks white supremacist ideology, homophobia, and our dangerously absurd media climate, under the guise of a traditional zombie/horror comedy.
In short, a moron with a microphone leads a gang of zealots to protest a global pandemic (zombies, not Covid), inadvertently causing an outbreak which he tries to cover up by changing his story and brainwashing them further. All the while, they’re dealing with — and getting their asses kicked by — a roving band of LGBTQ+ superheroes.
There is, and will be, nothing else like this movie. If you’re interested in getting involved, shoot me an email.
Web Series (An Abbreviated List)
Well Done
Mike Trehy and Matt Noonan are improvisational comedy dynamos who created a sketch duo called “Clyde McFly.”
“Well Done” is a web series based on one of their signature recurring sketches, featuring a couple of clueless male friends in their 30s-40s who expose their ignorance about all manner of topics (politics, gender, environmentalism) in the process of grilling food in their backyards.
I didn’t write these sketches, but I did help direct and edit their rapid-fire silliness for the screen as opposed to the stage.
Over time it became harder to get us all together to film these bad boys, but it sure was fun while it lasted.
Check out their full channel here.
Beings Worthy Of Respect
Absolutely the most shocking, depraved, series of online videos that have ever been marketed as comedy. “BWOR” was a collaboration between myself and another USC alum with a twisted sense of humor. The goal was to violate social taboos with a completely straight face, to give viewers an insight into the absurdity of the modern world by crafting a universe halfway between our own and the darkest depths of Hell.
All of these videos were originally released anonymously, under the Beings Worthy Of Respect banner (inspired by a Baudelaire quote). My collaborator and I never appear on camera except in cameos, and never listed credits, to preserve and protect the safety of those involved.
For what was intended, “BWOR” hit the target. Mainstream taste has since shifted towards cuddlier, friendlier content. But if you’re so inclined, in the mood for something truly upsetting, the library is extensive.. Everyone else, avoid at all costs.
Visit the full channel here.
Micklem’s Hardware / The Callback
Working with Clem Darling is always a pleasure. Aside from our upcoming feature, The Righteous Lads, these next two entries are some of the sweetest fruits of our labor together. Dingy, grimy, low-budget fruits.
Micklem’s Hardware began as a music side project. Clem wrote a series of singer/songwriter tunes, I offered to record him in my small apartment kitchen. I added beats and instruments. Finally, we came up with a 4-episode music video odyssey about two slackers (us, playing ourselves) working in a hardware store, Micklem’s Hardware. Visit the channel here.
The Callback is a loosely fictionalized set of shorts inspired by the misery Clem endures on a regular basis as a working commercial actor going to auditions. I play the endlessly cruel Casting Director, Clem plays the most pathetic, defeated version of himself. Only three entries, but the material for these writes itself. Poor Clem. Visit the channel here.
Animations, and Other Experiments
During my time producing Cavern of Whimsy, I began to experiment with animations and various digital/practical specific effects.
The “(Outrageous Animated Short)” series, my first attempt at animation, was assembled for the lean fall months of CoW, a three-episode arc consisting of Halloween, Christmas, and New Year’s. I voice every character and also play the background music, all incompetently.
“Raining in LA” was a surrealist “series” starring Clem and myself having a normal conversation that is interrupted by “Weather in Los Angeles,” the premise being that any weather event causes LA traffic to go haywire. This screened at Sethward’s “Show and Tell” for May 2015.
Finally, “It’s All Mike (and a bag of chips)” pitted me against a human-sized bag of Doritos with distasteful personal beliefs and extremely foul language.
