Many thanks to Art For Progress for creating this forum to allow it’s artists/bloggers a platform to discuss their  multi -creative disciplines as well as specific works of art . I’ve been a member/artist of AFP for a long time and have happily witnessed their growth over their ten years! As a NYC independent filmmaker for 20 years, I’m glad they asked me to blog about film.  Being new to blogging, I was at first excited then nervous. This was due to the many different directions I could take. So I feel the best way to start is from my own experience in directing my first full length feature film entitled “H.O.M.E.”

Not to get into my filmography/resume too much but I’ve been writing, producing and directing short films for 20 years. I’ve worked in the industry on production crews for most of that span which also includes many various other roles I’ve played whether in post production, programming  or even assisting in running film festivals! Let’s just say instead of getting the “ol feet wet” I jumped into the pool and have been swimming ever since. In recent years, I’d been focusing more on my own personal projects to cultivate that “dream career” of being an artist/filmmaker in NYC. Well everyone knows by now how difficult that can be and so you better know how to “hustle” in order to juggle your creative aspirations with the reality of living in the most  artistically competitive places on earth.  With the personal projects, i.e. short films, I was able to hone in on my craft and stretch my projects each time with bigger scripts, budgets, cast and crews. A natural progression one might say  that was also supported by my direct experience working for bigger productions  to support myself. There comes a time though where one must decide for themselves when to take the bigger leap. In my case, I was fortunate enough to have had some great success with the short films I was making hence , I decided it was time to take the gamble.

H.O.M.E. was never a script or even an idea that I’d had for a long time.  Its permutations came to me in threads particularly the form of it.  As a fan of the short format including the structures of films such as Amores Perros and many others at the time , I really felt close to the idea of multiple story lines. I also felt that after making over ten short films that I might be able to transition to a feature length with more confidence. What I discovered during this period were strong themes that I gravitated towards which dealt with the human condition. There are many approaches to writing a script but in the end we each develop our own- what works for us. This is kind of also the reason why teaching it can be too general.

Without any intention towards finding the stories for H.O.M.E. , I accumulated pieces and after awhile decided on how to best weave these stories. The themes revealed themselves actually including the story I’d come across several years ago about a young man with Aspergers Syndrome who disappeared in the NYC subways.  Eventually these stories, threads and ideas began to take shape to formulate the narrative structure which would be presented in three stand alone segments. This “felt” right and considering my several experiments in film expressionism on previous short films,  I felt each segment could perhaps have it’s own language. The title could be H.O.M.E.  and when anyone would ask what the acronym meant , I could answer with the question what does HOME mean to you?  ( as you will learn about the characters of H.O.M.E. in the next blog post)