My zombie script takes a couple bites out of the Action On Film Festival in California!

“Nice Cans!”

Last night it was good being me. My screenplay, Belzec: The Made Undead won first place in both categories it was nominated (Horror and Science Fiction) at the Action on Film awards ceremony in Pasadena. I was stunned. Awarded two top prizes far exceeded my expectations. I would have been thrilled receiving an honorable mention…once. But hot damn, running the table is all right with me! I guess those boyhood days at the grind house finally paid off.

Seriously, even I forget how many hours, weeks and months we writers put into a single project. And with work and family obligations, much of the writing has to be done late at night, when everyone’s asleep. (Perfect time to pen a zombie thriller, yes?) My point is though a labor of love, it’s still labor. So, it’s nice being validated.

A bit about the AOF… What started as a festival to show the work of artists who might otherwise be marginalized is growing into what founder, Del Westin calls a “mentor festival” producing projects for filmmakers and giving them greater access to the Hollywood machine. As Del put it at the awards ceremony, he literally wants to “push” new filmmakers and writers forward. He likened it to cramming us onto a subway in China!

I don’t doubt he’d do it. Del is a force of nature.

Del and unknown starlet

He and the entire AOF team are to be commended for building and fostering such a passionate community. I’ve been to my share of advertising award shows and film festivals. The esprit de corps at AOF trumped them all. At the writer’s ceremony, everyone cheered for everyone and those winning honorable mentions were encouraged to make speeches. Losers were told to keep on writing. Fellowship like that is rarer than you think, especially at award shows.

AOF passes, tickets, program…

At my table was a screenwriter from Amsterdam, an east coast scribe, a writer from Ireland and a student author, as well as their spouses and partners. Very cool. I normally cringe at award shows (win or lose) but this was as fun as a good dinner party.

And then I won. Twice. Look- I don’t know if Belzec will ever get made. For any screenwriter that mountain is high, let alone a fabulous nobody like me. But my confidence grows with each prize that it garners. In any event, there are worse ways to spend an evening.

By the way, if anyone out there wants to make a zombie move with gravitas, find me. Horror, as I’m finding out, can be pretty damn lucrative.

My dream, my nightmare: “Belzec: The Made Undead” is once again a screenplay finalist!

Will Belzec be the belle of the ball?

A few years ago I was on the phone with my brother, Jeremy talking about our favorite subject, horror movies, when he suggested an idea for one. It was, I thought, a fresh angle in the zombie genre -no easy feat. The demon seed was planted and I sat down to write it; after, of course, learning the software of Final Draft (for screenwriting). Six months later I had a script, Belzec: The Made Undead. We are talking 2 hours or so of writing and research and rewriting almost every night of the week. But it wasn’t my first foray into long form writing. I’ve written three novels, two of which you can find on Amazon. So, the hard work was not alien to me. As a matter of fact, I loved it. A writer writes. I tore into that script ravenously like a zombie into flesh.

But then I tried to get it made. Now that’s hard. First I tried working all my connections made during a long career in advertising, querying producers and filmmakers I’d met along the way. I got some interest. Lots of constructive criticism. But, alas, no serious bites.

And so I decided to enter Belzec into various film festivals around the country, of which there are many. Kind of like a fisherman setting out lines, and utilizing the incredibly helpful Withoutabox platform, I put my script out there.

Boom. The script was accepted into one festival after another. Wow, I thought. That’s more like it! Still, I had experienced my share of literary rejection so I tempered my expectations. And then I started winning. A lot. In 2011, Belzec: The Made Undead received the following honors:

1st Place Chicago Horror Film Festival “General”
2nd Place Nevada Film Festival “Horror”
1st Place The Indie Gathering “Horror”
2nd Place Waterfront Film Festival “General”
1st Place Action on Film Festival “Horror”
1st Place Action on Film Festival “Sci/Fi”
Semi-finalist: Landlocked Film Festival
Semi-Finalist: SoCal Indie Film Festival
Finalist: First Glance Film Fest
Finalist: Write Movies Competition
Official Selection: Naparville Film Festival
Honorable Mention: Hollywood Screenplay Contest
Honorable Mention: Shockfest

I went to several of these events to receive my prizes. What a crazy thrill that was! Along the way, I met all kinds of scribes, filmmakers and fascinating characters. I picked up an agent. Flew to Hollywood. Talked with directors. The whole shot.

First prize, The Chicago Horror Film Festival

First prize, Action On Film

First place, The Indie Gathering (Dig that trophy!)

And yet, it still didn’t get made. Like a videogame warrior, I did not give up. I revised my script and this summer entered it into a few more festivals, including one of the best shows representing the horror genre, Shriekfest. In my first go-around, Belzec didn’t even place at this show.

This year, I am a finalist at Shriekfest, one of twenty scripts selected from many hundreds, perhaps thousands; I don’t know. But I’m in it and I’m thrilled. The script is also an official selection in several other shows. But Shriekfest is the darling. My cramped fingers are crossed.

Zombie movies are everywhere. I know; I’ve seen them all. But there is always room for one more. Particularly one with gravitas.

And while I don’t expect Legendary Pictures to call, there are myriad other companies out there specializing in horror. Bottom line, I wrote something I would want to see. Something I’m passionate about. My good friend, John Coveny (The Closer, Trust Me, Longmire) once told me to write about what I love. And so I did. Belzec: The Made Undead was/is a labor of gory love.

Getting this movie made is my Great White Whale. It’s at the top of my bucket list -right up there with seeing my three daughters graduate from university. Should Belzec ever be produced it’s highly unlikely my daughters would see it. It’s pretty gnarly. Still, when I overhear them bragging about how their daddy made this commercial and that poster my heart just bursts. Imagine what they would say if their pops created a monster movie. That, my friends, is what success looks like.

Behind the camera, back in the day…

Undead in Ohio: An award-winning weekend at The Indie Gathering.

The Indie Gathering. You can’t win ’em all!

As some of you undoubtedly are aware, my summer away from advertising has found me on the film festival circuit, where my horror script Belzec: The Made Undead is actually winning awards. Last month it received two first place trophies (best horror & sci/fi feature) at the Action on Film Festival in Pasadena and in June a second place (horror/feature) at The Waterfront Film Festival in Saugatuck, Michigan.

Kristina Michelle & Ray Szuch present me the trophy for Belzec: The Made Undead.

This week I write from Westlake, Ohio, where Belzec took first place (horror/feature) at The Indie Gathering. The Indie Gathering celebrates independent film and in particular those made in the Ohio valley. I’ve never been to Ohio before but my zombie script would not be denied! I wasn’t the only out-of-towner. Other winners came from as far way as England, South America and even New Zealand to receive awards in various categories.

TV show, “Reel Cleveland” interviews an award winner

While The Indie Gathering isn’t the Academy Awards and we aren’t at the Four Seasons, I’m humbled to have won here. TIG takes film very seriously and are devoted to helping unknown and aspiring film makers in their quest for the big time or, frankly, just to get work. At each festival I’ve visited the founders and producers were, to a man, conspicuously un-selfish in this regard.

Ray Szuch and Kristina Michelle (pictured above) of The Indie Gathering were no exception. These two individuals wanted nothing more than for everyone at the festival to network and find connections. (So unlike most advertising award shows, where winning and losing often feels like something out of Schindler’s List.) Kristina is also an actress; no surprise given her looks. Ray has spent decades on the other side of the camera in one form or another. He’s also a seventh degree black belt in karate. And yet here they were, putting on a 3-day show for other filmmakers…for Cleveland… for fun. There’s little chance they made any money.

You have to feel for such fierce independents. These folks bust their ass to make movies, regardless of miniscule budgets and no-name talent. Take Twisted Spine for example. Their motto: “Your Premiere Micro-Budget Experience!” Their film, Murder Machine won the People’s Choice award. I didn’t get to see it but I did view Brian Lawler’s mondo-bizarre Aquarius Rising. His Shock Star Studios also produced Legend of the Melon Heads, apparently their magnum opus.

“Your Premier Micro-Budget Experience!”

Are these films flawed? Hell yes! But there’s something weirdly wonderful about sitting in a hotel basement screening them. For Aquarius Rising I sat directly in front of Mr. Lawlor. A big fucker, you can bet I clapped when the film was over.

Do I want to see my scripts get produced? Of course I do. That’s why I enter them into these festivals. Like my novels, I spent months, even years, writing Belzec: The Made Undead and The Happy Soul Industry. Seeing them on the Silver Screen (hell, even straight to DVD) is tops on my bucket list. Whether winning prizes at all these festivals leads to that is hard to say. But it can’t hurt. And it’s a ripping good time!

Look Ma, first place!

If anyone is interested in my books the links are to the right. If you want to read one of the screenplays, just ask. Next up The The Chicago Horror Film Festival and The So-Cal Film Fest, where Belzec is an official selection!

Other pics from The Indie Gathering…

Director, Traylor Trimarchi and his two trophies

Internet TV: Cleveland’s “Blurry Dude”

The lovely Kristan Michelle (right) interviewing a nominee

Fascist propaganda takes over NYC subway eliciting criticism along with great buzz.

Lots of scuttlebutt over the use of Nazi imagery on several NYC subway cars to promote Amazon’s new show, The Man in the High Castle, which imagines our world had Hitler won World War 2. The campaign incited many riders to complain and inevitable criticism from the Anti-Defamation League, among others – and it did so without even using Nazism’s most reviled symbol of all, the Swastika.

I’m not surprised by the furor (no pun intended) but I’m not deterred by it either. Propaganda and advertising are supposed to illicit a reaction. That this campaign mixes the two is not gratuitous. The world would indeed be a scary place if Nazi’s were running it. That’s what the show is about. And that’s the point to this campaign. Copy ties it all together. But not before you’ve been flummoxed by the images.

I have spoken numerous times to marketing communications classes as well as at the International Advertising Festival in Cannes about the power of propaganda and its influence in modern advertising. I even use Nazi imagery as an example. It’s kind of a pet subject of mine. Ever since creating the “curiously strong mints” campaign for Altoid’s, I’ve respected the awesome power of signage. Out of home media – be it billboard, poster or experiential, when it’s done well, when it becomes iconic, is a game changer. A painted wall becomes a neighborhood landmark. There’s a semi-permanence to the medium that film and video can never possess.

Throwing stones in glass houses? One might question the campaign’s location. New York City is home to a great many Jews, many of them direct descendants of those who were killed by the Nazi regime. Maybe such images should never be foisted upon them -or anyone- in a public place (especially a railway car). It’s a fair argument. Even in today’s terror-ridden landscape, Nazi Germany still holds a special place in the cellar of evil. Its infamous symbols and propaganda demonstrate this evil with searing intensity.

That said, I’m all in on this idea. Precisely because of just how nervous it makes everyone. That means it’s working.

Day 1 at Cannes. Deboning sea bass and avoiding the rain.

Sunday night and my first night back at Cannes. Maybe Mr. Lazare was right (see previous post): I do like being where the action is! In any event it rained this evening. My small group zipped from awning to awning along the famed Croisette, heading toward our dinner spot along what I like to call the “crooked road.” That is not the road’s real name, of course, but this is what I’ve been calling it since I first saw it, nearly a decade ago. The crooked road meanders up into old Cannes and is as quaint and charming as one could imagine, with smoothed-over cobblestones flanked by centuries-old buildings, each containing a marvelous cafe or restaurant.

We chose one randomly or, more the case, one was chosen for us. An aggressive but charming owner promised us a coveted outside table with awning. You can’t not sit off the road. The parade of people are as interesting as the food is good -save for the shirtless Brazilian drum team, who’s obnoxious act felt more at home at a street fair in Chicago.

We all had sea bass, which came grilled whole. One of my dinner companions was grossed out by this fact but his hunger overpowered any cowardice over taking apart the sea creature. (Small and trout-like, these were not the same sea bass as we know them in the States.)

Time out! I just reread the above paragraphs and they sounded like notes from a novice travel writer. I’m sorry; it must be the location and circumstances. I beg your pardon. But it’s hard to stay fixated on advertising when you’re in the south of France!

Being Sunday, there is not much business to discuss. I did see a few adveratti, however. My two favorite sightings were David Lubars running up the crooked road in a downpour and the ubiquitous Bob Greenberg holding court at the Palais. David (BBDO) is chairing the films jury and Bob (RGA) is chairing… whatever he damn well pleases. Seriously, his shop, RGA is one of the most successful digital shops in the world. That he has become a poster child for this festival seems only fitting.

When I first started coming to Cannes, the old ad guard were still clinging to prominence, brandishing TV as the penultimate expression of our craft. Guys Like Joe Pytka ruled the roost. Now Greenberg and Bogusky comprise the A-list. And while a Lion for film is coveted, the integrated Lion is what everyone is talking about.

Off to bed I’m afraid… the jet-lag is beginning to make my hands shake! #canneslions