It's been over a year since we wrapped production on TWENTY YEARS LATER, and the movie is finally hitting the big screen!

TWENTY YEARS LATER opens today at Celebration! Cinema Woodland and runs for at least a week. Showtimes are listed here. Tickets are only $5 each.

Following the theatrical run at Celebration, TWENTY YEARS LATER will hit the film festival circuit. On Friday, October 3, the movie will be the opening feature at the Made-in-Michigan Film Festival in Frankenmuth, Michigan. Then, during the first weekend of November, it'll play at the East Lansing Film Festival. We're in the process of submitting to more festivals, too.

It's been a long, arduous journey to get to this point, and it would never have happened without all the amazing people who have been involved with the production. We had an outstanding cast and crew, and our various supporters have been invaluable.

Please come and see TWENTY YEARS LATER if it's playing near you. If it's not, then we'll just have to work on getting it to you. It's worth the wait.

On Tuesday, August 20, 2013, principle photography officially wrapped for TWENTY YEARS LATER!  I'm very pleased with the footage and the performances.  The entire cast and crew did spectacularly well.

Amazingly, this production was originally planned for twelve days of shooting, and we pulled it off in approximately nine and half days!  Credit goes to our top-notch first assistant director Phil Worfel, our excellent director of photography Seth Stoltenow, and the efficiency of the entire crew.  I'd love to sing the praises of each individual crew member here, but that would take a long, long time to get through.  So I'll just say this: I would be thrilled to work with any of these fine artists and technicians on future projects.  And the same goes for the film's incredibly talented cast -- particularly my co-leads/best friends Robert William Ford and Scott Merriman.

This was probably the smoothest production in which I've ever been involved.  It was fun, it was productive, and it was highly rewarding.

Now comes the long post-production process, which will involve synchronizing video and audio, editing the film, color correction, sound design, and scoring.  There's so much yet to be done, but a huge step has been completed.

Thank you again to everyone who has supported or worked on TWENTY YEARS LATER!

Well folks, this is it: the final day of pre-production.  Tomorrow, we begin shooting TWENTY YEARS LATER!  It's been a crazy journey up to this point.  Lots of steps forward and lots of steps backward.  But everything that's happened has been building up to tomorrow, when a group of dedicated artists and technicians will gather to make cinematic magic.

Today, we take another pass at our shot schedule, and we head out to scout another potential location.  Paperwork is getting done.  The budget is continually being tweaked.  Stress is building, but so is excitement.

I'm proud of all the work my talented cast and crew have done so far, and I'm eager to see what kind of mad brilliance they bring to set tomorrow.

So that's it.  Tomorrow ... we shoot.

See you on the other side.

Holy cow!  We start shooting TWENTY YEARS LATER in four days!  Bright and early this Saturday morning, we'll be on location and in production!

Phil (the first assistant director) and I thought we finished the rough shot schedule last night, but it turns out we still have a few scenes to plan.  Good thing Phil caught that.  He's a great 1st A.D., and I'm glad to be working with him again.

At this point, we're mostly trouble shooting and finishing any last minute planning.  The cast and crew are set, and the script is locked.  We just lost a location, so we're looking for a replacement.  We need a spacious room that could pass for the bedroom of a modern apartment or condo.  If you know of something in the vicinity of Grand Rapids, Michigan, that fits that description and might be available on Saturday, August 17, please contact me right away.

Besides that, all I can say at this point is thank you for all the support.  We're excited to make this movie!

Well, folks, TWENTY YEARS LATER begins production in two weeks!  Just two weeks to finish rehearsing, lock locations, get paperwork finished, and find time for sleep.

This past week has been very busy.  I've gotten to rehearse with a number of the actors, including Scott Merriman, Robert William Ford, Dana Blackstone, Alicia Humphrey, and Rachel Clare Higgins.  Some of those rehearsals even included photo shoots for the film.  For instance, Alicia Humphrey is playing an aspiring model, so we took a bunch of pictures of her modeling in character.  You can see an example from the shoot adjacent to this text.  Some of the pictures will appear on set in the movie.

There's just one location left to find, and we're scouting a place tomorrow.  It seems promising.  Treehouse construction will hopefully be finished today, and I'm plowing ahead on planning my shots.

Oh, and we now have a director of photography!  Seth Stoltenow has joined the team and will be in charge of the camera.  We're happy to have him aboard.

So there you go.  A mere fourteen days remain until production launches.  Are you excited?  I am.

Time is flying by!  We begin production on TWENTY YEARS LATER just three weeks from today!  We're deep in the midst of pre-production at this point.  We had a great table read with the actors last Sunday, and specific rehearsals begin tomorrow.

The crew is coming together very well.  We're very close to having a director of photography, and most of the rest of the crew is now in place.

Most of the locations have been locked down.  We're following leads on a couple outliers, but it's very close to being set.  And our treehouse sets look great.

I've been busy planning my shots lately, and as soon as the shot list is finished, I'll be meeting with the assistant director Phil Worfel to plan out the schedule.

Thanks for all the support so far!  Please keep spreading the word about the film, and check back for more updates!

Well, TWENTY YEARS LATER begins shooting one month from today: August 10, 2013!

The cast will be gathering on Sunday to kick off rehearsals by reading through the script.  I'll try to post a few pictures soon afterward.  I'm ridiculously excited about working with this group of talented actors, and I can't wait to hear them read through the finished script.

We've also been working diligently on building the treehouse sets for the film.  Check out the picture of me in a partially-finished treehouse!

The other big thing that's happening right now is putting together a crew.  We actually have a number of excellent crew members interning from Compass College of Cinematic Arts.  I love working with these up-and-coming filmmakers, and I'm eager to see them in action on this set.

Now we just need to finish finding the last few crew members and lock down our last few locations.

One month to go!

We're well on our way!  The art department recently began construction on our treehouse sets for TWENTY YEARS LATER.  We're continuing the process next week, we'll ultimately have two treehouses to use for the film: one up high in a tree for exterior shots, and another one lower to the ground for interior shots and some moderate stunt work.

We also have a date set for our cast table read.  That will entail the entire cast getting together and reading through the whole script together.  It's a great chance for the actors to meet and see what everyone's doing in their respective roles.  It also lays the foundation for the rehearsal process that follows.

I'm also doing another re-write on the script.  This draft is basically just a dialogue polish.  The story's structure is working, but I want to make sure that I'm fine tuning the little things.

The other big news is that our Indiegogo fundraising campaign has ended.  We raised $1000.  We greatly appreciate all the contributions.  And even though the campaign has ended on Indiegogo, we're still seeking funds.  If you'd like to donate, but missed the deadline, just send me an email, and we'll make arrangements.

We start shooting in forty-five days!

TWENTY YEARS LATER is moving into pre-production.  The principle roles have been cast, and location scouting has begun.  We've already found a few places to shoot, but now we have to find the rest.  This will be an ongoing process.

Fundraising continues.  There are less than three weeks left to contribute to our Indiegogo campaign.  Please donate if you can, and keep spreading the word about the film.  If you'd prefer to donate via some other means, please email me to set something up.

The next phase of the film will include putting the rest of the crew together and planning out shots.  We'll also be setting up rehearsal dates with the actors.  The project keeps moving ahead, but there's still a long way to go before production begins on August 10th!

It's been quite a busy couple of weeks for TWENTY YEARS LATER.  I'm into my third week of auditions, and I already have some great options for the three available roles.  Auditions officially end on Saturday, so we'll see what happens during the course of this busy week.  Within the next three weeks or so, we should be close to finalizing the principle cast.

Fundraising is still moving forward.  I'd like to once again thank everybody who has already contributed to the film's Indiegogo campaign.  We're a long way from our goal, but there's still time to donate!  Every little bit helps.  Even if it's just a few bucks, we really appreciate any contribution.  Oh, and if you donate $100 or more, you can get a complimentary cape like the one my nephew Charlie is wearing in the picture to the left.  There's child-size or adult-size.  It's awesome.

Our crew is expanding, as well.  Elizabeth Kauffman has joined the team as our art director, and Jennifer Fuller will be handling wardrobe.  We also have my pal Phil Worfel as our first assistant director.  Phil and I have worked together several times, and he does an outstanding job.  I'm very pleased to have him on the crew, along with all the other fantastic people who will be working on this film.  I've been talking with a number of my students about interning on the set, and I'm eager to see the team keep growing.

I just keep getting more and more excited to make this movie!