If
you're reading this, I'm almost amazed.
That means that, 1) you kept Stranger Things Studios on your Facebook news feed,
2) you saw this post on a holiday weekend, and 3) you actually took the time to
click on the link. So, wow! And thank you.
I
suppose an earnest update is in order:
Where've Ya Been?
I
fully intended to take a break after Z.A.S.A. was released in November. There was no set date in mind as to when
Stranger Things Studios would fire up the furnaces again. "Take the winter off" was general
idea.
In
truth, I think I burned myself out.
Filming is a grueling undertaking.
To turn out a YouTube upload every month of decent quality was requiring
my every free and waking moment to be dedicated it. I rarely went to bed before 1:00am, had to be
up by 6:30am, and hopefully my daughter slept through the night. Contrary to popular believe, I do like me sleep, and I am neither
personable nor functional without it.
I
have a lot of other project I've been meaning to work on, and I've been pushing
them off for quite some time (I'm not talking in terms of months here. I'm talking years). I wanted to take the
winter to revisit them.
As
some of you may know (mostly people who know me well, or have dug deep into the
blog's archives), I wrote a sci-fi / fantasy novel a few years back (manuscript info). I have been meaning to get back to it for the
longest time. The manuscript is finished,
but I have a lot of editing left before it's where I want it to be. Even so, it is complete, and I need to be
pushing it on the market in attempt to get a publisher to buy it. That's always been the dream goal. It's what I went to college for, after
all.
The
movie thing just sort of happened. Sadly,
there is just no way to actively do both at the same time.
Then
we had a winter of epic proportions,
too! Never mind the temperatures that
were the worst recorded in my lifetime (Why do I even live in Minnesota?!) My family also came down with the flu. Twice. Our circuit breaker box crapped out because
our house turned out to be an electrical fire hazard. I started finishing a section of my
basement. Then, my wife and I found out that
we have another baby girl on the way (woot!).
Which in turn meant I started doing a better job of finishing the basement so we could move furniture to set
up the new bedroom. Etc. Etc. I'm just going to stop there. There just hasn't been the time, the energy,
or the spare change to delve into anything else until now.
In The Works
I've
also spent a lot of time pondering what creative endeavors even felt worthwhile
to me anymore, and if I was just dumping endless time into projects that were ultimately
not going to go anywhere.
BUT
THEN!... a few of developments came to light.
Firstly,
I was commissioned by someone to film something for the first time! A small local cleaning company here in the
Twin Cities was looking to shoot a commercial.
They heard about me through a mutual friend and we made something. I will eventually put it up on the STS
YouTube channel, but I want to have some more material in development first.
The Half-Orc II
On
that note, when I was first brought on to do the commercial, I revisited the
STS Youtube channel to see how things had fared during my 6-month absence. To my surprise, activity on the channel had
not tapered off. In fact, it was
performing better than when I was actively trying to market it.
Naturally,
I asked myself, "Well, what videos are getting the most views?" I was not surprised to find that "Waterpark!!!"
was the popular video. It always has
been. However, "The Half-Orc"
was drawing just as many viewers since the first of the year! Not only were people viewing it, but they've
been commenting on it, and subscribing to the channel.
Additionally,
I was encouraged by a fan to make a sequel.
He was eager to know where the story went next. Given the sudden popularity, I think there
are many people out there who would agree.
So, that's in development. I've
gotten everyone from the original cast to sign on to shoot the next
installment. I am mulling the concept
around in my mind currently. In the near
future here I will get it down on paper.
Game Plan
Going
forward, I plan to take it slow - well,
as far as the public can see. My primary
goal is get that manuscript underway and out there. Yet, film production has become an important
thing to me as well. So, I think I'm
going to rotate back and forth - push through the book, shoot The Half-Orc II,
write something, shoot something, write something, shoot something, and see
which one takes off first.
In
the meantime, I still have all the Director's Notes written up for all the
movies we've filmed up to this point. I
make a point to get those all up and online.
Thanks
for sticking around.
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