My First Feature Horror Film

So I’ve been up to something lately. You may have noticed my sporadic bouts of absence from the horror blogosphere over the past couple of months. I wish I could say I was out saving the world or something, but I’ve been working on the next best thing: my first feature horror film. (Besides the one I made in junior high--that doesn't count because it's terrible)

The film is titled Break and here is the synopsis: Reunited for the weekend, a group of friends are driven to violence when an unknown force seems to bring out the worst in them. Who will be the first to break?

Melissa Fisher as Angela

My husband and I made Break in about two weeks for a couple thousand dollars, using non-professional actors and hardly any crew. Relying on friends, family, and film students, Break was somewhat of an experiment to see if we could really make a feature film. Well, our hypothesis was correct: we could do it and we did.

Break was one of those projects that kept evolving over time. The story was changed to accommodate budget, the cast was swapped at the last minute due to schedules, and Nick and I found ourselves constantly filling in crew (and even cast) positions at the last minute. However, I believe that the best directors are those who understand every job on set and the best way to understand those jobs is by actually doing them. Ideally, it wouldn’t be all at once, but hey, at the end of the day the movie needs to get made regardless of who does what. We learned so much from the experience of Break and I wouldn’t trade all of the trials and tribulation for a smooth ride.

Danny Bauer as Kane

I just created a blog for the film, which you can find here. Follow for updates on the future of the project, as we send it out to contests, festivals, and whatever else comes our way. We just entered the film into the “Big Break Movie Contest,” which is sponsored by Rogue and offers the chance to have your feature film screen at 50 AMC theatres. There are some awesome films submitted already, so go check them out. And if you feel compelled, please rate the trailer for Break here. I don’t think the rating actually impacts the contest, but it can’t hurt.

If anyone is interested in obtaining a screener, just let me know and I’d be happy to send you one—don’t worry, no rave reviews required. =P I know the movie isn’t perfect, but I am curious to see what people (especially horror fans) think of it.