Way back in 2003, in the heat of August, Anne and I left Hollywood for the first time. We moved with all our possessions to a little cabin in the woods. We were young, and we desperately needed to lick our wounds and recharge.

Part III

Welcome to the final installment of my short series of reflections on Calvin Marshall. Seeing the film last week in a movie theater was really special, as it’d been over 10 years! This time around I was struck by the sheer scope of the collaboration on so many fronts.

Part II

In this story, we get to watch an extraordinary kid overcome his disappointment — which is one of the most important and underrated achievements in life.

Part I

While growing up, I had two big dreams. The first was to play professional baseball and the second was to be a filmmaker. I’m still not quite sure where these ambitions came from, but they drove me. During my college baseball career, one dream gradually gave way to the other, and I soon found myself in film school.

The movie CALVIN MARSHALL was the direct result of these two dreams.

The Pelican

In the early days of the pandemic, I became obsessed with pelicans.

I’m still not exactly sure why, but these remarkable creatures began appearing in my dreams.

Saturday, October 8, 2022

A long overdue update is finally here, as gorgeous fall weather descends on us slowly in the rogue valley. It’s mesmerizing. If you look closely and stare long enough, you can actually see the leaves turning red, orange, yellow in real time.

I started ABOVE THE TREES in the winter of 2021 — peak pandemic, when the branches were cold and bare. The big idea behind this project was to film a movie myself sporadically, organically — and other adverbs I probably shouldn’t use — spontaneously, creatively, beautifully…all here in Southern Oregon.

Thank you for your interest and questions about this next movie. I will try to get to some of them here. Who’s in it? What’s it about? Is it a horror film? A drama? Why are you shooting so slowly? Where are you shooting? Can I work on the production? Can I audition? When do you start?

I’m so thrilled and grateful to be directing a new movie for Joma Films. As I wrote in my first post here, after the ups and downs of the last movie and pandemic, I began to doubt whether I had it in me anymore. So thanks for following along here — your curiosity and support mean the world to me as we begin prep for this new film.

I’ve always wanted my own site, but for some reason I never quite followed through. My craving continued growing, though — to have my own place to talk filmmaking. So here it is. Welcome to its first iteration.