Production notes on the ABCs of Death 2 - Search for the 26th Director contest

"M is for Mutation," my short film entry to the ABC's of Death Part 2 contest is now complete and officially submitted. In case anyone was wondering, the winner of this contest will have their film attached, along with 25 other Directors (each filmmaker being responsible for a letter of the alphabet) from around the world, to the 2014 sequel produced by DraftHouse Films and distributed by Magnet Releasing. The winner will also receive $5,000. The original ABC's of Death film had a similar contest in 2013 with British-born filmmaker Lee Hardcastle's claymation short "T is for Toilet" winning in surprising fashion.

Shot over the course of 5 days between 9/18 and 10/10, this editing exercise was extremely fun to cut, produce, and direct. It was  made very efficiently and with very few production problems with the exception of our on-location issues while shooting at the nuclear power plant in Zion, Illinois. Shooting at a nuclear power station has its issues, for one thing - there is a significant amount of hidden surveillance and it is intense. Now granted, security should be apparent to the public and admittedly I was shooting coverage of a federally regulated nuclear power plant. However, the actors and I stayed on public property during shooting and we were quite conspicuous. We weren't carrying any backpacks or large pieces of equipment. We had no sound recording devices either. We had one camera and nothing else. Nevertheless, these people are NERVOUS - I don't recommend shooting at this location or any nuclear facility in general. On our first day of shooting at this facility, lead actor Tony Lee Gratz and myself were approached by two "civilians" within the span of an hour asking strange and somewhat obvious questions. Both Tony and myself are convinced that these men were actually undercover security employees. Of course, we could be paranoid, but their behavior was really odd. As we moved to the Southern edge of the power plant, I witnessed a man following us, keeping an eye on or movements, and he may been speaking into some type of walkie-talkie. Once again, he could have just been a curious bystander, but I seriously doubt it. Here's why I think my paranoia is valid. After we returned from the Southern edge of the plant grounds, a white van parked within 25 yards of us. The drive rolled down his window and began taking photos and/or recording video of us. Was he plant security? Fuck, I sure hope so. So, was it all worth it? Would I shoot there again? Of course I would, I'm a crazy person.

All in all, I am satisfied with the way this film turned out for the simple reason that this project is not finished. It was always my intention to complete a much longer version of this film - this is primarily why I shot over 90 minutes of footage. When the snow begins to fall, I will return to the power plant with my actors and makeup guru Sarah Sharp to construct the ending we did not have time to shoot due to the limitations of this contest and the fact that reconstructing Winter during a rather warm Indian Summer can be a tremendous undertaking. Later this year, I will return this film to its original form; that is a 10-12 minute, true-in-every sense-of-the-term "Director's Cut." Assuming we do not win this contest, we will lose the "M is for Mutation" title and re-name the film; this title is pending.

We will resume production on this film within the next few weeks, as usual, I will keep you posted....