Category Archives: studio

behind the scenes, director, feature film, genre, studio, western, writer

SIX DAYS TO DIE: Enters Production

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I’m thrilled to be in production on my new post-apocalyptic western feature, SIX DAYS TO DIE. It’s got a magnetic cast of actors I’ve worked with in the past, and some folks I’ve wanted to work with for years!

I’ll be combining my love of the western genre with my experience as  in VFX and green screen to build the frontier wasteland of my wildest imagining, while also shooting a film one actor at a time to keep it safe in a pandemic. It may sound a bit nuts, but I think you’ll agree it’s got a helluva look so far!

~M@

From Six Days to Die, the Gambler plies his trade
feature film, genre, science fiction, studio, western, writer

MUTANT WORLD (FALLOUT ASYLUM) SYFY PREMIERE: NOV 8 @9PM

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Fallout Asylum by its new, more SyFy Channel name, “Mutant World” airs on Saturday November 8th at 9pm on the SyFy channel! Be sure to check it out, and hit up the Mutant World Facebook page, give it a LIKE and you’ll be kept up with international air dates, behind-the-scenes goodies and news on how the sequels and series are going… because you KNOW I always write a story that leads to another story.

I hope you dig it!

~M@

feature film, genre, science fiction, studio, western, writer

FALLOUT ASYLUM: NIGHT SHOOTING

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I’m no stranger to a long, cold night shoot. But, working with Nomadic Pictures, this is the first time I’ve had my characters lit by massive maxi-lights on two 80-foot condor cranes for key and kick light. And I’ve got to say it’s awesome.

Now, you don’t need this kind of light for every sort of night shoot –in Six Reasons Why, we sometimes worked with just firelight and a single kick light– but when you have an entire western town to illuminate, it sure does help move things along at a rapid pace while keeping every frame looking gorgeous.

Our warlock of a cinematographer, Neil Cervin, has conjured up some of the most stunning, beautiful, and terrifying images for Fallout Asylum, and I can’t wait for you to see just what I’m talking about when the first trailers and TV spots start to roll out in the fall!

In other news, my good friends in the Canadian band “Four Letter World”, will be providing the song for the ending credits of the film; I’ve heard it and it rocks all kinds.

Plenty more exciting news to come as we film with Ashanti this week, so keep an eye out for more goodies right here!

~M@

feature film, genre, science fiction, studio, western, writer

FALLOUT ASYLUM: PRINCIPAL PHOTOGRAPHY

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After nearly a week of principal photography on the new film I’ve written for the SyFy channel, I’m happy to report that we’re making something friggin’ cool.

So far, we’ve shot with an incredible cast including Spun Out’s Holly Deveaux and Heartland’s Amber Marshall, plus Jason Cermak, Lara Zaluski, Roger LeBlanc, Graham Littlefield and Megan Tracz as our heroes, getting into all kinds of nasty trouble at the end of the world. And some of them even live through it.

It’s been a pretty wild time, with weather giving us the gift of gorgeous snowfalls, and making us pay the price by having to shoot in -15 degrees. You can’t even pay for that kind of production value! Well, I guess James Cameron can…

Between doing some on-the-fly re-writes, running a camera, animating graphics, and supervising visual effects, I’ve actually had some time to do a bit of directing, if you believe it! And working with huge talents like the extraordinary DP Neil Cervin, and David Winning (he directed the Power Rangers sequel), it really is a dream team to have on board to bring this screenplay to life!

As of right now, IMDb is telling us that there’s a September 2014 release… so keep watching here, and keep your eyes peeled on Twitter for the #FalloutAsylum hashtag for updates from all of us!

~M@

award winning, director, feature film, genre, science fiction, studio, western

WRITING, DIRECTING & PRODUCING FOR SYFY IN CALGARY

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*2014 UPDATE: Fallout Asylum has been retitled to “Mutant World”; that sounds more like a movie on the SyFy channel, right?

We go to lens on Fallout Asylum on Thursday, and I’ve spent the past week on location in Calgary with Nomadic Pictures, hard at work getting to a shooting script for the SyFy network.

With the reality setting in of which actor is playing which role, when they’re available and what locations we’ll have, it’s been a great process of collaborating with all the departments to be sure we’re making just the right movie for just the right tone and excitement on-screen at just the right price.

On this project so far I’ve had the chance to work along side folks from the props department on “Chronicles of Riddick”, as well as a bunch of folks who worked on Nolan’s new film, “Interstellar”, and at least two people who have worked on Power Rangers movies. Say what you will about Judi Dench acting in a Vin Diesel movie, this crew is pretty top-notch.

Keep your eyes here; there’s more to come about Fallout Asylum!

~M@