MURDER at the HELL HOUSE

This was my very first short film I directed during my internship with Tvlesson.com . I am very proud of this film because I began the internship with absolutely no experience at all. After a few months of writing,editing,directing in a few tutorial videos, I gained experience in different aspects of filmmaking. For our final project, we were to submit a short film script and out of the 15 scripts entered, only 4 would be chosen. I had a few stories in mind, but there was one that I had written out a year before just for fun that i thought would be a perfect short film project. So, after a few revisions, I submitted my script to the voting panel. After our scripts were voted on, we had the option to convince the panel why we should direct the short films. I went ahead and did it because I knew that only I knew what this film should look like. I went in to that conference room prepared with storyboards of the various deaths that would occur within the film. I explained why I should direct this project because I am a die hard horror fan. At the end of the day, they announced that my script was chosen and that I would direct the film! I was on cloud 9!

Then, about 2 days later, my grandfather became ill and was hospitalized. He was 88 years old, and his time had come. His body had begun to shut down and it was only a matter of time before he would leave this world.After a short stay in the hospital, he was released to hospice care and he would live his remaining days in bed in his home. On the week we were set to shoot the film, our main actress backed out of the project, 4 days before we were to shoot! So, I scheduled an emergency audition to be held the next day at the TvLesson building. On the day of the audition, I received a phone call around 7 and I was informed that my grandfather had passed away. It was such a huge loss for me. He, along with my father, molded me into the film enthusiast I am today. He was such a beautiful man. Everybody whoever came in contact with him, even for a brief period of time felt his warmth and his kindness. After hearing the news, I went to visit him in his death bed to pay my respects. I was devastated to say the least.

I toughened up and went through with the audition that was to be held that day. I left my grandfather's bedside and auditioned a few actresses. Summer Malone walked into the room and I knew immediately that she was the one to play Stacy. We went through the script and she acted every scene out exactly the way I had imagined it. I was no longer worried about the shoot. I couldn't wait to bring this story to life.

Because of conflicts with the Catholic Church's Holy Week, there could be no funeral services on the week we wanted to have the funeral services for my grandfather. We didn't want to wait 2 weeks to lay him to rest, so the family decided to have the funeral that very same week that he had passed. It was tough, but it had to be done. I cancelled the Friday night shoot because the viewing was scheduled on that night and there was no way for me to get there. So, that cut our original 3 day shooting schedule down to 2 days. I was not worried because I had a solid team of actors and an amazing crew backing me up. On the day of my grandfather's funeral, I immediately left the cemetary once the services concluded and I bolted to the shooting location.

Once I arrived and saw all the equipment set up and the actors and crew hanging out, my heart swelled with joy. Everybody greeted me with warm smiles and they seemed to be having fun which, for those of you who know me, is important to me. The fist scene I directed was the shower scene between Spliff and Stacy and all I kept thinking to myself was,'I'm finally doing this!' All the actors were troopers and they gave me 100% every time. The first day of shooting went very well and we wrapped it up early because the next day we were scheduled to shoot for 12 hours straight.

The second and last day of shooting was a flawless day. Everybody did what they had to do and then some, the deaths looked amazing, and everybody was having fun! I was particularly worried about how realistic the deaths were going to look and how we would execute them, no pun intended. Believe it or not, the most difficult scene to shoot was the car pulling up on the driveway. We just breezed through the day working our asses off and having fun at the same time. It helps to be prepared and have a hard working team by your side.Joe Rodriguez made the shoot run smoothly and did an awesome job as producer, Joe Ngo set up some awesome shots, Judith Lin brought the brutality of the deaths to life and Ashley Gannon did an amazing job with the makeup and the wounds. The actors were a fun group to work with and everybody got along even though we were all strangers. Everybody was really funny and this came across through the film. Summer Malone brought the innocence to the role of Stacy, Gabe Fonseca delivered a great funny and dramatic performance as Spliff, Vicki Goldsmith and Ronnie Alvarez really came through as the down and dirty couple and Joe Valdez kicked ass as Roach delivered those lines the only way I know he can and last but not least, Jeff Trenkle brought the wickedness as the killer. So, at 2am on Sunday, we wrapped the shoot up, cleaned the set and called it a night. The following weeks we tightened up the shots, added some distortions to give the film a grindhouse look and edited the music. It was turning out better than I could ever imagine. I decided to dedicate the film to my grandfather.

On the last day of the internship, we screened our 4 short films and the company voted on the films they liked best and our film won best film! I was so stoked to hear those words. Immediately after, we went to Hollywood where we had scheduled a premier party to showcase our films and the films of other aspiring filmmakers. The turnout was great, the room was packed and everybody was entertained. Our film got a great response and I heard a few 'eeeewwwww's' and a few screams which made the experience even better for me. I am forever grateful to my friends and crew for their support in making this film. You guys are the best!