So, the past week was spent up in a beautiful little town called Charlevoix. Lovely and serene, it’s the place where people who find Traverse City too cosmopolitan have their summer homes. Of course, I was there in the middle of the winter. Which means it’s empty, filled with trees which looked like dead stalks as far as the eye could see, and patches of snow increasing the desolate and empty feel.

In other words…the perfect place to shoot a horror film.

Now for those of you who know me, you know what a genre junkie I am. 2 am is as likely to find me curled up watching an Ahn Byeong-ki film as it is to find me asleep. Which makes it all the more exciting to give the bigger part of the news:

I’M DIRECTING THIS FUCKER! FUCK YEAH!

Oh, did I mention I’m excited? See, we all shot a million shorts in college and grad school. Directed plays and short pieces. And as a producer – more often than not – you collaborate with your director in designing shots, shaping performances, locations, and key hires. And if your director sucks…well, you end up doing even more of it to make sure the film is still good.

So, we’re still finishing up the details – but the financing is closed, and pre-pro will begin in the next few weeks. I’m exhilarated, exhausted, excited, and to be quite frank, a little scared too.

And I love it.

something is totally going to come through these woods and eat you.

Remember when I said a while ago that I expected my life at the end of 2011 to look very different than it did at the beginning? This is a huge step towards that. I decided to make my 2011 the year of no excuses. Too often I line up my life like dominoes. I will do D after I do C, and definitely after B. However, too often this way of thinking becomes an excuse for putting off D because B and C aren’t perfect yet. And to that end, fuck it. When I was talking to a financier who believed in me enough to put money into something I would be producing, I decided to jump off the deep end, and see if they would support me as a director also.

The non-hesitation astounded me. Apparently, the only person getting in my way of doing this was me. By not asking. Take that, 2011.