span you get wrapped up in
these characters routing for their
destiny or demise...again, all in
23 minutes. Pretty rad.
You fought in Iraq for several
years. Did you have ideas for
films come to you while you
were in the service or after you
came home? Yeah the thing
about the military or at least
my deployment experience is
that there was a lot of internal
downtime which I spent writing.
I can’t say that any of my films
came directly out of those ses-
sions, Kill Mills was still just a
NJ STAGE - ISSUE 48
short story, but I will say that my
time spent overseas motivated
me. I had a newfound apprecia-
tion for creative freedom back
home and finding that connec-
tivity with those around me. The
military helped me realize that
life is fragile and pretty absurd
so you may as well spend it do-
ing what you love with the peo-
ple who matter most.
You went from teaching el-
ementary school to filmmaking.
Was it a difficult decision to
leave teaching? As a filmmaker
I am most definitely a “week-
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