I have officially self-published my poetry book MONARCHS AND HORNETS! Check it out and get your copy at https://amzn.to/2oozxCe

Visit the project page to see more information and watch some video readings by me!

Issue #2’s script is 98% complete. It has been reviewed by an editor and a number of trusted peers, so I am very confident in its quality. I will wait until issue #1 is closer to completion before finalizing that script. Once issue #2 begins art production, I will start writing the future issues (all of which have been roughly outlined). So far, only the first eight pages of the first issue have been inked and there’s still lettering to be done. Hell, I’m also considering hiring a colorist for it, so I do believe we will need to wait closer towards the end of the year to see it’s publication.

Speaking of which, I know I’ve expressed my uncertainty in this comic series’ publishing plan. I can, however, confirm that I have one strategy that I will be applying. My current plan is to release this series, entirely for free, as an online webcomic through various outlets like Reddit, Twitter, Tapas, Webtoons, and even its own homesite, www.vivathehunter.com. The site is still being built, so please give me some time! Once the six-part series is online, I plan to release a “Viva the Hunter: Volume 1” physical print for purchase containing every issue so far, along with extras.

With this change, I also have one more announcement to make.

I’ve just started working with another artist—Bell Mimieux—to create and publish an eight page prologue comic for Viva the Hunter that will be available for reading once the website is complete. This prologue has already been written and will explore a crucial moment that occurs between issues #3 and #4. I’m very excited for people to see it, so stay tuned!

In other news, what else have I been up to? Well, besides job hunting, I have mostly been researching what I want to do next. The story for Viva the Hunter is pretty much already there, is just a matter of funding, fleshing things out, and waiting on art. For the longest time, I’ve always had this vague idea of a grand, alt history science fiction story in graphic novel form. Lately I have been doing small bits of research into it and thinking more about it. I think if I have a large enough following at the end of Viva the Hunter, I will try to crowdfund the production of this story. Otherwise, I’ve considered making shorter, one-off comics for fun.

I don’t know when I’ll be doing film next, if at all. There isn’t a big market for short films, unlike there is for comics. Vimeo and YouTube exist, sure, but people don’t go there for short films. They go there to watch the news, Vine compilations, and tutorials. Film is far more expensive than comics and there’s far less payoff too. For now, I think I’ll stick to scriptwriting, poetry, and small scale videos (like Indiana’s Most Haunted).

F.D.

Hey everyone, Forrest here. Not much has happened since I graduated in December. I’ve bounced between a few gigs for a bit and began work at a local news station for a little while, but I’ve since put in my two weeks in order to take some time off and reconsider my career path.

Creatively, I’ve been hard at work with horror artist Carlos Sánchez Polo to bring to life issue #1 of Viva the Hunter, a six-part dark fantasy comic book miniseries continuing the story of my 2018 short film Some Place Safe. Issue #1 retells the events of the film in expanded detail while the rest of the series will explore Viva’s journey into a secret world of goetic demons, evil witches, and nunchuck-slinging werewolves.

The script for issue #2 is almost complete while the inks for issue #1 are still under production. At this time I cannot confirm whether Polo will remain as the lead artist for the remaining issues, as he’s expressed interest in pursuing their own endeavors, but if not then I’ve been in talks with other artist friends. The show must go on!

The only remaining news I have to share is that I will be updating my website soon to reflect the addition of my new writing endeavors. I will also be looking into hosting my own domain for Viva the Hunter. The current plan right now is to host the comic online for free to gain an audience and also have links where folks can buy the complete series in physical form.

F.D.

Some Place Safe is an eight minute horror thriller about a training swordswoman that leaves her abusive boyfriend for woman with hidden ties to the dark arts. Starring Samantha Angelina, Isabelle Hanson, and David Carter-T.

This is my fall 2018 college senior capstone film which will debut December 7, 2018 at the IU School of Informatics and Computing at IUPUI in Indianapolis. The exact time of the screening is still to be determined. There is NO COST to get into the event, so please feel free to invite any guests to the screening. If you plan on going, please RSVP here on this Facebook events page.

Since my last blog post in May 2018, I had taken lots of time to think about how I wanted to finish off the end of my academic career. A number of script ideas were produced but were never developed further from the outline stage. One was an abstract science fiction piece in the same vein of Jodorowsky’s The Holy Mountain, but it was far beyond any budget I am currently capable of affording.

Soon I was one month away from the first day of my final semester and I still had not decided on what to do for my capstone piece. Then on July 9, 2018 I wrote the first version of Some Place Safe on a whim. In a nutshell, I shared that with some folk, wrote a second draft, shared it with a professor and then got the approval to turn it into a capstone project.

There are three main characters in this short film: Viva (Samantha Angelina), a young swordswoman in training with a huge affinity for old wire-fu flicks; Lanis (David Carter), Viva’s aggressive and abusive boyfriend; and Sven (Isabelle Hanson), a mysterious older women that Viva has been in contact with who has hidden ties to the dark arts. Viva quickly falls for Sven and runs away to her place in the night with just a duffel bag of clothes and her sword.

Many different actors were considered for these roles. Originally Sven was a far older women in her 40’s-50’s, but it proved difficult to find local female actors that age willing to act for this. Eventually I casted Samantha Angelina as Viva, a performing arts student at IU South Bend and good friend, and Isabelle Hanson as Sven (after aging her down), another IU South Bend performing arts student and my partner who had also acted in my debut short film God Among Men. During the casting process, Lanis had very little character and was simply called “Boyfriend” in the script. Eventually I met David Carter through an ad I had posted online. Thanks to him, I felt inspired to make this role just a little bit more nuanced and give him a proper name.

Finally, I set the shooting dates. October 12, 13, and 14 with a small group reading and rehearsal session on the 12. For crew, I hired my colleague Paul Lanier as sound designer / recordist who I’ve worked with before and Danny Zawacki as composer (who I had met on Reddit prior and felt he had what it took to create the right sound for this). I planned on keeping this crew small, so I tasked Sam with make-up and smaller prop design, got help with some larger prop design from my friend and colleague Joshua, and had Paul bring his friend Eddie who was interested in doing some PA work.

The production rolled around quicker than I anticipated and it went as expected. Fairly smooth, but ultimately some minor details had to be cut from the final script due to time constraints. A 28-minute behind the scenes compilation has been made using an old Sony DCR-TRV340 Digital 8 camera which will be publicly released later in November, along with the trailer. The behind the scenes video show all sorts of fun stuff like prop design, production setup, personal interviews with myself, and just some general shenanigans.

In the end, I’m incredibly excited to see how all of this comes together. The rough cut was completed two days ago. Both myself, the composer, and the sound designer have until November 10 to complete final music, sound, foley, and overall look of the film, the last bit relying solely on me. After that point I put everything together, turn it in for a grade, and start burning some blu-rays for cast, crew, friends, family, and inquiring professors.

Everything came out great. The acting, the music, etc. I’ve even commissioned a professional artist to illustrate a poster for this film. I absolutely cannot wait. Stay tuned. Later in November I will be posting the trailer, the 28-minute behind the scenes compilation, possibly the soundtrack, and the poster once it is complete.

Thank you for your support.

F.D.

The spring has come and gone. At the end of December, I will complete my undergraduate education and leave Indianapolis to pursue further career work. Until then, I have moved into a quiet apartment with a friend to focus solely on my work without distractions.

This spring I have created several portfolio-worthy graphics, completed photography for some major departmental events, and also put together a short documentary on conspiracy theories called Follow The Money. Throughout the following weeks, more of that content should be appearing online here.

As for the rest of this year, I have one sole project that I will be footing the majority of my effort into — my senior capstone project. Currently, the majority of the project details remain undetermined. Stay tuned for more info on that. Outside of capstone, I may work on a small video project for a friend, but that too remains to be determined.

Post-graduation, I would like to try working on a small idea in a similar vein to The Diary of Anne Frank Part II by Harmony Korine using old footage from the discontinued South Bend Renaissance documentary project.

That’s all the news I have for now.

F.D.

 

As you can tell, things are a little different now.

I’ve made the decision to no longer work under the moniker of Dirtyfox Productions. Instead, I will focus solely on pushing my work under my own identity in an effort to pursue my professional endeavors. As such, my website has been turned into a (much more nicer looking) ePortfolio for my work.

I will continue to carry the Dirtyfox Productions branding into my own as it has become such a crucial part of my professional development. Please stayed tuned as more work comes out!

F.D.

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Well, it’s been a busy year. As far as things go, I am officially closing out 2017 having made three short films: The Stillborn, The Mission, and Moments of Eternity.

The Mission was created in the last few weeks as part of a final assignment for one of my film courses at IUPUI. The short was filmed in one sitting and I wrote the script the night before so it was quite a haphazard endeavor, but it has had excellent reception from my fellow peers thus far. Though not officially a Dirtyfox Productions piece, I consider it my highest quality student piece and rank it amongst my best works.

Moments of Eternity was created as part of an independent study I enrolled in this semester as part of a last minute offer by one of my professors. This short acts as the first part of my feature-length script, Prisoner’s Cinema, and in it’s current standing I officially see it as a student production. This short was filmed on a Panasonic GH4 with a modified Panasonic AG-LA7200 anamorphic adapter.

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Today I have learned that The Stillborn has officially been accepted for screening at the Festival de Cinema Escolar de Alvorada in Brazil on November 25th! While I certainly won’t be able to attend myself, for anyone in the area more information about the festival itself can be found here on their website.

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Greetings all, Forrest here! In celebration of my YouTube channel gaining 500 subscribers, I am releasing some footage that has been shot for my upcoming 2017 short film, tentatively titled Moments of Eternity. Releasing in December of 2017, this ten minute short film will act as the first chapter in a seven-part feature film script that has been a long time in the making, called Prisoner’s Cinema.

Co-written with screenwriter Shirley Day, Prisoner’s Cinema follows Hogarth (Jake Wolin), a socially-stunted writer with strange, reoccuring nightmares who seeks help from a sleep study program in order to treat or cure his condition, but soon discovers that he has deeper underlying issues that have gone long unaddressed.

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Greetings all, it’s been a while! Tonight I have the pleasure to announce the The Stillborn has just officially been selected to play at the Highway 61 Film Festival in Pine City, Minnesota! While the festival schedule is still underway, you can keep on eye out for it at their website: http://highway61filmfestival.org/

Big thanks to everyone’s support as of lately! Keep an eye out on my page for upcoming projects. There’s lots of fun stuff in the works right now.

F.D.