Right after I graduated from the American Film Institute I was hired to write a "quirky" short, which then was rejected because it was too weird, dark, and small (the producer politely informed me, "You are writing theater.") Human Ecology is based on that original piece. I still don't think it's theater, and I'm very happy there exists now both the tools and distribution platform to create and share this kind of cinema. 

 

HUMAN ECOLOGY was shot in about 10 hours, using the extremely talented actors Sierra Collins and Shinobu Yoshida, along with the awsome production support of Tom Demar. I used the very impressive Sony A7. We shot it around the art district of downtown Los Angeles. Interestingly enough, there was an "indepedent" film crew unpacking on 2nd street when we started. By the time we were done with all our exterior shots they were still unpacking. I used the phones to record sound, which I then remixed using audacity. I mixed everything together using adobe premiere elements 12, which the more I use it the less thrilled I am, but I have to admit it's still very cool.

 

This season of los angeles real time would have been finished way sooner, but one of the original actresses didn't like the way her pores looked after she saw a rough cut. Being a non-Hollywood production I don't use corrections to make my characters look plastic, and I respect the people I work with, so I reshot all her scenes.