Welcome to The Red

As with all of the production diaries on the site, this is a transparent look at the production lifecycle of “The Red.”

This film was conceived while hiking in the Red River Gorge, here in Kentucky. Locally known as “The Red,” this sprawling place of beauty is 42,000 acres of the most unforgiving land in the state, and maybe in the whole country.

As an independent filmmaker with more location experience than anything else, places like this often inspire my visual vocabulary to start chattering behind my eyes until a concept is formed. A lifelong fan of small films with limited locations and minimal cast, as well as enough experiences in life to know the logistical nightmare of lugging cast, crew and gear into a setting like The Red to make a film is not only daunting, it’s capable of stopping good ideas in their tracks.

However, once in a while, a concept comes together as kind of like a snapshot in my mind. For a minute or two, I see a film’s entire lifecycle from concept through post in my mind. I’ve learned to pay attention when these short windows pop open and “The Red” is a perfect example of these prefect creative storms.

I am dedicated to making these production diaries a detailed experience for everyone; a place where filmmakers can, sort of, go through the process with me in hopes that my experiences may help some other people either stay focused on their goals, learn something they may not have known or just be reminded that we all go through similar struggles from our own inner creatives as well as logistics, the real world, suits, technical issues, etc…

Welcome to the production diary for “The Red.” I’ve got a lot of entries to make for this and the other diaries I’m launching on the site, so please stick with me as I enter what may seem random at first, but that will all make sense once I get this whole thing brain-mapped.