Director's statement:

"In my first attempt at a creative film longer than 5 minutes I knew that I wanted to craft a darn good movie; but I also knew that I had to be creative with a budget of zero dollars and the time limitations of a busy high schooler. I cooked up a few screenplays but quickly realized that roping in a cast to tell the story of the next “Gladiator” might pose a few logistical challenges… getting good actors to work for free on a synchronized schedule isn’t easy! So I decided to “flip the script” and start with some potential actors that I could rope into my madness. I found myself engaging in conversations with substitute teachers along the likes of “Hey can you act?”...”Yeah sure”...”Do you want to be in my movie?”. After roping in my high school theatre buddy, guilting in my theater teacher, and scoring a key role with my substitute teacher it was game on!

Now that I had the skeleton crew of a cast, it was time to craft the story. I know that I wanted to incorporate the hilarious dark, situational humor of my favorite director Quentin Tarantino. I also recognized that two of our lead actors (myself and Aki) were sophomores in high school; so rather than fighting sophomoric humor I felt it might be wiser to simply embrace it. 

The final piece of the puzzle was to craft the storyline. Within limitations on time I needed a bulletproof, but succinct story. I started searching for inspiration and asked the big G (google) who were the best short storytellers of all time. Edgar Allen Poe was a frequent name that I stumbled across. I had never heard of this author but, after reading a few of his short stories I knew I had found my inspiration. After reading “A Telltale Heart”, I was fascinated with the stark contrast of a seemingly sane lead character that enacts a completely delusional act. I did my best to incorporate this juxtaposition of sanity vs. insanity while moshing in a bit of Tarantino banter and “Superbad” stupidity. I hope you enjoy it."