November 01st, 2019

For the fourth year now, Nightmares Film Festival (run by Jason Tostevin and Chris Hamel) has been holding a genre festival in Columbus, OH. They hold a top rank in the genre festivals and for a good reason. They create a family feel from way before the beginning and it continues well afterwards. Their lineup often includes World Premieres and carefully selected blocks of features and shorts from all over the world.
When my movie was accepted into the festival as it's World Premiere, I was thrilled and bought plane tickets right away. Even though I was there a day early and left a day after it ended, I still regret not seeing all I wanted to see, but I had to make tough choices. Sometimes in my exhausted state (very little sleep) I decided to give my brain a break, but many times it was due to talking with other filmmakers, creators, writers, fans, staff, volunteers (all wonderful and hard working), etc. Everyone involved made the experience even more memorable.
29 Needles, was in a 2am time slot that comes with the title of "Late Night Mind Fuck" . “One of the most dangerous and challenging blocks of programming at any festival” (The Film Coterie) The award ceremony was in the 5-6pm slot on the day of my premiere. I was there with P. Andrew Willis, who helped design the sound of the movie and created the original score, as well as the star of the movie Brooke Berry. The movie was nominated for Best Midnight Feature and Best Lead Actor (Brooke Berry). We did not end up winning for the nominations, however we ended up with an even more greater and coveted award of THE FILM FROM HELL - BEST OF THE FESTIVAL. I was in shock. It was the last award and I was just thrilled to be there. What an experience. It is now almost a week later and I still and in a bit of disbelief. 
As an artist and filmmaker it is wonderful when you create something you love despite the fact that others may not feel the same about it, but when you get validation and understand, that feeling is remarkable. It motivated me to begin work on my next film as soon as possible.



PopHorror.com - Video Interview
https://youtu.be/Vb9NE6ceJOo


Candy-Coated Razor Blades - Podcast interview
https://candycoatedrazor.podiant.co/e/nightmares-2019-friday-night-update-37da1ff39944a6/?fbclid=IwAR3eeBhlOa8R8xZBjc4KQbchWArGEXZJIoVFWbrSDVlXXeTFRMmJbBcAQ6c