Kaya was an experimental film at its heart with a thick narrative that probably should have been 40 minutes, or even a feature if I knew what I was doing.

In any case the project became some kind of hybrid film, part documentary with non-actors in acting roles usually delivering lines they wrote themselves (most of the messengers) and young actresses with written dialogue and dramatic arcs in the others.

It was a labor of love that took a year's worth of shooting and another year of editing. In the end it won a nice marble trophy from Hardacre, a $500 check from Real to Reel and got me a free ride to study screenwriting at an intensive course at The Film School in Seattle.

There I learned from great professors: John Jacobsen, Warren Etheredge (my man!), Tom 'Viper' Skerrit, Lisa Loop and the inimitable 90-year old Stewart Stern, Oscar winning screenwriter of Rebel Without a Cause. Stewart is a beautiful man with a stunning range of emotional capacity and an equally broad array of Hollywood stories from the good ol' days.

It's 2013 now and I hope to keep working as a screenwriter and filmmaker. My next project is titled Looking for Love. Stay tuned.

Tony
Feb 1, 2013