I just found out that I've been quoted in some book I've never heard about.
"Sexuality and New Religious Movements" (edited by J. Lewis and Henrik Bogdan)
They must have dug into some pretty deep archives to find my published essays on human sexuality.
Monday, September 18, 2017
Sunday, September 17, 2017
My festival schedule is filling up
I'm really proud of my work as a writer for The Family Way screenplay and as a director/writer for its short prologue film "Coming Home". I'm also extremely happy that so many festivals seem to like it too.
Now that it's approaching the spooky season, I'm starting to hear from more festivals in the States.
The Family Way feature screenplay is a finalist in the Women in Horror Film Festival in Peachtree City, GA. I'll be attending that 4-day event starting on September 21st.
Then on October 1st I'll be at the Halloween Horror Picture Show in Tampa, FL where "Coming Home" will be screening in the 11am-2pm short block.
"Coming Home" will also be screening at the Upstate NY Horror Film Festival in Rochester, NY that takes place Oct. 13-15th. I don't know what day or time block the screening is scheduled for yet, but I'm hoping to attend that festival as well.
I'm still waiting on a few more festivals to announce their selections to determine where I'll be and when for the next eight weeks or so.
This is the first time I've actually toured with a film instead of waiting for a movie I worked on to screen at a local fest. I wish I could have attended UK screenings, but there was a little problem about having yet to renew my passport that put a damper on things there. (I really should get on that soon.)
So far the worst part has been all the driving. I still maintain my belief that Miami has a three drink minimum to use its main roadways. (I've already decided to fly the friendly skies to attend any festivals that are more than 500 miles away from home.)
I've also been noticing that the organizational level and filmmaker-friendliness of the smaller festivals has been going right across the board. To date, the worst has been a festival that didn't regularly update its website and I didn't find out about the festival schedule until AFTER "Coming Home" had already screened!
Now that I'm going to be involved with some of the larger ones, I'm curious to see how smoothly they run. Right now I'm extremely impressed with the Women in Horror festival, as they seem to be bending over backwards to take care of their finalists. (Even the screenwriters like me who don't have a "face on the screen" during the event.) I'm really looking forward to getting out there this weekend, even if it is a six-hour drive!
Now that it's approaching the spooky season, I'm starting to hear from more festivals in the States.
The Family Way feature screenplay is a finalist in the Women in Horror Film Festival in Peachtree City, GA. I'll be attending that 4-day event starting on September 21st.
Then on October 1st I'll be at the Halloween Horror Picture Show in Tampa, FL where "Coming Home" will be screening in the 11am-2pm short block.
"Coming Home" will also be screening at the Upstate NY Horror Film Festival in Rochester, NY that takes place Oct. 13-15th. I don't know what day or time block the screening is scheduled for yet, but I'm hoping to attend that festival as well.
I'm still waiting on a few more festivals to announce their selections to determine where I'll be and when for the next eight weeks or so.
This is the first time I've actually toured with a film instead of waiting for a movie I worked on to screen at a local fest. I wish I could have attended UK screenings, but there was a little problem about having yet to renew my passport that put a damper on things there. (I really should get on that soon.)
So far the worst part has been all the driving. I still maintain my belief that Miami has a three drink minimum to use its main roadways. (I've already decided to fly the friendly skies to attend any festivals that are more than 500 miles away from home.)
I've also been noticing that the organizational level and filmmaker-friendliness of the smaller festivals has been going right across the board. To date, the worst has been a festival that didn't regularly update its website and I didn't find out about the festival schedule until AFTER "Coming Home" had already screened!
Now that I'm going to be involved with some of the larger ones, I'm curious to see how smoothly they run. Right now I'm extremely impressed with the Women in Horror festival, as they seem to be bending over backwards to take care of their finalists. (Even the screenwriters like me who don't have a "face on the screen" during the event.) I'm really looking forward to getting out there this weekend, even if it is a six-hour drive!
Tuesday, August 29, 2017
"Coming Home" screening in Tampa
"The Family Way: Coming Home", the short film I directed that's been getting quite a bit of attention, is going to be screening close to home for me in October.
The Halloween Horror Picture Show film festival. The film is in the first short block (10am-2pm) on Sunday, October 1st.
Tuesday, August 15, 2017
My first published novel
I had no idea that The Gallows Flower was still available anywhere. I just found it on Amazon.
It even has a review! Apparently it coaxed someone into making his first e-book purchase.
It even has a review! Apparently it coaxed someone into making his first e-book purchase.
Tuesday, August 1, 2017
The Women in Horror Film Festival
The Family Way feature screenplay is a finalist in the Women In Horror Film Festival taking place in Peachtree, GA in September!
Duckie and I will be attending the festival to enjoy all the activities and see the films.
Hatchet's 8th Annual Shark Week Photo
I know, it's a little late. But it did happen!
And a trip down memory lane...
And of course Hades had to get in on the shark week action. But he also had to have his prized snake collection in the photo.
And a trip down memory lane...
And of course Hades had to get in on the shark week action. But he also had to have his prized snake collection in the photo.
Sunday, July 30, 2017
More kind words for Coming Home!
This review popped up on my Twitter feed earlier this week from The Slaughtered Bird.
"Writer/Director Shiva Rodriguez’s short film THE FAMILY WAY: COMING HOME hits all the right horror notes. It’s decently crafted, well-written, and paced just right. There are a few plangent tones here and there (to maintain the musical metaphor), but it does what it’s supposed do: leave you wanting more."
See the whole review.
"Writer/Director Shiva Rodriguez’s short film THE FAMILY WAY: COMING HOME hits all the right horror notes. It’s decently crafted, well-written, and paced just right. There are a few plangent tones here and there (to maintain the musical metaphor), but it does what it’s supposed do: leave you wanting more."
See the whole review.
Saturday, July 29, 2017
Double Good News!
Looks like both The Family Way feature screenplay and "Coming Home" short film made the semi-finals of the Women In Horror Film Festival. I should know soon if one (or dare I hope, both) make it to the finals.
I'm really hoping that at least one of them does because I would very much like to attend the event as a film-maker.
Friday, July 28, 2017
Coming Home review
Another review came out for "Coming Home". Not the best review we've gotten, but not horrible either.
Severed Cinema's Review of Coming Home
Honestly, this is the second time that a review has criticized my choice of a goth aesthetic for the character of "Crawford". (Although the first time the reviewer also mentioned that the decision made sense by the end of the film.)
I don't mind the criticism. I want honest opinions about these things because I am planning to direct the feature film associated with this short and it helps me to figure out what works and what doesn't with these characters.
In "Coming Home" Crawford is a scrawny, dorky, teen-aged boy who has put up with years of abuse from his classmates and has finally snapped.
He came up with a plan to get his revenge on the worst of the bullies. It's a horrific plan that leads him down a very dark path once he gets a taste for murder. But it all started as a power play. He wanted his victims to fear him, but he knew that no one was afraid of him at school.
So I got to thinking, What kind of look would a teenager think was scary?
I wasn't about to go with a mask. One of the things I like about villainous characters are their expressions, especially when they enjoy the horrible things that they are doing. (I'm practically in love with "Julian Slink" in the Blood Drive TV series for this very reason.)
I knew that the goth aesthetic was something that was considered strange and creepy to the so-called "normal kids" back in the day. I also knew that clowns rank pretty high up on the phobia scale. So I told the wardrobe and makeup people to combine the two.
Not because I thought the audience would find it scary, but because Crawford would have thought it made him look scary.
Perhaps that didn't translate as well as I'd hoped on film, even with the contrast of the most dangerous characters in the story being incredibly normal-looking. It does give me something to think about for the feature.
Severed Cinema's Review of Coming Home
Honestly, this is the second time that a review has criticized my choice of a goth aesthetic for the character of "Crawford". (Although the first time the reviewer also mentioned that the decision made sense by the end of the film.)
I don't mind the criticism. I want honest opinions about these things because I am planning to direct the feature film associated with this short and it helps me to figure out what works and what doesn't with these characters.
In "Coming Home" Crawford is a scrawny, dorky, teen-aged boy who has put up with years of abuse from his classmates and has finally snapped.
He came up with a plan to get his revenge on the worst of the bullies. It's a horrific plan that leads him down a very dark path once he gets a taste for murder. But it all started as a power play. He wanted his victims to fear him, but he knew that no one was afraid of him at school.
So I got to thinking, What kind of look would a teenager think was scary?
 |
I knew that the goth aesthetic was something that was considered strange and creepy to the so-called "normal kids" back in the day. I also knew that clowns rank pretty high up on the phobia scale. So I told the wardrobe and makeup people to combine the two.
Not because I thought the audience would find it scary, but because Crawford would have thought it made him look scary.
Perhaps that didn't translate as well as I'd hoped on film, even with the contrast of the most dangerous characters in the story being incredibly normal-looking. It does give me something to think about for the feature.
Sunday, July 9, 2017
Another Coming Home review
"We hope that ‘Coming Home’ is just a pilot episode, or a trailer to an upcoming movie that will change everything we know about films of this kind. Yes, we truly hope so, because what we’ve seen in those fifteen minutes was absolutely astonishing."
Coming Home Review from Feel The Reel.
I'm so glad that "Coming Home" is doing exactly what it was designed to do... get people interested in what happens next! I think doing a prologue short film instead of a spec trailer was one of the best ideas we had when it came to providing a visual pitch for The Family Way.
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