About Me

Movies are my life.

I’ve been an independent filmmaker since 1984, when I worked as Unit Production Manager on the low budget cult horror-comedy I Was a Teenage Zombie at the age of 21.  I’ve made 10 indie features of my own and worked in different capacities on many larger films; I’m the author of 15 professionally published books, including 12 critically acclaimed novels and the  instructional filmmaking book Cheap Scares: Low Budget Horror Filmmakers Share Their Secrets; I taught screenwriting for two years at University at Buffalo; I've mentored many young filmmakers; and I’ve run an international film festival, currently called Amazing Fantasy Fest, for 16 years. I'm also the executive director of Cinema Arts Collaborative, Inc., a nonprofit organization devoted to grwoing and educating my local film community in Western New York.

I write original screenplays for clients, sometimes as a ghostwriter. I rewrite screenplays, work as a script doctor, edit screenplays and provide critical analysis of screenplays.

Clients seek me out, and I'm proud to say I've delivered quality work to each of them and they've been pleased with the results. As a screenplay analyst, I've always managed to identify elements which need improvement, whether in terms of logic, pacicng, or character consistency. I find it gratifying to  help fellow creatives. 

Most of my writing assignments are written under Nondisclosure Agreements. I am most closely identified as “a horror guy,” but I’ve written action, suspense, western, comedy, fantasy, young adult and romance, and I’ve adapted novels into screenplays and vice versa. A strong screenplay depends on interesting characters and an escalating story structure.

In terms of my own work, my movies tend to be campy B-movies due to their small budgets - I'm an indie filmmaker at heart, and when I write a screenplay for myself I intend to produce and direct it. My novels (three of them based on screenplays) are deeper, richer, and more serious and thematic - they are my "big budget movies." Fangoria magazine once called me "the busiest man in horror." If your project is in the horror genre, my name may actually prove beneficial to it.

I like genre films, 1970s New Hollywood films, and 1990s independent films. 

I've studied many of the great (and not-so-great) screenwriting gurus, and pick and choose which qualities to follow, and am slavish to none of them. Syd Field, Robert McKee, Dan O'Bannon, and Blake Snyder, to name a few, and many others. 

Nothing makes me happier than writing, directing and producing my own films, but I only make one every few years. My second favorite activity is helping other filmmakers, whether through writing screenplays for them, line producing their films, or showcasing their films at festivals I program. I love writing and problem solving, and screenwriting for clients enables me to combine both challenges.

I will take your general idea or specific story treatment or novel and deliver a professionally written and engaging screenplay in a timely manner. I've had clients give me as little as a character, a setting, a subgenre, or a logline, or as much as a detailed treatment. I can adhere to a strict outline or go off on my own creative tangents, depending on the wishes of the client.

What I don’t do is “fix” screenplays written with generative A.I., and I don’t rewrite screenplays according to suggestions made by A.I. programs. I believe in the power of storytelling, and the craft of screenwriting, as imagined by the human mind. Let's discover what your imagination has to offer and realize it as fully as possible.

I'm not a guru. I loathe people who make their living telling others "how to succeed in Hollywood" or "the film business." Most of these people don't possess The Secret or they'd be realizing their dreams instead of capitalizing on those of others. I'm a professional writer, offering my creative services and experience to you. If I desired to con aspiring filmmakers and authors, this entire website would be one long, hard sell, and that ain't me. I would also charge higher rates. If you're ready to take the next step,  email me at digital guerrilla cinema at gmail dot com