Dark Scribbles, came out of a short film script that I wrote in early 2009 called Dyslexic Psychic. I submitted it to the New Hampshire Film Festival and didn’t think much about it until, to my surprise, it placed in the top 10. After some encouragement from friends Chase Bailey and Jessica Webb, I decided to shoot it and enlisted the help of friends, Jonathon Millman (Emmy Award winning Cinematographer) and Marc Dole (Producer) of Hatching Studios to get the project off the ground.

 My goal was to get a tight cast and crew of talented actors, filmmakers, musicians, and friends. I really wanted to have fun, keep it light, and make it a memorable experience for everyone involved (while still managing to make it look great on a “low-fi indie budget”). We shot on a RED ONE in my house, two friend’s restaurants, and another friend’s condo and made sure we could get everything done in our (budgetary) self imposed 3 day weekend. I was focused on getting the best performances and capturing as much emotion in the eyes of the actors. I’m very fortunate to have worked with such talented friends… who just happen to be wonderful actors and amazing crew members!

 A snow storm hit during the second day of filming so we opted out of a few exterior shots and changed the script a little to accommodate the now all interior filming situation.  Part of the reason was to not give the story a season or any specific location.

 I cast friends that I had the pleasure of working with on several film projects previously, not only because of their talent but also because of their great personalities. Film is the only truly collaborative art form, and I wanted to work with people who would enhance the process while having fun and remembering why we got into this in the first place… for the love of film.

 It amazes me that you can start a project with one vision, share it with others to help you see it through, and come out with something even better then you ever expected. When I wrote the script a year earlier, in my wildest dreams it never came out as great as the film we made. I’m proud to have Dark Scribbles as my first film. I’m already looking forward to the next one.

 Michael Venn