First let's start off by having you tell everyone a little bit about yourself. Your background, hobbies, etc..

It all started with Star Wars, my mom and dad took me to see it and I have never been the same. I just fell in love with the whole idea of making movies. I got my first video camera from Sears and I knew right away I wanted to make a movie, so this has been a lifetime hobby of mine.

I can’t tell what I like better, filming, making the props or making rigs to film with.

You're doing something pretty revolutionary in the world if indie films. Tell us about it and what all is involved with it.

The first time I saw MTV’s “The Real World” I was fascinated, and I had all the time in the world to plan. And plan I did, for years. I thought a reality TV show about making a movie would be irresistible to the public, and when you are finished you have the season finale at the premier. So everyone involved is there. Now just to pick up the pace, I wanted to do it on-line, and let the public work with us every step of the way. #1 I am building an audience before I even have a trailer. # 2 because the audience will want to be in on the trailer for the film that there friends are going to watch. I like to do things in a win win kind of way.

I’m sure there are prison breaks that were successful with less planning.

Having no schooling and no money was my prison.

If you had to make a guess, roughly how many people would you say have had input into this film?

On-line so far it’s into the hundreds. Here at home in just my town 70 or 80, but I’m just getting started. I went on the Internet for the first time back in 5/3/04, I know that for a fact because that is my registration date on my board, lol.

How has the whole "open source filmmaking" kind of thing worked out for you? Do you think that in the end it's making things easier or more difficult in trying to get the film made?

I have no idea, I have only helped out on one indie before, but I have made 4 music videos and they went a lot faster. There was no one there to say that doesn’t look good, or man that’s cool, but I really like that. I have made clips and pics that I thought were the bomb, and posted them. And ten min later someone in Japan talking to me on a translator said, it’s too bright and you can see this flaw, and I go back and take a look, and sure enough there it is, they were right.

I think this is the height of technology, and it’s only going to get better. By the time I’m ready to let people see big pieces we made, the net will be like cable TV, just in time for our new type of show.

Your filming location is in a rather interesting place that I'm sure our readers would be interested in hearing about.

We took over the top floor of a building in the ghetto. To give you an idea of its condition, our deposit was $300. It came complete with a fridge that possums would not have lived in, a stove from the 1920s (with one burner that worked but would throw sparks half of the time). Needless to say it was a bit of work turning it into what we have now. This place is actually great because it’s so big. This way we can have one half of it as the set to the movie and the other half as a studio to make the movie. We also have access to an ally outside which is perfect for the ally scene in the film. The building below us is a convenience store and the landlord owns that too, who is the nicest man alive and agreed to let us film in his store…..on top of putting up with us.

When you started this whole project, how did you go about assembling the cast and crew, and have you run into any problems involving the cast or crew that has affected the production schedule?

To put it in a nutshell, a friend brought a friend that brought a friend. The ones that left put a great hole in the fabric of this project. Footage of them is now useless for anything other than behind the scenes. Not to mention a great deal of time lost on the production. As a crew we hold no animosity towards them, but when it’s all said and done, they will regret their decision. But as far as crew, everyone on this project has little or no experience in the film industry. They are just everyday people that love the opportunity of working on a film. That’s what this project is all about. We rely on our message board where we post pics and clips. That’s where our other crew comes in, whom are pros and novices that guide us. They tell us what to do and how to do it, and what the industry standards are. Some of them are real pros that take the time to help us and we can’t thank them enough.

I've seen the shots of the set where this movie is being filmed, and I have to say it looks absolutely amazing. How much time and money was involved in putting it all together? Also, what are some of your favorite set pieces?

Oh man now there is a good question. I started building the set three years ago. Over time we add pieces here and there. I have no idea what the over all cost would be, but all of the pieces are hand made mostly from junk parts and cheap materials. As far as favorites, everyone seems to like something different. One piece that always seems to get a lot of attention is the dead guy on the ceiling. He was actually made prior to moving here and before the script was ever written. He was a creation of logistics. Where would you put a large sized prop when you are living in a small apartment? When there is no floor space…………. just look up, plenty of room there. What would be the best thing to put on a ceiling……a life sized dead guy.

This is your first film. What are some of the most valuable things you've learned from going through this process? Have you learned any "life lessons" from it that are really going to stick with you?

Patience and gratitude were only words to me a year ago, now they have become a way of life. What started off as something fun, has now turned into something ominous and foreboding. At one time I took films for granted, but now having experienced first hand the difficulties involved, I have gained great respect for any indie filmer who has completed a project. Whether it be a short or a full length feature, my hat is off to them.

Are you planning on doing any more films after this one? If so, would you like to do another "open source" type of a project or would it be more of a closed thing?

Ohh, absolutely an open source film.I have been planning the next one for five years. With the knowledge and publicity we have gained from this one, the next is a shoe-in.

This film is not the only cool thing you've done. You've invented a lot of stuff including cool things that filmmakers can make good use of. You've displayed these on your website along with instructions on how to make them, free for anyone to check out and use. Tell us about some of your favorite inventions.

That’s a tough one to answer, every one asks “why don’t you patent your rigs for cameras?’ and I always say the same thing…if giving my ideas to other people gets me closer to my goal then that’s what I’m going to do, get closer to my goal. My favorite one is the crane man. It uses the person as the tripod or pedestal, you are the center, so where you go it goes.

Once this film is completed and you've added it to your long list of accomplishments, what's next for you? Do you have any other dreams that you'd like to make reality, or is the whole filmmaking thing something you'd like to continue doing?

I have another film project I have been planning for a longer time.

Is there anything else you'd like to add before we wrap this up?

We hope to find a pro that will spearhead the TV show project, but they must understand everything they do or say will be on the board for all to see and talk about.

The people at home will interact with the show to. This means if someone at home wants to make a clip and send it in and the audience likes the clip, it becomes part of the show.

I know this might be hard to follow at first, but all it is in reality is a detailed behind the scenes of a movie. For example if someone at home takes there cam coder and goes on the street and interviews people asking what they think, using preloaded questions, that can make for a great episode.

Again creating a win win for us and the public, the person doing the interview gets recognition, weather he is in school to be a news man or just wants to have fun, the people they touch will want to see there interview, and they will want there friends to see what they had to say, and we get a clip for our show.

If you'd like to check out the film's website and find out what's going on with this great open source project, you can check it out at http://www.sticktowhatyouknow.com. While you're there, be sure to check out Liza's really sweet inventions as well.