I knew it wouldn't be easy. I was only just starting out in the creative industry and had very little experience. But the my creative soul just had to start telling these stories.
Where the Stories came from
Since around 2010 I would often have these scenes appear in my head and I would watch them play out, I had no idea what spurred them on and it was always original characters in scenes of action or drama. At times I would spend hours thinking about the scene, who the characters were, what must of happened to cause the scene and this would lead to other scenes appearing in my head. Sometimes scenes would appear while I was listening to music, which if I'm honest there are some songs I can't listen to anymore as it sparks a rather sad scene in my head and I will genuinely start to cry or have a hard time holding it back.
But so many of the scenes were filled with action and I would get excited thinking about them. I also found the characters very interesting and I started to become very attached to a few.
After this had been going on for a few years, I begin writing down some of the scenes and trying to put them in a timeline order, to better understand what was happening in these stories bouncing around my head. Of course it was difficult as there was about four completely different stories bouncing around. But each was very different as they were taking place in different environments. One head a Fantasy adventure feel about it, One was like Medieval meets Victorian times about it, one was set around London time around early 2000's, one was a High school fight club and one was Cyber Punk. So all very different, with very different characters.
I began writing them as their own individual stories, filling up note books with character notes, conversations and action scenes. I started to get very excited about the stories and the scenes in my head started connecting to other scenes and at times I would find my self lost in thought for long periods, just watching the story unfold. I could see it clear in my head, like I was watching a T.V. screen (It's the best way I can describe it).
I started to become a little obsessed with some of the stories and especially some of the characters.
After so much writing and watching the stories in my head, I felt I needed to do something with them. I had to find a way to try and share them
Sharing the stories with the world (well, the few people that were interested)
Deciding what to do with the stories, seemed like such a simple choice at first. I was currently trying to make my way into the filming industry and could think of nothing better than turning my stories into a live action series. However I did not have access to large sums of money and was still very new to the industry, so didn't have a great deal of contacts.
So choosing which story was not an easy one, but as one of them was based around our time and also had a London feel about it, I thought that would be a good place to start and so I started writing a script for episode one of 'The Organiser' (which was the early 2000's idea, as I felt this would be the most realistic one to achieve as I lived in London).
After Completing a draft for the first episode, I began a path which was filled with an incredible amount of work and obstacles to overcome. I might one day write a blog about all the work that went into making the first episode, but it would probably take up two maybe three posts in itself.
However with the incredible help from some amazingly talented people. I managed to get a great deal of the first episode filmed, edited it myself and posted it online in three parts. However, because of limitations, I wasn't able to get it all filmed and even missed out on introducing a very important character in the story.
Despite all the hard work, put in by myself and all those involved. Sadly it didn't get much support and the amount of views we received was very low. This didn't discourage me from telling the story and I knew that the reason it wasn't has good as it could of been was due to my lack of experience. The cast I had were incredible and the tiny crew I had were beyond professional. It was me that needed to improve.
I spent some time trying to develop my skills as a film maker. Finding my way on to professional sets as a Background artist, watching closely as the crews would be setting up each scene, trying to watch and listen to the Director and their assistants. Taking in all I could during each day, on films such as Suffragettes (2015), Legend (2015), Fantastic beasts and where to find them (2016) and a few others which you can see on My IMDB page.
Feeling Low
So there I was, struggling to get anywhere in the filming Industry, spending days and weeks working on projects, writing scripts, going to meeting and interviews. For so many projects for other people that never even got funding or anywhere near pre-production.
All the while I was getting even more frustrated working on these projects, because I knew I had stories of my own, that I really wanted to tell and every day I spent working on other peoples projects, was days I was missing working on my stories. Also I wasn't making any money. I was struggling to pay rent and was jumping between jobs to try and stay afloat.
I found myself very upset at times and really questioning what I was doing with my life.
However inspiration had been building inside from when I was walking around MCM Comic Con London in October 2014.
Inspiration from Comic Con and Rooster Teeth
(I'm going to tell the truth, even though it does make me sound like a bit of a clueless idiot. Which I was).
I was walking around The MCM Comic Con London event in complete ore. So many people all dressed up, some of which looked absolutely incredible because of all the detail and clear hard work that was put in. I was having the time of my life and then I walked past a stall with a huge que of people going around it. I saw pictures of a Youtube show that I had watched a few episodes of and really enjoy "Red vs Blue", along with loads of merchandise. I saw two young men sat down giving autographs and taking photos with fans and thought that they must be the creators of Red vs Blue, that's pretty cool. I then saw the sign Rooster Teeth and assumed that was the production company name and remember seeing it at the start of each episode. So I opened my MCM programme and had a little look to see if there was anything more about them. To which I saw they would actually being holding a panel later in the day. So I made plans to attend the panel.
I arrived at the panel prior to the Rooster Teeth panel and managed to find myself in the front row. once the prior panel finished, everyone got up to leave and people for the Rooster Teeth panel started to come in. It was such a huge space and there were so many seats, i was thinking it would be quite empty. I was wrong. So very, very wrong.
It was so full that people were stood all around the sides and back of the hall. I had really enjoyed watching "Red vs Blue" but I had no idea it was this popular. How clueless I was, because this was not a Red vs Blue panel for Rooster Teeth to promote.
So the Panel starts and on walks Miles and Kerry from RoosterTeeth. Everyone goes crazy and I'm sat there thinking this is awesome. But as the panel went on, a show kept getting referenced, which I knew nothing about, I hadn't even seen an advert or poster of it. It was here that I got introduced to RWBY! What the hell is this I said to myself, it looks insane. Fans were going crazy as we got a sneak peak at the new season to be released soon. All I could think about for the rest of the day was getting home and watching RWBY. As I walked round I then started noticing people in cosplay of the RWBY characters, there were actually posters and artwork being sold. RWBY was actually everywhere and I hadn't noticed.
When I got home that day day, I was straight online and binged the first season and started the second (Which I finished the next day). But Miles and Kerry were Writers and Directors for Rooster Teeth. Miles had mentioned about taking on writer responsibilities for "Red vs Blue". So who was this Rooster Teeth company?
When the weekend of MCM comic Con came to an end (I had a weekend pass and was there for all three days). I was filled with inspiration, I had met so many comic book artists in comic village who create and publish their own stories. Some incredibly talented artist who create and sell their own work at conventions. But RoosterTeeth had really caught my attention, a company created by a group of friends who just started out by making a few very funny episodes and posting them online. Which grew into a full on production company which now employs a very large group of talented people and creates online entertainment.
I was inspired beyond belief. There it was, people who had actual achieved it by there own hard work. No experience in the industry, just had ideas and put them online for people to see and enjoy.
I recommend you check out a few of the people who inspired me from MCM Comic Con:
The decision to start with Comics
So I was ready to get going again, but still the lack of funds was something that really played with my mind. Comic Con had reintroduced my joy for comics and I had really started to get into Anime and Manga because of this. One show in particular was One Punch man, it was such a funny show, but the action, Characters and Animation were just mesmerising. After completing the first season and with no more episodes. I hunted down the Manga and found the artwork by Yusuke Murata and story by One, just blew my mind (I'm still reading it to this day and always waiting with excitement for the next chapter). It was then I found out that 'One' the creator of One Punch Man had originally started by posting the comic online, his drawings were not particularly great, but people still loved it, as it was such a fun story and because of its popularity, Yusuke Murata (A truly incredible Manga Artist) approached 'One' to do the artwork and it turned it into an incredibly popular Manga.
So there was my answer. I could work on the comic my self, I had experience with websites and knew about Wix.com which would let me set up a website for free to get started. Of course I knew it would be difficult, due to my limited drawing abilities, not to mention I knew nothing about creating comics. But I knew this was something that if I got the hang of it, I could share my stories with the world and not have to worry about expensive overheads.
But money was still going to be a problem, I had rent to pay, bills, food and a pet cat that needed feeding. So I had to make the decision to give up the dream of chasing life in the film industry and get regular job.
But the next question was a tricky one. Which story do I start with.
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