Walking the Plank with Captain Fin

This week I had the pleasure of shooting some on set production stills for a short film titled "Captain Fin", a beautiful little 35mm fable, written and directed by my friend Kevin O'Neill. We had a 2 day shoot between the windy shores of New Smyrna Beach, to the 35mm Soundstages of FullSail University. We had a blast on set, and also got to work with the most talented Spencer Locke (From movies such as Resident Evil: Extinction & Monster House). I'm definitely looking forward to seeing how this one turns out!

Twas the night before Christmas...

Whilst in a late night frenzy before Christmas morning, and the sleep fairy ironically on break for the evening, I wanted to update on a few items that have been happening lately.

I recently took a return trip to Los Angeles, to conquer some meetings and see some friends, and continue what I set out to do in the cut-short October trip. Overall went very well, and definitely opened some new doors and some new friendships. I have decided to line up 3 feature length screenplays to be finalized in the first quarter of 2010, and also go into production of a new Zombie web serial... details coming soon. I can guarantee you, it's going to be a helluva year!

For now, I had better attempt this whole sleep deal, before my 13 year old half sister wakes up at 4am, demanding to see what Santa was brought...

Director's Reel

Here is a new updated Director's Reel for 2009.

Examiner.com Write Up!

Here is another article about 2:22 that just went up on Examiner.com. I want to thank Tim Springer for the interview! CLICK HERE to check it out!

Orlando Sentinel Write Up!

In today's print issue of the Orlando Sentinel, we were given quite a bit of ink to talk about myself, and 2:22. Read it online here! (WARNING: SPOILERS FOR 2:22!!!)

If you didn't get to see the original review they did, click HERE to check it out.

Driving Miss Cryptidz

After filling myself with as much food as I could handle, Melanie and I drove back to Orlando to prepare for a long evening with the local Horror Punk band Cryptidz. Led by Metal legacy Kam Lee, and our score composer extraordinaire (and Green Hell Bassist) Rob Reider, we had made plans to shoot some new band photos, and a music video for their song "2:22 - It's Time To Die", based off of our short film. The shoot went well, prepare to see some crazy composite shots of the guys "dealing" with some of their favorite cryptid creatures. The music video was shot all around Downtown Orlando at night, using the new Canon 5D. The video also stars Tara Lightfoot (the lead in 2:22), as she spends another horrific evening trying to dodge the gnarly seemingly-undead band members. Luckily no one was injured (too badly) and everyone successfully escapred any police interference. Editing has commenced, so check back for new photos and the music video! Hear the song HERE on the Cryptidz MySpace page.

Turkey Day Recap

For Thanksgiving this year, we ended up spending a couple days with my Inlaws, in their lovely lakeside home in Inverness, FL (the same lakeside home we shot The Night Owl in so many years ago). A relaxing time eating large amounts of food and learning to play Mexican Train Dominoes and Golf (card game). I spent the rest of the weekend lining our house with about 1,200 Christmas lights (of which we had to take some back twice, due to incorrect color labels on the boxes) and shooting new material for the punk band Cryptidz...

Upgrade!

Recently I upgraded my photography equipment, with a new camera (Canon 5D Mark II), lenses, and flashes. I look forward to shooting everything I can with this camera, stills and HD video. For the first shoot I out together was for the infamous Kam Lee (metal/punk frontman for many popular musical acts since the early 80s). This was to be used for Kam's promotion, as well as for an article in the Jan 2010 issue of Rue Morgue magazine. See more of Kam at his Facebook Page here.

Turtle Power!

One of the biggest impacts on my adolescent life, was the discovery of Kevin Eastman & Peter Laird's most bodacious creations, the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. I was completely obsessed as a child, and the elements from that program have stuck with me through today.

This year is the 25th anniversary of TMNT, and at the San Diego Comic Con in June, I had the pleasure of meeting Kevin Eastman for the first time. He drew me a Donatello in the limited collectors edition hardback of the 25th Anniversary Comic Collection. Completely Excellent!

For our wedding anniversary this year, my amazing wife Melanie, bought me the Blu-ray collection of the 4 TMNT movies. Upon receiving this, the immediate thought in my mind was, MARATHON! Our buddy (and fellow TMNT enthusiast) Keenan readily agreed. So yesterday, we watched 7 straight hours of the green team, on our 11' projector wall. Starting out with the original animated pilot, then the 3 live action movies, then the CG animated movie, and ending everything with the first episode of the live action TV series. In the middle was ordered some Dominos pizza (who sponsored the first film) and covered it with toppings from candy corn to gummi bears to chocolate chips and marshmallows. (I do not recommend gummi bears in the future!) The day was radical, and I can't wait to do something like this again! Cowabunga!

...on Writing

I gotta be honest, ironically as much of a writer as I am in my professional field, I seem to have a hard time with these blogs. Despite the consistent busy schedule, after school activities, and over saturated day dreams, today I really felt like writing some updates.

Luckily we are writing 3 scripts at the moment (and 3 more in the wings), so I have plenty of avenues to get my creative voice on paper.

I booked my tickets yesterday for my return trip to Los Angeles, Dec 11-16. Plans are to reconnect with friends, and meet with a few different agencies that will hopefully help push our career to the next level.

I did two interviews this week, one for the Orlando Sentinel, and the other for examiner.com so keep an eye out for those down the pipeline.

They announced that 2:22 will play the Brouhaha Film Festival on Dec 6th. Luckily the day after what will only go down as a killer Misfits concert the night before.

Melbourne Independent Filmmakers Festival

After the slew of Orlando screenings last week, we brought 2:22 down to the lovely city of Melbourne, FL, for the Melbourne Independent Filmmakers Festival. We frequent this fest every year, and always have a blast, thanks to the guys at 3 Boys Productions. We had a Friday the 13th screening of 2:22, showing full theater frame and in 5.1 Surround Sound (for the first time!) We only offended a few of the older crowd that attends the festival, and had a good response otherwise. The next day we also screened our short film we created last year, Guitar God. Unfortunately, I was unable to attend the screening, because I was in a Walk for the American Diabetes Association in Orlando. Represent, Team Happy Toes!

That evening was the awards gala, and I am very proud to say, we ended up walking away with "Best Horror Short" and "Best Musical Score". Tim and I were there to represent (and eat all of the free cake & sushi!) Congrats to all of the other winners!

November Film Slam

After a tiring week of rocking the Orlando Film Festival, we ended the week with a screening of 2:22 at the Enzian Theater's Film Slam. It's a monthly local short film showcase, screening in Winter Park, FL. After playing with 6 other films, we ended up winning over the popularity of the audience, and became the film of the month. With that, we are automatically entered in the Brouhaha Film Festival, and will screen next month. If we end up winning that festival, we get a spot to play at the Florida Film Festival next year. We'll see what happens!

Orlando Film Festival

Due to the overwhelming support of the Orlando Sentinel, we were requested to play 2:22 at the 4th Annual Orlando Film Festival. We had a fantastic time over the course of 5 days. The festival was definitely one of the most VIP-oriented events I had ever been too. We got badges that allowed to get free food and drinks in over 10 different venues surrounding the theater in downtown Orlando, and entrance to many red carpet parties. It was totally sick. We made our mark, by plastering the theater with 2:22 flyers (including all stalls in the bathrooms) during the course of the fest. Due to our diligence, we ended up having two completely standing room only screenings of 2:22. We played with a featurette sci-fi flick called Enigma, that helped bring in the crowd. I like to call them Fire-Hazard screenings, because so many people had to sit in the aisles. This is definitely by far my favorite film festival in Orlando. They really know how to show a Filmmaker a good time!

2:22 @ Screamfest LA

on October 17th, 2:22 screened in Los Angeles during the Screamfest Horror Film Festival. We were most honored to be a part of the fest. Showing your film in Grauman's Chinese Theater is many a filmmaker's dream. It was a zany weekend in Hollywood, and bringing my amazing wife Melanie along was the most fun. She has never been to the west coast, and I think it actually grew on her a bit! It was great to be at the festival screening with Cast and Crew members, and Friends. Lots of meetings in L.A. to get back to... Unfortunately the trip was cut very short due to a most horrible event...

A mighty hero has fallen...

On October 24th, 2009, my Father, Steven Patrick Shea Sr, passed away from a 7 year battle with Renal Cell Carcinoma (Kidney Cancer). He went painlessly, with family by his side, in the hospital. In what can only be transcribed as the best and worst week in my life, it was made more comforting by the overwhelming support from family and friends. I seriously appreciate all of your thoughts and prayers.

2:22 World Premieres!

On October 2nd, 2:22 had it's world premiere at the Sitges Film Festival in Spain. Unfortunately we were not able to make the trip over, but got word from Paul Solet (Director of "Grace" the feature film that 2:22 played with) that we had a 1500 person sold out crowd, to witness the unveiling of our latest short film. It's amazing and very humbling to have a crowd of that magnitude experience your creation. I can only kick myself now for not traveling out.

Yesterday, we had an Orlando screening of the short, to another standing room only crowd (around 220 people) at the Freak Show Horror Film Festival. This has been a rough week for me, (came down with the swine flu and have been battling for the past few days) But I dragged my (somewhat) contagious self off of my couch fort I had built and made it down to the convention. This was our first experience watching the film with an audience, and was very exciting. We got some great feedback, and look forward to some new reviews. The festival had an amazing cake creator build a monstrous 4 foot cake, with frosting characters on top. The highlight of my day will be chowing down on that beast! Tonight is the awards for the film festival, so cross your fingers, and hope we can get a physical recognition! (or at least a second piece of cake)

Zellwood continues...

We are on Day 12 of shooting Zellwood, and production has been going pretty smoothly. As we only have a couple more days of shooting, we had Press Night last night, with local media from the Orlando Sentinel and online horror media site Bloody-Disgusting.com come out for set visits.

Here are the couple of articles Roger Moore from the Sentinel put up about the film.

Overall Set Visit

Interview with Sara Jean Underwood (Lead)

Adventure Chefs

This past weekend, I had the pleasure of helping Direct a new reality series called "Adventure Chefs". We traveled for 5 days to the mountains of Western North Carolina, around the Waynesville area. The shoot was pretty intense, considering the weather just refused to let up. The elements made a great visual impact, but on our contestants and equipment, was not as welcomed. Everyone survived, and many new friendships were formed. We finally found a store selling the Cocaine Energy drink, which was a big highlight. Unfortunately the burning sensation it gave your mouth particles were not. Thanks to everyone again for risking life and leeches on this episode! I look forward to the next one, that will hopefully be shot in the Florida Keys and under water!

(Another) New Project(s)

As of this week, I have officially signed on as Executive Producer on a new Horror/Thriller feature film titled "Zellwood". We aren't releasing too many details on it at the moment, but principle photography begins Monday in Orlando, for 14 days. Keep an eye out for more info soon.

We will be hitting the road for the "2:22" festival circuit, first at Spooky Empire in Orlando, (screening Oct 10th, 4pm) and then will be in Los Angeles for the Screamfest LA Horror Film Festival (Oct 16-25)

I will be hitting the road tomorrow (Thursday) to trek with a crew to North Carolina, where I have been hired to direct a new Reality TV show. Can't divulge too much, but it should be interesting running around the Smokey Mountains for 5 days.

September aXis Magazine

I usually get to shoot the covers for aXis Magazine, and always do the layouts and designs. This month, I was fortunate enough to be able to do an awesome photoshop composite of our friend Marissa in a Hurricane. Celebrating Rumfest, the cover is probably my favorite I've ever been able to do. Check it out!



Also, here is the video of us shooting the cover image (in my backyard no less!)

Check out more at http://www.axismag.com

2:22 Premieres in Spain and Los Angeles!

Wake up world. It's time to die!
Abyssmal Entertainment's "2:22" to Premiere in Spain, Los Angeles and Orlando

ORLANDO, FLA., SEPTEMBER 9 – Abyssmal Entertainment is proud to announce that its latest cinematic creation; the short horror thriller 2:22, will have it's World Premiere at the 42nd Annual SITGES International Fantastic Film Festival of Catalonia where it will compete as a selection of the "Oficial Fantàstic".

Immediately following the film's World Premiere in Spain, 2:22 will have it's North American Premiere--at the legendary Mann's Chinese Theater--as part of the 2009 Screamfest Horror Film Festival in Los Angeles, California.

Abyssmal Entertainment would also like to announce that 2:22 will have it's Orlando Premiere at the Freak Show Horror Film Festival as part of Spooky Empire's Ultimate Horror Weekend.

2:22 is the terrifying story of Vickie Palmer who, after an incredible night out with her girlfriends, is wrenched from her peaceful slumber and cast mercilessly into a world spinning out of control. Writhing half naked on the cold porcelain tile of her bathroom floor, Vickie desperately tries to piece together the tragic turn of events that has twisted her once carefree life into a nightmare of pain and suffering. But when she discovers the truth, will it be too late to save her from eternal damnation?

The film, which was written and directed by Steven Shea and produced by Tim Anderson is the culmination of an intense production schedule that saw a three-day whirlwind of principal photography which was then followed up with an extreme three week post-production process, in order to have the film ready for a fall festival run. "I don't think we could have dared ask for a more devoted cast and crew" says producer Tim Anderson. A point that is reiterated by Shea "After being beaten, bloodied and shot at during production, its amazing to see our horrific vision come to life". Discover more at www.222short.com

SITGES International Fantastic Film Festival of Catalonia is the number one fantasy film festival in the world and represents, at the same time, the cultural expression with the most media impact in Catalonia. With a solid experience, the Sitges Festival is a stimulating universe of encounters, exhibitions, presentations and screenings of fantasy films from all over the world.

This 42nd annual festival will run from October 1st - 12th 2009 in the Mediterranean oasis of Sitges, Spain. Just 35 kilometers southwest of Barcelona, the 2008 SITGES Film Festival attracted an audience of over 100,000 in addition to 1000 journalists and media representing some 20 countries and 700 industry professionals.

The Screamfest Horror Film Festival, which will run from October 16th - 25th 2009, was founded in 2001 by film producers Rachel Belofsky (GOING TO PIECES: THE RISE AND FALL OF THE SLASHER FILM) and Ross Martin in order to give filmmakers and writers in the horror/sci-fi genres a venue to have their work showcased to people in the industry. The festival partnered with the four-time Academy Award winner Stan Winston in 2004 to further broaden its industry reach. Screamfest also boasts an advisory panel made up of some of the biggest names in horror film history, including Wes Craven, Clive Barker, John Carpenter, Eli Roth, John Landis, Tobe Hooper and Sean Cunningham.

The Freak Show Horror Film Festival is part of Spooky Empire's Ultimate Horror Weekend (October 9th - 11th). The film will screen at 4pm on Saturday, October 10th at the Wyndham Orlando Resort. Convention tickets are available at www.spookyempire.com. Writer/Director Steven Shea and Producer Tim Anderson will be in attendance for the screening. The Freak Show Horror Film Festival is the brainchild of FEAR FILM President/CEO Robert J. Massetti. An independent horror filmmaker himself, Robert wanted a film festival that really celebrated the independent horror filmmaker by giving the artist a forum to show his or her work with other horror filmmakers. The festival is really a showcase of some of the most talented, up and coming horror filmmakers in the world and continues to grow by leaps and bounds every year.

The Final Destination

So in the latest addition to my acting demo reel (completely kidding), I did some background talent work in a couple scenes for "The Final Destination in 3D" film, which did all of it's reshoots in Orlando. We went to a pre-screening of the film last night at City Walk at Universal Studios, with the Bloody Disgusting crew. And sure enough, they kept the entire cuts in of the scenes I shot.

If you watch the film, there are a couple scenes in the "Death By Caffeine" Coffee Shop. In the first scene where the characters are sitting around chatting about whats going on, if you watch in the back, I play "Bathroom Guy" and walk out of a bathroom, with a white overshirt and blue jeans, wave my hands in the air, because there aren't any paper towels, and sit down and play chess.

The second scene, is when the main Female character sits down at the coffee shop and is attempting to get her boyfriend to see the 3D movie with her. I'm sitting on the left side of the frame, drinking a coffee and working on a laptop. Its a pretty long sequence.

Anyway, my silly 30 seconds of fame on screen. As far as the movie goes... eh.

The Vandyls interviewed in Cult Goddess Magazine

Check out an interview of our Comic Book Heroine's Sierra & Misty Vandyl in the new Issue of Cult Goddess Magazine.

READ IT HERE!

MiniMegaCon!

I will be attending the Mini MegaCon this weekend at the Orlando Convention Center.

August 22nd-23rd, 2009
Orange County Convention Center Hall E1
9899 International Drive, Orlando, FL 32819

Showroom Hours:
Saturday - 10am-7pm
Sunday - 10am-5pm

I will be hanging out at the Students Of The Unusual booth, pimping our Vandyls Comic and the new Recalcitrant Jones live action comic we photographed, and unleashed at the San Diego Comic Con.

I will also be talking on the Indie Film Panel and screening our short film (for the first time) GUITAR GOD and a teaser trailer for 2:22 at the Indie Film Expo
Time: Saturday, 2:30 PM - 3:30 PM
Room: 230A

Stop by and say Hi if you are around.

Keys Weekend & Updates

Melanie and I spent this past weekend at our house in the Fl Keys with a couple of friends of ours: Tim, Amy, Tara & Mike. It was fairly relaxing, except for the Tropical Wave (eventually becoming Tropical Storm Claudette) that blasted through on Saturday, and left heavy winds on Sunday. Luckily this didn't stop us from eating as much Fish, Conch and Oysters as we possibly could. Not to mention the famous Blonde Giraffe Key Lime Pie!

I have been ears deep into the completion of the script for our next feature length venture "Spook Hill", a ghost story/haunted house style film that will take place all around Central Florida (from the Castillo in St Augustine to the Orange Groves of Lake Wales). Be on the lookout for more news as it rises!

Our latest short film 2:22 is being submitted to a few festivals around the world, while we make the final tweaks on the film. It's already been accepted at a couple places, and we will be releasing the screening info soon!

I'm On A Float!

Recently, I helped Produce and Direct a new spoof music video for our boys in T13C! It's a spoof of the popular "I'm On A Boat" song performed by Andy Samberg & The Lonely Island for Saturday Night Live. The song had become an internet sensation, so we decided we wanted a little piece of the action. Thus was born, "I'm On A Float". Check it out below and see what you think. Hopefully this becomes an internet sensation, and propels the band to new heights, so then I can finally ride their coattails to the top.

[WARNING: NSFW, CONTAINS PROFANITY!]



See more of T13C! on their MySpace page here.

San Diego Comic Con 2009

Upon completion of "2:22", Tim and I left literally hours after we finished getting the discs ready to get on a plane to the largest entertainment convention in the world, the San Diego Comic Con. 5 days of insanity. I was given a week badge for helping out our friends at Students of the Unusual with a new photo comic they were looking to create. Luckily with Tim's press credentials we were able to get behind the majority of red tape and get into all of the major parties and press panels.

The list of celebrities we ran into: Megan Fox, Tim Burton, James Cameron, Anna Faris, Jeff Bridges, Olivia Wilde, Megan Fox, Gary Oldman, Mila Kunis, Denzel Washington, Fred Dekkar, Audrina Patridge, Kevin Eastman, Robert Downey Jr, Rachel McAdams, Cameron Diaz, Diablo Cody, Jason Reitman, the Guys from Penny Arcade, Megan Fox, Danny Trejo, James Marsden, Richard Kelly, Seth Green, Brian Cox, Daughtry, Kevin Sorbo, Kane Hodder, Robert England, Zack Snyder, Danielle Harris, Doug Jones, Corin Nemic, David Faustino, Ted Raimi, Robert Hall, Brandon Routh, Toby Wilkins, Megan Fox, Darren Lynn Bousman, Woody Harrelson, Jimmy Fallon, Jorge Garcia, Zachary Levi, Josh Holloway, Doug Bradley, Leonard Nimoy, John Landis, Chan-wook Park, Tyrese Gibson, John Heder, Tim Seely, Jhonen Vazquez, Danny Devito, Rachel Miner, Gerard Way, Adam Green, Mick Garris, Joe Lynch, Rob Zombie, Gene Simmons, Masi Oka, Lloyd Kaufman, Stan Lee, Carrottop, Reggie Bannister, GWAR, the entire cast of True Blood, and Megan Fox.

The convention went smashingly. I felt like we were there for a month. Many highs and a few lows, but an overall most excellent experience.

2:22

Unfortunately I decided to start on this Blog after we made our latest short film project "2:22". It definitely would have been very blog worthy. My college friend Eric Saavedra had come up with this great concept about a girl who has a night out, with horrible repercussions. Over the past 7 years I had always had this story bubbling in my head, patiently waiting until the right time to unleash it at it's highest possible potential. We decided this year that the time was right. We had found our leading lady, and had all of the pieces together to create a most powerful short film. One that would help be a good director's reel and showcase our current abilities as filmmakers. This film would also be used as part of an investment package for a larger feature film.

We shot the short in 3 days, not too grueling. Production went very well, with only a few casting hiccups. We decided that we wanted the movie to be finished for when Producer Tim Anderson and I left for a trip to the San Diego Comic Con. We gave ourselves a 3 week turnaround for post (a very non-smooth move). After pretty much killing ourselves and staying up for days on end, we left with 30 DVDs, fully edited, colored, scored and mixed.

Greetings and Salutations

Welcome to the official Blog of Steven Shea and all things Abyssmal. I am a horror film director, photographer, and Level 1 Yo-Yo contender. Hopefully all of you friends, family and quasi-voyeuristic internet scourers out there will enjoy our zany adventures through the amazing and tumultuous realm of the entertainment industry. Hopefully, you remain entertained. Enjoy!