The Mariness Born

LOGLINE: As an angry mob of men near, two women in a row boat search for a crab pot with hopes of making a sacrifice that will set off a mysterious prophecy.

When I write, when I make films I am a firm believer that the ultimate goal has to be...fun. Something truly creative can’t happen with an intent to preach, or to impose something. If I am having fun writing and filming something, the hope is that it will radiate to the audience. I have found that my personal “fun”, is constantly trying to access my own unique brand of weird and I am constantly trying to search forthis, in every scene, every setting and every character. This has all materialized into me operating mostly in the areas of comedy and horror, often mixing the two, which allows me to let my mind go wild. When you read one of my scripts, or you watch a film I’ve made, I can only promise that you will always have an experience that no one else could have brought you — the world, the characters, the language. “The Mariners Born” is a horror short film that I hope does exactly that. This film is inspired by — and a proof of concept for — an anthology trilogy of feature films that I’ve created. They are not continuations of the same stories and characters, but rather a continuation of broader themes and worlds. I am from Seaford, Virginia — a small town along the Chesapeake Bay. It is a place filled with fishermen, marshland, wildlife, charm and also a front row seat to Climate Change. It creates a weird, endlessly cinematic juxtaposition of beauty and life, with death and decay. All of these stories have found their settings in these waters, marshlands and islands that I grew up in and they will be shot there. Writing in horror drudges things up in you that you never really knew were there. In this short film and this trilogy, on display is my discomfort, my fascination and my struggle with the things that are happening to our earth, to the animal kingdom and my role, our role, in that. Mix all of this heavy thematic load with my hope to make something uniquely weird and scary, you have The Mariness Born and the trilogy. I hope those who work on this film, those who invest in this film and most importantly, those who watch this film all feel something, but that the lingering seed that started it all is never lost...fun. Thank you for considering!