Originally my dream was to be a professional wrestler I started doing "Backyard" wrestling liek so many other hopefuls, the main problem I was going to have was I grew up in the era of the big man "Hogan, Warrior, Andre etc. and little guys like me weren't going to making it big .
I wrestled both years in Junior High and had a final record of 24 - 23 which isn't amazing but it was better then average I was unable to wrestle Freshmen year do to my grades which is one of the reasons I was continuing to do my own backyard wrestling stuff to get better and stay in shape so I would be ready to wrestle in 10th grade .
Well as fate would have it I would only lace up my wrestling shoes a handful of times before I would be diagnosed with Asthma and that effectively ended my wrestling career in school . I was broken, missing the one thing in my life that I was good at and that I cared about, I became a different person after this, not caring about my grades or my friends for a few months I was someone that I didn't want to be .
When I turned in my singlet and warm up suit Coach Reese said to me "I know how much this hurts you and I know how much you love wrestling so I know you will find a way to keep your dream alive" .
See I had kept my "backyard" wrestling a secret from my teammates because they all look down on pro wrestling because it's scripted . so I dove head first into continuing the backyard wrestling thing.
WCCWA (World Class Championship Wrestling Alliance) was created in 1995. we made championship titles and I was assigned as the booker or match maker and I enjoyed it early on because I knew how to write compelling stories and create the storylines that would make for great matches .
To make a long story short I wrestled for 23 years and worked a few matches here and their before hanging up my tights and boots for good a few years ago. I was successful having won over 70 championships in that time (20 times heavyweight champion) I was most proud of my time as Tag Team Champion (9 times with 4 different partners) and as Cruiserweight Champion (3 times) I love wrestling but I hated the politics and the complaining from the boys and the rookies who thought they should walk in and be the top guy when they've never wrestled a match before.
Many of you are probably wondering how this all ties into my new career as a screenwriter / director / actor / makeup artist ?? when I retired from wrestling I needed something to keep my mind busy so after seeing Rob ZOmbie's Halloween II and hearing for months that Halloween III was coming soon and it stalled a bunch of times I thought to myself "I can write a script for Halloween III as I'm an expert of the series and I LOVE Rob Zombie's vision of the story" so I looked up a bunch of stuff on how to write a screenplay and I went to work.
It took me 4 months to write the script (I was working a full time job at the time) and as it turns out I never looked up how long a script typically is and I had written enough to make two Halloween movies all in one script . I enjoyed the process and started writing other scripts from my own ideas I always knew I wanted to write horror because I love the genre but when I first started writing screenplays I wrote alittle of everything action, romantic dramas Thriller, Suspense and eventually I started working on horror once I got my writing skills to where I thought they should be .
I wrote Wicked Carnival after watching Prom Night (2008) and started thinking about how I would tell a different story with some of the same elements . I rewrote that script TWELVE times before it was deemed ready to shoot by a professional editor .
I started looking for ways to make the movie happen and finally someone told me the #1 issue I would have is money and #2 Would be finding a carnival setting so I reached out to Palace Playland here in Old Orchard Beach and they wouldn't return a call or even an e-mail . so I went to a friend who is good with numbers and I said how much would I need to make this movie and when he came back with the number $100,000 dollars I fell out of the chair .
I shelved Wicked Carnival and didn't write anything for awhile and then one night in January 2013 I watched John Carpenter's Halloween and Scream back to back and started thinking about what I would do if I were to write a movie like these with a story that's close to them, how could I make it different ?
I started thinking about the characters and the setting and of course the killer and why they would want these people dead and the idea for Sins of Man was planted in my mind. I wrote other screenplays until I started reading the Script for Wicked Carnival one day in early May 2013 and Sins of Man popped into my head again and I started writing the characters, the killer, the final girl and then the story, I wrote Sins of Man in about 10 days and wrote two sequels in in another 15 days I worked around the clock because I simply couldn't stop writing I was so in love with the characters and the story I wanted to finish it so I could share it with people .
I completed Sins of Man : Rise of Mortis in the Summer of 2015, released it on Halloween last year and finished Sins of Man II : Vengeance this summer and it will be released on Halloween this year .
As I'm writing this article it's just hit me that my "glory days" aren't over they have just changed over time, I'm 38 now and I don't feel it, I'm not as young as I used to me physically but mentally I'm young, healthy and ready to take on the world !!
I was playing Soccer with my youngest Cody (who was named after Cody Rhodes) just the other day and he was laughing and giggling watching me run down the field and he kicked the ball towards the goal and it went through my legs and he scored on his daddy he was so happy, I love that little boy he keeps me young with all his running around and I love the moments we spend together. my daughter Lilly is 9 now and she's my princess, she keeps me on my toes for sure ( I feel bad for the boys in high school) my oldest Brian is 15, he's a nerdy kid but he's good looking so meeting girls isn't an issue he's legit a genius and it shows . He's one of those kids that will have the world at his feet and will be able to accomplish anything he sets his mind too . As I get older and I look to the future I realize it's bright for me, my career and my family as my kids will all be amazing human beings and make my wife and I proud parents .
As I close out this blog I want to say Happy Anniversaries to my Wife we have been together 21 years as of September 21st and married 10 years as of today... Yes I got married on my birthday (So I could never forget my anniversary) My wife is my rock, she keeps me grounded and keeps me focused on work because she wants me to succeed so I can buy her a big house and set us up for life .
I'm living my dream making movies for a living and becoming sort of famous my life is going well, I'm healthy, happy and have a beautiful family so I'm doing just fine .
On a side note I'm thinking I might throw my hat into the short film arena, I have an idea that might work well in a short film form but might make it a feature if I can't carve the story down to Short format . Stay Tuned !
STAY HUMBLE, STAY HUNGRY MY FRIENDS :)