Welcome to my online portfolio
I am a screenwriter, director of features and music videos, cinematographer, visual effects artist, composer, and editor -- I.E, I'm a moviemaker. I prefer working in video, and believe that HD is the future of independent "film". As a one-man-band, I generally handle most creative aspects of the job myself. However, I always love working with a great composer, as well as an art director and/or conceptual artist on the look of a project - I am highly visual in all my work.
Texas
One of my strengths is that I am based in Texas where I can make feature films for a fraction of the budget one would need in LA or New York. Texas has no unions, no permits, no fees of any kind, and locations are usually extremely cheap and easy to secure for a local who knows the cities. I generally work with the same crew members, including other local filmmakers, on every project and we have become very good at shooting quickly and efficiently. Equipment is also cheap and easy to come by here. I have a great support net of other filmmakers with their own gear, and what we don't have, we can usually borrow or rent cheaply. Talent is also readily available, as Houston has one of the strongest theater communities in the country. We also have fantastic support through the Houston Film Commission and Texas Film Commission.
In short, Texas is a great place to be a moviemaker.
A One-Man-Band
I also tend to save a bundle by doing most of the higher-paying crew jobs myself. If I had to hire a DP, editor, VFX supervisor, etc, my budgets would skyrocket. As a jack of all trades, I can keep my crew and my budget lean and mean.
Special Effects
Special effects are another area where I'm able to save money and retain more control by overseeing all effects work in-house. I do this through my own F/X company, Visual Odyssee. For practical effects, I work with some extremely talented local effects artists who can achieve just about anything. When it comes to the CG realm, I am my own VFX supervisor and hand-pick every modeler, rigger, lighting/texture artist, and animator myself. This allows me to produce exactly the visual effects elements I'm looking for and have total control over it all, without having to pay bloated prices covering the overhead of some other VFX company. In addition to handling VFX for my movies, Visual Odyssee also works on other independent films and is available for hire. I can save for other films the same way I save for myself.
Projects
Although I do currently have a few movies in various stages of early development with optioned screenplays and stories of my own, I am always interested in collaborating on new projects if the material sounds like fun. I'm particularly interested in licensed material from graphic novels/comics or games, and anything within the horror/fantast/sci-fi genres or with some dark slant. If you are a producer with a great property/story on your hands, or you are looking for a writer/director to develop something specific for your production company, please contact me at stacyd [at] odysseepictures [dot] com. I would love to talk to you.
In the menu above, you will find lots of examples of my writing and general filmmaking. Please enjoy the rest of my portfolio, and thank you for your interest.
-Stacy Davidson