The White Whale

From the moment I first learned what a director was - and that they made the movies I loved so much, I knew that’s what I was gonna be. While I toyed with other vocations and settled into a career story boarding commercials - I could never shake the desire to direct movies. Can't explain it or really justify it. Just is.

 

So here we are.

People ask me why not do some short films first - along with some music videos, and then chase funding? Why jump into a feature right away? Because life’s short, and that other road is long and well traveled. In this day of cheap, accessible digital tools, that scene is way too crowded for me.

Producers have also learned the hard way of late that those formats don’t necessarily carry over to long form narrative and feature length films. With the costs as they are, they are understandably cautious to entrust their project to an untested director. A movie is not a skit or a gag, and it takes more than style.

It takes a long time to make a movie, and it generally takes years to finance and prepare a project for the cameras – that’s a lot of time waiting and not honing your craft. The wonderful thing about being an illustrator is that you can just sit down and do it. Immediately you can exercise your technique and produce a finished product.

Maybe that’s why there are so many poor films out there.

Next they ask - why such an ambitious first film? Why not something more modest like a horror or drama? Because, if I see one more, low budget zombie flick or gritty drama about drug addicts I’m going to go nuts and eat somebody’s brains myself!

While a fan of the genre it’s become oversaturated and even note worthy entries soon disappear and sink without a trace.

The energy it takes to even produce a first feature, much less a short film, shouldn’t be squandered. So I’ve aimed high in the hopes of catching the sci-fi, fantasy fans – a demographic that’s been poorly represented in the past and still being stuck with mediocre fare from cynical studios and dodgy direct to video operators.

So here I am, Ahab chasing his white whale –to whatever end.

With love;

E.J. Roy

Writer/director of VANGUARD.