Paranormal Activity

It all started at a Karaoke bar back in 2007. A group of us all went out for a drink after our performance of a local stage play we were doing. Everyone was signing up to sing his or her favorite songs. Since I’m not a singer someone suggested I sign up for Nancy Sinatra’s “These Boots Are Made For Walkin',” and do my Chris Walken impersonation. So I did. It went over like gangbusters and we all had some laughs.

Well that opened a door that led me to become involved with a stage show on Hollywood Boulevard called “All About Walken.” This play seemed to really become a social phenomenon and my signature “Boots” song became the Walken show opener. We got rave reviews in all the local rags and it was a total blast as you might imagine. I even got an acting agent out of it, which moves this story forward.

Karl at Synergy Talent began sending me out on auditions, which I pretty much sucked at. It wasn’t until he sent me out on a top-secret audition, which was all improv that I really came into my own. Improv, I felt more comfortable with. After all, I had directed and produced my own feature film that was all improv (Take 22). I’m sure that was Karl’s thought behind sending me or maybe it was the Walken show, which was largely improv as well.

What was this top-secret audition for? I started to Google around and low and behold it was for DreamWorks! They had purchased the Slamdance Film Festival award-winner, Paranormal Activity and were looking to add a scene to it that introduced a new character: The demonologist. That was what I was auditioning for. To say I was excited was an understatement. This was big for me.

Karl told me the casting agent was one of the biggest indy film casting directors in the business. I met her at the audition upstairs in a nondescript building in Hollywood. There was no script. In my audition I was telling a young troubled couple (Katie Featherston and Micah Sloat) that they needed an exorcist.

We ran the improv scene several times and I could feel an influx of energy come into the room after each read. My heart was racing. Something was happening. But they shook my hand and sent me on my way.

I was almost to my car when the casting agent yelled down at me from the window to come back. I ran like a gazelle. Thoughts raced through my head as I sprinted back up the stairs.

I did the scene again and that was it – I was cast. I went from zero to hero in a heartbeat. What a crossroads. Was I meant to be an actor, not an artist? The tank turret took a grinding shift in direction and before I could say “Paranormal” I was headed to Long Beach to film with the principal actors and the director, Oren Peli. Wow.

When I arrived at the modest townhouse neighborhood location where they had shot the film, it was obvious something had occurred there. Holes in the ceiling were still gaping open where Dreamworks had Katie’s character crawling up and down the walls on a cable for their big Hollywood ending they added. Originally DreamWorks didn’t even want to distribute it. All they wanted to do was buy it and shelve it. Then they would create their own big studio version of it.

But some executive convinced the higher-ups to at least have a screening and see how an audience would react to it. The screening proved to be so successful DreamWorks instantly buried the notion of redoing it and launched into creating their release campaign of Oren’s brilliant creation.

On the set of my scene, I picked Oren’s brain all day about what he had done and his amazing accomplishment of practically creating a new genre. We shot all day and Oren operated camera. It was a blast.

He offered to show me the film after we finished shooting. I was so blown away he offered and eagerly accepted. Katie and Micah stayed as well to see it again. I felt very special to get a peek at it, besides Oren wanted my take on DreamWorks’ alternate ending.

After it ended I told him it was incredible. But I was honest in saying that DreamWorks big CGI wall-crawling ending was a bust and he whole-heartedly agreed.

After it was all over, I felt like he regarded me as a filmmaker and an actor. I was very flattered and lucky to be there. It was pure movie magic and I was part of the ride. The whole drive home I had a smile plastered all over my face. My life was just beginning!

Then Dreamworks cut me from the film.

Just like that, it was over and I was back to zero. Oren said DreamWorks felt it disrupted the pace of the film and that was it.

But it wasn’t “it” for me. I had the paranormal bug. Who wouldn’t after that experience? So I finally made my own film I had been brewing on inspired by “Blair Witch,” called “Reel 3.”

After getting actor, Patrick Wilkins on board and Producers Ryan Ball and Writer / Producer Jarrod Roggenbuck, “Reel 3” became “1013 Briar Lane.” We shot it on a shoestring budget and filmed it in Santa Ynez, California. I can’t tell you about the location because I agreed not to, but it was haunted. In fact, someone prominent had died there and on top of that we found out the house was used for demonic rituals by the prior owners. Great.

The filming was difficult. Relationships drew tension and I felt I got sick every time we shot there. As amazing as it was to create and produce, it was tense and there was an invisible force that didn’t want us there.

SAG contracts were never obtained, as it would have been financially prohibitive to make. But my plan to do a retro SAG deal dwindled as my relationship with the actor continued to do the same. After principal photography was completed and it was edited, I shelved it - until now. This social media screening will be the only way to ever view this film.

So there you have it. The story of how 1013 Briar Lane came to be. Or didn’t.

Thanks to all who helped make this possible including Patrick, Ryan, Jarrod, consultant Barry Taff our two grips, and Howie Askins for his final edit. It was a cathartic ride for many of us that ended on a very low note. We all learn our lessons. I know I’ve learned mine. All in all, I'm glad I have this time capsule to remind me of this period in my life. I was so lucky to get a glimpse of that world and still feel such a gratifying sense of validation - even though it ended as fast as it began.

I hope you enjoy the movie.

"Getting Credit" - The IMDB "Paranormal Activity" sister story.