With Cardboard Castles, Erwin updates the Hans Christian Anderson tale Den Lille Pige med Svovlstikkerne (1845) to modern slums – of course, with hard-core differences. A frazzled and strung-out prostitute abandons her two daughters to fend for themselves. In a the basement of an dilapidated house, they find a game that plays off of their vivid imaginations. Giving away more would take away from the surprises to be enjoyed here.

Erwin keeps his allegory cooking with a striking set of characters, and a suspenseful tension that works even on multiple viewings.

Each of Erwin’s film’s has a sense of visual freshness, but this one is a complete surprise.

Behind The Plastic Curtain

The entire movie was shot in 2 days, with a pick up day of inserts. To achieve this, the schedule had to be well thought out and the crew had to move very fast. Director of Photography, Troy Moore, worked with Erwin to “practical light” the set so they could quickly move to each set up with minimal staging.

“I thought working with kids would slow us down,” Erwin says, “but they were great. When I saw some of the crew getting teary-eyed during their performances, I knew we were onto something special.”

Executive Producer Brent Brooks had been working with the 2 girls in his improv class, Monomyth, and had highly recommended them for the roles.

Erwin goes on to mention that the production was a collaborative effort. There were many instances where the cast and crew brought great ideas to the project. During a rehearsal, actor Aaron Simmons come up with the title for the film. Some of the girl’s scenes were completely improvised. When a confrontation scene between Leonard and Latiesha was moved from a hallway to inside a tent, the two actors had to conform their dialogue and blocking on the spot.

“The chemistry on this set was amazing. Everyone, no matter what department they were in, gave 200%. We all had a great time making this movie.”

The Cast:

Leah JOHNSON

Leah Johnson was born in Atlanta, Georgia. Leah first started modeling at the age of nine where she won her first fashion competition in 2009. From there she realized she also wanted to pursue a career in acting. Leah attends Blueprint4Hollywood and is currently being coached by Kristen Shaw, actress and Karli Brooks, actress of several amazing productions. With inherent charm, sharp intelligence, and a vibrant personality, the young actress leaves a lasting impression on everyone she meets.
Leah has often been described as an old soul, someone whose unique combination of sensitivity, strength and emotion is well beyond her years. Leah is well on her way to stardom.

Jada MAY

A rising star actress Jada May is also a member of the Blank Stage acting program and was last seen a series of commercials forHyundai.

Carlette JENNINGS

A core member of the Blank Stage acting team Carlette has starred and directed several live past Blank Stage productions, Scorched,Unpredictable, Mr. Right Enough and American Icon Reject Debacle.

Aaron SIMMONS

Aaron Simmons thinks its obvious why he’s trying to break into acting/film. “I love the process of wearing another character’s skin and completely losing myself in that character’s psyche.
I’m also an artist and musician. I like photography especially when I can recreate death scenes or photograph a subject(s) while adding a controversial flavor to it. I write, draw, paint, illustrate, animate and/or stick my claws into anything else artistic.”
He feels that creativity is the fuel that keeps his engine running.
Simmons loves women but only needs one and is a hopeless romantic. Emphasis on the word: “hopeless” lol.

 A Movie With A Message

Everyone needs to see this film. Even if you find afterwards you can’t breathe for a moment, and you find yourself stumbling in a haze of tears and grief. The whole point of this story is to bring the searchlight of compassion and charity into the heart.

This is quite a stern message and a wake up call to everyone. Perhaps it is the very sternest message which can be given to some people. It is very, very sad, but you have to remember that the girls do reach paradise, as do many every day, and if this is too sad, then, well, there is no answer beyond the consolations of heaven.

The story speaks much about the sanctity of human life on earth, and I suspect that this will become a more pointed message as time goes on this century. If death happens in this way, if there is ANY possibility of this happening to children in your city, then we should be listening to Christ:

“I was hungry and you gave me no meat, thirsty and you gave me no drink, naked, and ye clothed me not, sick.. and in prison.. and ye visited me not…”

We should always be aware that beggars were once little boys and girls, who have now grown old. Some have lost their parents, some have lost other things, but they should not be forgotten. And they may hidden away, where you are not looking, or they may be staring you right in the face.

Directed By 
Byron Conrad Erwin

Executive Producer 
Brent Brooks

Written By
 Troy Moore

STARRING
Cora*Jada May
Lauren*Leah Johnson
Loenard*Aaron Simmons
Lateshia*Carlette Jennings

Producer*Cynthia Collins
Producer*LaFawn Austin
Producer*Ted Rubin

Director of photography*Troy Moore
Picture Editor*Byron Conrad Erwin

Original music
written and conducted by
Aaron Akins

Special Effect Make-up*Ondie Daniel

Sound Mixer*Zach Cowan
Sound Mixer*Theo Miller
Sound Assistant*Chykeria Thompson
Assistant Director*Craig Rhee
Production Manager*Mela Rayne
Script Revisions*Brent Brooks
Set Designer*Alvin Eric Vazquez
Hair Stylist*Nicole Ferguson
Wardrobe*Girli Girl Botique
Producer’s Assistant*Janlatae Mullins
Chief Marketing/ Crew*Ted Rubin
Key Grip*Russell Kozlosky
Grip*Ivan Ortega
Key Lighting/ Grip Dept*Valmon Davis
Visual Effects*Eric Regan
Catering*Yasmein Ziyad
Casting*Blank Stage Productions
Casting Facility*The Blank Stage
Assistant to Mr Erwin*Robert Gardener
Legal Council*Gertie Peters
Photography*Alex Johnson III
Photography*Devon B Allen

An obvious “cult” movie, it is the definition of indie, bizarre, and myterious. Noumena makes for a crazy viewing. For the first third of the film, you may be uncomfortable watching a bird repeatedly bang itself into a glass window, but before you know it, baby dolls are eating worms and who knows what it all means. It’s incredible visually and its images certainly arrest your attention.

The production is superb all round. This film lurches wildly between the irritating, unbelievable, amazing and brilliant, and it does reward patience; however if you prefer your insect movies as documentaries, then this film is probably not for you…… or perhaps on second thoughts, its tailor made for you!

 Falling Together

I expect people to ask “Why did you make this film?“, but mostly people ask me “How did you make this film?“.

The film is a collection of happy accidents that occurred in the spring of 2010. I set out to do some camera image and compositing tests for an upcoming production using miniatures and baby dolls. I purchased some tattered toys from a local thrift store and staged some still-life compositions. As I was doing this, some strange things began to happen.

Investigating a loud knocking sound that come from my upstairs bedroom, I discovered that a bird was attacking its reflection in my sliding glass door. I simply moved the camera to that room and began documenting its behavior.

Typically, my house is clean and pest free, but one day I noticed a large spider crawling across the floor. I captured it and placed it on my pre-lit set. A few hours later when I was leaving for dinner, a large moth with bright red wings flew into my house.

The following weekend, my kitchen became infested with flies. There must have been 30 or 40 flies in the window above my sink. So I captured them and used them in my sequences.

All of the insects in this project came to me. I did not go out looking for them. There were some casualties, but almost all were set free after I completed the shots with them.

The worms were another story. The baby dolls that I purchased all had suction mouths for toy nursing bottles. I had a nightmare years ago about a person sucking worms into a little round mouth and I put the two together. I purchased bait from a fishing store and worms became my next subject.

After the filming was completed, I began to play around with compositing images and sound design. Since the entire project was an experiment, some things do not work, but others are frightening and disturbing.

Numerous people have watched the film and have had detailed explanations of what it all means. As an artist, that is very satisfying. The art stimulates the viewer enough to derive their own conclusions. That is all I could ask for from a happy accident.

The Icky Flick

Lure is so bizarre that it often seems to be a self-parody, but somehow this works for this kind of movie; like the desperate cult leader’s recurring answering machine messages, the audience can never be quite sure what’s meant as a joke and what’s dead serious.

Some of the images are quite disturbing, like the hero fantasizing about committing suicide in various horrific ways. It is a vivid and overwhelming work of art.

Starring: Jared Young • Josh Ford • Brent Brooks • Travis Young • Peter Kown • Jason Grant Davis • Karli G Brooks • Brenda Norbeck • Carlette Jennings • Maura Perin • Mary Jac Beavers • Julie Butler • Ian George

Director of Photography: Tom Pritchard
Music by: Todd Smith
Writer, Director, Editor: Byron Conrad Erwin
Producer: Matthew Young

In association with Brothers Young Productions

Bending The Mind

Lure was written in 2009 by Byron Conrad Erwin who says: “I had been pitching my idea around to people, and was getting great responses. I wanted to make a film about a depressed guy that doesn’t want to commit suicide, so he gets a serial killer to do it for him. I took the screenplay to a script writer’s group to get some input and many people all thought the same thing: the serial killer’s victims should  all be women so the hero has to dress like a woman to become his next target. I thought, wouldn’t that make this a comedy? And they would say, isn’t it a comedy? I thought it was going to be a dark horror film, but the use of irony made it too funny.

I had been directing a few of the Brother’s Young Productions and they loved the idea. Jared Young came on as the star and Matthew Young as a producer. It wasn’t very long after that before we began shooting the film. Director of photography Tom Pritchard’s gloomy photography really helped create the story’s bleak world.

Actor Josh Ford had performed on stage many times with Young doing comedic improvisation. I took that opportunity to shoot an entire conversation between the two of them showcasing that talent. I gave them the concept of the scene and what the point of the conversation would be, and let them roll with it. Although it was like assembling a giant jigsaw puzzle, I enjoyed editing that scene together very much. Creating a conversation from multiple takes of various dialogue was fun.

Although the film has an ugly feel and leaves the audience with no resolution, I felt it accomplished what I had originally set out to do; experiment with outside-the-box ideas and try something I had never done before.”

As Emily struggles to keep her small flowershop in business, Charles begins to generously infiltrate her life. She soon discovers that her new friend has a shocking secret; a nefarious plan to buy her business out from under her.

As Charles gets more involved in Emily’s life, he reluctantly begins to face the increasingly powerful feelings from his forgotten past — the pain of his loving wife’s death. At the moment he recognizes that he can still have love and compassion, his bid to buy her shop is revealed. Can Charles reconcile her friendship before it is too late?

Packed with heartfelt drama, Tiger Lily is a story of love, friendship and the determination of the human spirit.

Tiger Lily is a drama based on true life. It is a compelling story of how two people, worlds apart, can positively impact each other. At its core, Tiger Lily reflects the contradictions, insecurities, and loneliness of today’s society.

 The Fragile Project

In the spring of 2010 I was offered the director’s position on a film that was spawned from the Atlanta 48 Hour Film Festival. The producers came to me with an idea to shoot a movie about Simon Kornblit, a local who worked for Paramount Pictures. He had stated that he was getting old and wanted to be in a movie. The producers worked with their writer and began the script. Unfortunately, Simon passed away before production began, so I assumed that the project was shelved.

Later that summer I got the call that the film was on. The script had been completed and they were going to begin casting. Instead of the movie being a vehicle for Simon, it was now dedicated in his memory. So we set out to find the actors to fill these delicate roles.

After a month of tedious casting, we jumped right into the production. What a great set! Lavish locations, talented crew, amazing cast, everything ran smoothly and on schedule. But the most wonderful thing about this production is that every person on the set was volunteer. I couldn’t believe how many generous and gifted people there were donating their money, their sweat, and their precious time to this project.  I have been on many sets where the paid people weren’t half as dedicated. It was truly a moving experience for me.

Stay up-to-date by visiting the official website: www.beforeigothemovie.com

Innocence

While shooting Cardboard Castles, Mela Rayne met with Byron Conrad Erwin about her new script designed to showcase the talents of veteran actor and comedian Diesel Madkins. At that point, all they had was an idea that the actor would give a monologue from a chair.

“There are only a few instances that I can recall where a film was so interesting that the audience was riveted listening to a monologue.” Erwin says, ” That was the challenge given to me. It has to start with that script, and Mela did it.”

Also adding to the challenge is working with 5 year old Kailee Lewis.

“We brought her in for a screen test and to all of our surprise, she was completely comfortable and at ease in front of the camera. We did some improvisation with her and what I saw was a bright and imaginative kid with a very creative mind. That is exactly what I need to make this work. The two of them clicked and it was instant magic. I am very excited to see them performing on the screen.”

 Before I Go begins shooting in the fall of 2011.