The Interview
This short film was written by Tyler Oglesby. Directed, shot, edited, and scored by Nick Laws.
Produced by JADEPhenix Entertainment.
Featuring Jaye Starkes, Antonio Scales, Tommy Cooper, and Chelsea Glass.
Although not entirely devoid of comedy, this film is among my more serious ones. It was also a relatively big production with a fantastic crew put together by producer and star Jaye Starkes. Of all my short films, this one is probably the best. I used a lot of tight close ups to heighten the tension. The score was made by recording about an hour of upright bass noises and then tweaking and combining them in post.
Above my paygrade
This short film was written by Tyler Oglesby and Jaye Starkes. Directed by Nick Laws.
Produced by JADEPhenix Entertainment.
After we did The Interview, Jaye Starkes approached me about directing this one. He had put together another great cast and crew, and this time we upped the stakes even further with more shooting days, stunts, and special effects. For me, it was a fantastic opportunity to direct action as well as comedy. I’m so happy with the entire team that worked very hard to make this happen.
Unspoken Love
This is my second short film. It was made for a 48 hour film competition, which in retrospect was ambitious for a first time filmmaker. It did, however, win the Audience Favorite in our screening block. So I’ve been an award winning filmmaker ever since. (sarcasm intended) If you’re curious, my genre was silent film, the prop was a phone (with a cameo from me using it), and our line of dialogue was “Why don’t you try again?”, delivered by my dad.
M is for Movie making
Please enjoy my worst film (so far). This is the third film I ever made. It was for a competition by the ABCs of Death. Create a short horror film with the title “M is for ______”. Easy enough. I started out trying to make “M is for Multiples”. As you can see from the film itself, I failed pretty miserably on several fronts. But before I gave up on it, I decided to make another cameo and try to save this trainwreck. In retrospect, that failed also. Just because you say it’s a bad film doesn’t make it any less bad.
Death don’t do us part
This was created for the 2017 Zombiepalooza, where it won 1st place. It’s not the best film I ever made, but it’s kind of charming I suppose.
State of flux
For a couple of years I was the president of a group called the Southeastern Filmmakers. It’s a networking group based in Augusta, GA. During my time as president, I instituted the Monthly Challenge, where I would issue a filmmaking challenge to the group. As a result, I made quite a few films. I’m particularly happy with this one, which was a result of the “slow motion challenge”. It’s based on a meme that I refer to as “Schrodinger’s iPhone”. As per usual, we shot this in about 3 hours and had a good time doing it.
Nervous Nathan
Another “monthly challenge” film was this one, created for the “Wilhelm Scream” challenge. I leaned on the talents of Marty Matfess for the poem. I shot this with the help of Kate Dailey in a couple of hours.
The Battle
Yet another “monthly challenge” film, The Battle was, you guessed it, filmed in a couple of hours with my filmmaking friends David and Bryan of Bryton Entertainment. It’s not my best film, but it might be my favorite.
Requiem for a Donut
Another “monthly challenge”, this time to film your favorite joke. This barely counts as a film, stars me, and is about as silly as they come.
The Clicker
Another “monthly challenge”, this time to film your favorite joke. This barely counts as a film, stars me, and is about as silly as they come.
Don’t walk Alone
This film was one of several that I’ve made for Augusta’s B-movie kings Wages of Cine. They do a “31 Days of Horror” every October, and I like to submit a film when I can. For this one, I opted away from comedy and tried to build as much tension as I could. Whether it succeeds at that is up to you.
Don’t Go In There
More 31 Days. People tell me they really love this one. I like it, but on a technical level I don’t. But hey, a win is a win I guess. I think this might be my first true horror-comedy film.
Guilt
This one was made for Wages of Cine very early in my “career” but not for 31 Days. This was part of a project they called Arte Factum. All the films in the series used the same prop.
I don’t like this film anymore. I don’t think I was quite ready for it at the time. But I suppose you won’t get an omlette without cracking a few eggs.
It’s Getting Late
I also don’t like this film. It’s another 31 Days submission. I like the idea of it, and I liked working with an actual DP, Denton Adkinson. Sadly my “bad guy in the suit” bailed at the last minute so I had to play the part. But the film fails and it’s my fault. The joke doesn’t land. Lesson learned, I guess.
Sacrificial Steve
Here’s a 31 Days submission I do like. Sac Steve features some of my favorite acting friends. Ultimately I wish that the location had allowed for different lighting and blocking, but I’ll take what I can get for a short turnaround project with zero budget.
the rain at night brings an awful fright
Here’s another 31 Days where I was trying to do scary instead of funny. It’s sort of a “two sentence horror” thing. Again, I like the idea of it, but I don’t know if it’s entirely successful.
Slice of Life
Yet another 31 Days submission. This one is fun, although it took us longer to shoot than I’d like. We had some fun with it though.
My Day at Work
I was recently reminded of what I guess is my first film. I used to work at a music store. I also had a big Sony camcorder. The result is this. What a mess. But it’s kinda funny. I’m pretty sure I shot and edited this all during my shift that day. I’m not sure why I didn’t know how to set the level on the camera mic. This was uploaded in 2007. Sheesh.
The Radar Cinema: Introducing Bird and Worm
So here’s a weird one for you… In addition to being an award winning filmmaker I am also an award winning bass player. Ok, so I’m being a bit sarcastic but it’s actually true. I have been in numerous bands over the years, including one called The Radar Cinema. In fact, I learned a lot about cameras and photography from our drummer Eric Parton. If I recall correctly, I was asked to do a podcast episode about the band, and I figured if I was going to get all the interviews and stuff I should probably film it too. So I ended up with this “documentary” about the band. A lot of the run-time is just footage from music videos, most of which I made. Watching it now, I cringe pretty hard. But man that band was cool.