Video Interview with "The Gospel According to Stephenson" Writer / Director John Schuermann

Thanks to Ralph Giordano of the Peak Film Forum for arranging this video interview at September's Forum meeting.  I got a chance to speak about the story and themes of "The Gospel According to Stephenson" plus reminisce about some past film projects :)  Thanks also to Kurt Supancic and Lee Graham for handling the shooting and editing of this piece! 

 

Peak Film Forum Vignettes - John Schuermann from Peakview Productions of Colorado on Vimeo.

"The Gospel According to Stephenson" Script Getting Great Reviews!

We are happy to report that the script for "The Gospel According to Stephenson" is finished and getting excellent reviews!  We asked Andrea Meyer of the Freethought Film Festival for brutally honest and critical feedback, and she responded with three words:

"I LOVED IT!"

As much as we appreciated hearing that, we went back to Andrea and asked for further thoughts.  Here is what she had to say (edited slightly to avoid spoilers):
"...I'm struggling to find anything on which it needs improvement...I liked how the relationship between Sam and Jessica was defined...The gory bits were very well executed...I felt frantic as I read these scenes. Well done!"

But wait - there's more!  We also received professional reader feedback from the Blue Cat Screenplay Competition, a major script-writing contest run by Gordy Hoffman (an award-winning filmmaker and brother to Philip Seymour Hoffman).  Here is the feedback, again edited to avoid spoilers:

"This story was a very original, critical take on the vampire craze. It was entertaining and thrilling with a dash of comedy. It made fun of itself in all the right ways. You were able to laugh at it, and yet still be scared. It reminded me a bit of Wes Craven’s Scream; making fun of slasher films, yet still being a suspenseful slasher film...The dialogue was used in a strong way. Every conversation progressed the story and we were learning more and more information as it went on. I especially liked the scenes with Jessica. Every scene we got to know more and more about her; her alcoholism and her doubts and insecurities about Sam. Her character continues to develop...so satisfying and left me wanting more."

As a bonus, here is professional feedback from the Final Draft "Big Break" Screenwriting competition from several years ago.  This was based off the original version of the screenplay, then entitled "The Last Vampire."

"This is a very nice take on the vampire myth, the vampire coming back and having no idea what is waiting for him... Having him interact with modern medicine and all the myths we have about the supernatural mixed with a police story works well... The characters are well chosen and the variety is lovely... The dialogue is well done."

Thanks to all who provided valuable feedback during the script-writing process!

Pre-Production Begins

Pre-production has officially begun on "The Gospel According to Stephenson"!  At the first meeting - John Schuermann (writer and director), Jim Musante (producer and creative consultant), Margot Pollock (lead marketing copywriter), Ralph Giordano (production manager), and Rick Kartis (production assistant and diarist).  Discussed - script rewrites, marketing campaigns and materials, budgetary breakdown, and lead roles.  Also, producer Jim Musante will be heading to The Amazing Meeting to help "spread the gospel."  Since science vs. superstition is a major theme of our production, it only makes sense for us to reach out to the scientific and skeptical communities to enlist their involvement.  So far our efforts in that regard have been extremely well received, and The Amazing Meeting is one of the largest gatherings of skeptically minded individuals in the world!  Hopefully Jim will make some good contacts there.  Please follow us here or on our Facebook page.  And speaking of Facebook, please LIKE our page and SHARE our material to your own page.

https://www.facebook.com/StephensonMovie

A good time was had by all...