At an early age, I was drawn to paranormal phenomena such as alien abduction, cryptozoology, historical anomalies, alternate realities, and missing persons. These topics can be quite scary, especially for a child or teenager, but my intrigue always outweighed the anxiety they created. These are deeply fascinating subjects, and I’ve always felt like there’s a chance that mythology could be true. I sometimes joke that I’ll entertain belief in anything, but I don’t believe anything completely.
Echoes in the Forest is a short film about missing persons and paranormal phenomena in Blackstar Canyon located in the Santa Ana Mountains of California. This is an actual location in Southern California and has a long history of mystery and misfortune. Beginning with clashes between indigenous people and early settlers which resulted in a massacre in 1831. Further mysterious deaths throughout the 1900s as well as local lore of unexplained aerial lights and cult activity make this a hotspot for paranormal enthusiasts. In more recent years there are legends of shadowy creatures that appear at sundown and terrorize people. Jack Osbourne did an episode of a ghost hunting reality show there in 2012. This local lore inspired me and my team to embark on this short film adventure and see if we could infuse some of our own sci-fi and psychedelic elements into a fictional story. We shot the film in the neighboring Silverado Canyon, and spent a bit of time exploring the Santa Ana Mountains to capture the real landscape of this haunted area.
My background is creatively very broad, but first and foremost, I am a musician. It's my greatest passion and the cornerstone of my creative endeavors. Analog synthesizers are the main tools of my creative inspiration.
Additionally, I’ve worked in scenic fabrication for many years, so I really enjoy having an all-encompassing vision and then chasing it down. Building art installations, going through waves of critique to fine-tune a set piece over weeks, and adding all the little details that make it visually undeniable—these are the aspects I truly love.
Creative Vision
The story of "Echoes in the Forest" is based on a compilation of unnerving missing persons cases that are, unfortunately, all too real. People go missing under bizarre circumstances all the time, which cannot be explained. Sometimes, clues are sprinkled into these cases that create even more mystery and high strangeness. It all points to something larger than us—something we may not be capable of understanding but is certainly real and prevalent all around us.
I wanted to create a short film densely packed with creative language, beyond just the plot and dialogue. We cast actors based on their real-life personas. Sean Koperweiss is an architectural and sculptural welder, while Natalie is an eccentric stylist, makeup artist, and costume designer.
The music of "Echoes in the Forest" is the driving force that tells us what to feel. I wrote most of the music first and then imagined what the scenes could be around it. I wanted the music to be a cohesive body of emotional analog electronics.
My biggest inspiration comes from sci-fi, action, and horror films of the 80s and early 90s. Their use of practical effects and analog synthesizer soundtracks fits the genre better than any other era. These films felt more real because they were real in our 3D space.
I also love considering the possibility that something seemingly impossible could be true. The line where mythology and local lore blur, and perhaps even become a police report, mass sighting, or murder investigation, fascinates me. I want to work with premises that are shocking and powerful on their own, even before the actors, sets, and music come in.
Director's Statement