Our first film to enter production was called ‘The Winners Room.’ It was written by the mind behind Shady Strangers Productions, John Carr and directed in collaboration with BloodQuartz Studio’s own veteran Lyle Dillie. Together they created a bloody disgusting character drama that’s been described as “a really really messed up breakfast club.” You can see our IMDB for it here; https://www.imdb.com/title/tt13173202/ 

The production of this film might have been the most fun that the cast and crew has had filming so far, and it shows. You can feel the passion of the filmmakers dripping from this film and you can tell how much care was put into this being a “winner.” Whether it was melting someone’s face off with acid or having our in-house sushi chef slice into someone’s arm, nobody was safe from the special effects done by our good friend, Joseph-Rob Cobasky. Check out his instagram here to see more of the crazy stuff he’s been up to; https://www.instagram.com/robcobasky

“I wanted what I do to get out there and be seen by as many people as I can and BloodQuartz helped get people exposed to my work… I love being able to have creative input too”

-Joseph-Rob Cobasky

But it’s not just special effects that made this a great film, it’s also the performances done by a cast of amazing local actors. When you get down to it, this is a horror themed character drama and without some of the best local talent, this film wouldn’t be half as great. Starring Ryan and Jennifer Slack as game show hosts and Gabby Barbosa, Rob Hemen, Selena Barash, Wayne Lundy, and Erin Caneer as victims… I mean contestants. Yeah, that’s what I meant.

Our next film to be shot was a collaboration between both sides of BloodQuartz Studio, veterans and non veteran students all teamed up and worked tirelessly to make this newest project come alive and rip you to the edge of your seat. That film is of course, “Love is Blind.” Focusing on suspense, this film was meant to teleport you into another world that will leave you begging for more. Check out our IMDB page here; https://www.imdb.com/title/tt13397756/ 

The starting block for this production was an amazing concept. The writer’s room all sat down and asked, ‘What would it be like for a blind person to be stuck in a horror movie?’ The gripping, terrifying answer is found in this film. (Hint: It’s not pretty)

Ash Hatzer, Rebecca Heizelman, Zion Jones, and Ted Tanaka all teamed up to create this experience that we all want to be shared with you. As scary as the final product was though, production was a blast. Between all the time the crew setting up intricate one take shots and the cast religiously practiced their delivery, everybody made sure to have some laughs and have some fun on set. The cast took selfies with corpses, the crew took ice cream breaks, and everybody remained excited all the way through to see the final product.

“I enjoyed the project being a student film as I felt more comfortable on set and less stressed out because I was with my peers.”

-Rebecca Heizelman

But what more can I say about how hard everyone worked to make these films a highlight of BloodQuartz history before I just have to insist that you guys stick around to check out the big premiere. More information will come very soon, I promise.

Going back in time, BloodQuartz Studio was partnered with Estrella Mountain Community College’s MTI club and the Fractured Pi Collaborative as a way to bring film experience to students. During this time several projects were created, most notably being Flapdoodle, John’s Big Idea, and Reflections of an Artifact. So let’s take a closer look at these films and see what opportunities BloodQuartz Studio brought these students.

Flapdoodle was a collaboration with local writer, director, and actor, John Carr. In this film, a man in the old west visits a brothel and has an experience that he hopes to be called back for… This film featured  camerawork, special effects, animation, and editing all by veterans and non veteran students. We are proud of providing so many experiences and opportunities to learn to young people who are interested in pursuing film both as a hobby and as a career. To watch flapdoodle, click here https://bit.ly/3iQ0Qwu

John’s Big Idea is another film made in collaboration with John Carr. This film is special though, it was featured at the IFP/PHX 48 hour film Challenge 2019. Having a film featured at a film festival is not an achievement many students can claim. This film follows the fictional production of a 5 minute short film that is to be presented at the IFP/PHX 48 hour film Challenge 2019. The writer, played by John Carr, was blackout drunk when he came up with the idea though. He now has to go through his strangest film shoot with no clue what he’s doing. View the film here; https://bit.ly/2Eo0T3B

Finally we come to reflections of an artifact. My personal favorite film made in collaboration, it is a touching story of life, love and memories. Its writing is superb and that’s not even mentioning the technical aspects. The color was done masterfully by our own Lyle Dillie, and the 2D animation was done frame by frame by the students working in the project. Learning to mix film and animation together at the same time is a very impressive skill to have, especially at the age of some of the students. The most impressive part being that this was a fully student lead film. This proves the amazing things that people can do with just a little bit of guidance. Check this film out here; https://bit.ly/3kiYAOQ

BloodQuartz Studio continues to bring services to non veteran students today, by partnering with Estrella Mountain Community College again to bring light to the Diversity Advisory Council’s Award of Excellence that will be presented to a student in the near future. 

If you would like to see BloodQuartz Studio’s touch as many people as possible, be them veterans or non veteran students, please consider donating through Creative Drill Sergeants. It is and always will be our goal to put people on the path to success in doing what they love, while also helping prevent homelessness or suicide by using the expressive arts. https://creativedrillsergeants.org/donations/one-time-donation/ 

Thank you for your consideration. 

When we left off, we had just wrapped day 3 of filming. On day 3 we captured one of the funniest scenes of the whole film between Ken Ronk and Ryan Slack. It involvolves a bathtub, a womens shirt, and a smelly situation. It was a great day of filming, despite any technical difficulties we had.

If day 3 was the Ying to the film though, then day 4 was the Yang. The comedy and upbeat happiness of day 3 was perfectly juxtaposed by raw emotion that our actor Ryan Slack was able to produce on day 4. We were all able to film the most emotionally significant scene of the entire film and believe us, it looks beautiful.

And I know I always go on about our Art Department, but this time they really knocked the ball out of the park. We were able to turn a photography studio into a bachelor’s apartment that was genuinely indistinguishable from a real apartment. If you were to walk in, you would think there was actually someone living there. None of this would be possible if not for Rebeca Heizelman, Ted Tanaka, and Lyle Dillie.

Another exciting development is that we are beginning to get rough edits of scenes that we have filmed. The first scene of the film is edited together and believe us when we say that if the rest of the film looks as good as the first scene, we are all in for a treat.

This past month has been transformative for BloodQuartz Studios as well and we are starting to reap the benefits of expansion and new team members. We are pleased to welcome new team members including John Carr as a producer and Gabby Barbosa as a first AD.

I would also like to give a shout out to our cinematography department, lead by Ted Tanaka. Thanks to him and Andrew Dillon, every single shot in this film tells the story of 20 Percent, right alongside the script.

There is a lot coming this next month for 20 Percent and we cannot wait to tell you everything that we have planned. Thank you for your continued involvement with our project.

By the way, we would like to mention our online merch store over at https://bloodquartz.com/shop/. If you would like to help this movie become a reality then you can head on over and get your own merch. We have hats, shirts, phone cases, and stickers. We use high quality materials and make sure that all of our products will look amazing. All the profit we get will go straight into funding 20 Percent and any future BloodQaurtz Studio productions. 

We are looking for donations for a few more props and a location fee to help push our film over the edge of completion. Blood Quartz Studios, part of Creative Drill Sergeants, are creating their very first film, “20 Percent” and we need your support. – DONATE TODAY

We all have been able to watch something that started out as just a small script transform into real life. Once we found our actors we were able to begin creating a rich world. Our art department went out to begin designing sets to be tailored to each character and their personality, and at the same time our photographers began photo shoots to add to the sets, just for another layer of immersion for the film. We want to create a world that feels lived in. 

After all of prep work we were able to start filming. The first day opened up and our art department began making the world come alive. The film required a bar bathroom to be disgusting, so they made it horrifying. They created fake vomit, fake poop smears, fake pee, they essentially made the worst looking bathroom any of us have ever seen out of common household objects. All the cast and crew took turns walking in and gagging at the sight of it and walking out, to tell another person that they have to see what a good job had been done. We shot the bar scenes and then moved on to scenes that took place outside in the heat. Luckily though, we had created custom branded frozen yogurt cups and filled it up and kept our actor cool in front of the camera. Shortly after, we finished, and all went home exhausted and ready to start the next day. 

The second day of shooting started out with more miracles from the art department. We transformed an apartment into two distinct homes for different people and made them all look lived in. Filming began and we were able to quickly put our Ronan gimbal to good use, making quick smooth shots to make the movie come alive. We filmed the first scene and moved on to the next set, where we would continue to make quick, effective shots and finish the day with an impressive amount of footage. 

The third day we were able to shoot a scene in a bathtub with our fantastic actor, Ken Ronk. Despite some technical difficulties, we were able to persevere through and shoot one of our favorite scenes in the whole film.

We are well on our way to making a film that we can all be proud of, and we are very excited to see where the coming weeks of filming will take us.