The Shiners is a short series in development; it is a blend of an hommage to D.W. Griffith and a "silent film on acid".

The cast is quite strong; I have easy access to a range of talented actors.

This is the first piece in a series of short films that will turn into webisodes, suitable for TV as well.

We will experiment quite a bit with the style and soon move beyond the early 20th Century look, referrring to it from time to time using classy and humorous intertext.

The "old times feel" music will range from initial detuned ragtime piano sounds to using band organs, calliopes, barrel organs, cottage orchestrions, violin piano and piano orchestrions later. I have composers interested in the project.

We have done extensive preproduction, test footage is available. The next step will be doing more editing and continuous shooting with an HVX200 or better camera - using HD for the purposes of "future proofing" the product .

Regarding the short length silent genre, style reigns over script. The stories (sometimes even the characters) can be quite flexible - we could grow any given theme in a Petri dish.

The concept and style can be developed cost effectively by first doing most things ourselves, later expanding into using more professionals for costume and set design, writing, etc.

This a local New York shoot, we can take advantage of the new MOFTB rules and being on the set is fun!

Finally we will develop a feature film based on the concept.