Brave New Souls is a documentary I wrote, produced, and directed that explores the thoughts, goals, and inspirations of a new generation of Black creators in graphic novels, television, cinema, literature, and digital media. It was a very tough shoot as I did the camera work, sound recording, lighting, and directing ALL BY MYSELF! While the movie will be released on DVD in two weeks — on July 15 — for those that want to watch it via their smartphones, tablets, laptops, and home PCs, you can stream or download it as a high-quality, digital video right now at Gumroad for $7.99!

I wanted to take a moment to thank all the creators I worked with during the production of the documentary and share a few things I learned:

1. People that volunteer to assist on the production will disappear when you actually begin to shoot the thing.
2. Those same people will have every excuse in the book when they realize that you’re going to continue shooting with or without their assistance.
3. When you do everything yourself, it makes folks assume you’re a complete amateur so having a crew adds considerable legitimacy to the production.
4. No one will believe you until the final, edited version is made available to the public.
5. It’s hard work, but there’s nothing in the world like getting your project done and sharing your vision with the rest of the community.

There were a few creators who I asked to participate that ignored me, and then there were those creators I wanted desperately to get recorded but the circumstances prevented the interview.

However, I will do a Volume 2 in 2015 with all the folks I missed the first time around as well as extended interviews with some of the original cast.