Fiction Has Risen

I’ve written and published several novels, a few novellas, a collection of short stories, a couple non-fiction books, and countless poetry books. My most successful literary work to date though is not even a book at all—it’s a movie, No Shark, which pushes the art form of both cinema and literature forward. It does this by marrying the two in a way never seen before. It’s a visual novella, but even that doesn’t fully describe it—it’s a total commitment to the concept of voiceover, and all it can be. Thousands upon thousands of people have watched this movie—including a ton of Japanese people, reading 25,000 words of subtitles for nearly two hours straight. It’s well-received worldwide. And, if it had just been another book I wrote, I guarantee you that less than ten people would’ve read it. Which means, if you are literary-minded, it might be time for you to break out of the confines of the book, and enter the world of cinema.

Film is still a young art form—I’ve said it a million times, because apparently it needs to be said that often. People still don’t get that you can make a film today, tomorrow, anytime you want—and you can make it in whatever way you want. You can push the art form forward—particularly because it’s barely gone anywhere to begin with. Every film I make stretches what film can do, and by design—I do not want to repeat myself, and I also do not want to create anything that doesn’t add to the dialogue of what film can be. I’d like for you to be a part of the dialogue too. There are a million ways to do what No Shark did without it reading as just another No Shark—it’s a template, but by no means a formula. It’s a way to get your fiction seen, heard, read—and embraced in a way that it would never if it were just sitting between a cover and back cover.

I know so many wonderful writers who are not read, and maybe never will be. It’s because their books aren’t hip, cool—not that they need to be that content-wise, just that there’s no excitement around the material such that people feel they must put down their lives and pick up what you wrote. You can count on one hand the amount of books like that in the last thirty years—and a lot of them are terrible! That is insanely sad. But, it’s not the end of literature—it’s the beginning.

I think everyone should make a movie—there’s no genuinely good reason not to. But, in particular, I think writers, those deep in the world of literature, should make them. They need to—it’s about survival, it’s about evolving. You don’t need to stop writing books—you just need to make films too. Thats not me telling you to get someone to make your book into a movie—I would never tell you to do that, that is old paradigm shit. New paradigm is a writer—who is smart enough to write a book—learning how to read or watch information pertaining to how to use filmmaking equipment, and putting that knowledge to use. I know so many fucking numbskulls who make movies—guys who can barely wash their hands. The smartest artists I know are writers—if anyone can make movies too, it’s them.

So fucking do it—start today. You’ve already done the hardest shit possible—write actual books. Every book I ever wrote was ‘harder’ than making a movie, so make a movie. Breathe life into your words through the silver screen, a realm accessible to all of us now. Copy my film No Shark completely, or do your own way of doing it, I don’t care. But the point is, I’ve laid the groundwork—the groundwork exists now. Just walk forward.

Thank you for reading, and if you enjoyed this piece, and enjoy my films, consider contributing $2 per month to my film studio, Kill The Lion Films.