Axel Rockham: Angel of Anywhere – The Genisys & 5 day pitch

Editorial Note: The following entry was imported from a project website and was not written by director James Kicklighter. It is attributed to its original author in the heading. The original writing has not been modified from the author’s words.

James Kicklighter

Right, so where did this Angel of Anywhere movie come from and how did it even happen?

My name is Axel Rockham. Let me just preface this story by saying that this whole thing was a scary ass proposition.

It was going to be expensive, time intensive, demanding – but above all, it meant I was going to have to put myself out there.

I could invest so much of myself into this and it could turn out really fucking bad and in so many ways. I was determined to make this happen so I can show “Hollywood” that I was serious about this. I knew I was going to have really exhaust myself on sending out this little Hail Mary and just cross my fingers and hope it produces something.

But let’s back up one moment.

Why, then, even bother? The reality is: I got tired of waiting. And seeking permission to be an actor.

I wasn’t getting into any doors, presumably because I had no real material of any kind. And I decided that I had to do something, ANYTHING, to get in front of a camera, do my thing, and hope to fucking God it’s watchable and I am not terrible and I can, at the very least, say to people, “Hey, I did this thing…”

But also, I wanted to just fucking act.

And not just a scene or something simple. Something for real. And you guys have NO idea what the come up as been like.

No. Fucking. Idea.

And call me a Millennial or whatever, but I was anxious and hungry and ready to create my own opportunities.

The reality is, I should have known to do as much, because my entire life has been me, going out there, trying to make shit happen. Most of the time, I am not successful, but every now and then I get exactly what I want.

Right, well. It turned out, finding people who would be able to help me with this was going to be quite the challenge in and of itself.

But could I blame anyone? Don’t most people say they’re going to do something and then not follow through? I am not that kind of guy, not usually anyway.

And for months I tried to exhaust resources finding people who had experience with an “indie.”  It was also a little demoralizing and frustrating.

With so few contacts, and no one responding to my rando emails, I didn’t really know where else to look.

And then.

I get an email. The Atlanta Film Festival was coming back in town.

I had gone the year before and had a blast – and I loved what I saw. And I thought, well, wouldn’t that be a great place to find someone?

My logic was that these people have experience making things, on relatively low budgets, and making them good and watchable. 

So I decided I was going to invest in a VIP Pass, go to every function/showing I could, and *try* to network.

Notice I said try.

I’m not a very smooth talker and I am awkward as hell and have a little social anxiety, so the prospect of trying to meet people and saying, “Hey, let’s make a movie!” was terrifying.

But I go. Let’s just say, I met a lot of very distant people.

But I did meet one person – and as the saying goes, all it takes is one – who would give me his contact info and then agree to meet for coffee at some point in the week.