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"The Adventures of Jim T. Zombie" – The Long, Dark, and Agonizing Journey of James Tyrannous Zombie - David C. White

Although "The Adventures of Jim T. Zombie" found life in G-14's fertile and loving, if overly critical, womb, the seed came from an outside source. Our first inspiration was Mr. Sam Rami and his Evil Dead Trilogy. Like anyone with a hint of good taste, we love Evil Dead and we LOVE ZOMBIES! Our second and most significant source came from a comic strip from Penny Arcade that featured a couple kids playing a "Resident Evil"-type game. They are yelling things like, "Die, you stupid zombies!" while a zombie looks on through a window with a single tear in it's poor dead eye. Funny stuff. In fact, we stole the idea, or rather P. Diddyed it, for our opening sequence.

In the credits, I am listed as writer, which is funny considering there is no script. Not a single line of dialog was scratched to paper. Much like our earlier films, the actors improvised their lines. I accept the credit because I did make some of the decisions that shaped the arc of the film. For instance, I wanted to do an Afterschool Special-esque story. The only way to make the audience care about an undead minion of evil with an unstoppable hunger for brains and flesh is to make him an outcast at school. I also wanted him to have a Ritchie Cunningham/Fonzie relationship with a cooler kid who would save Jim's rep. And thanks to friend and stand-up comic Charles Severine, Johnny Pumpenfutz, aka "The Futz" was born.

The film was shot in sequence and in a single night at Matthew and Kelli's apartment. In the grand tradition of our previous ventures, we moved at break-neck pace. Throw up a light and go. This did, however, mark the first time we worked with Jeff. He was our director of photography and when you compare our previous films with "Jim T. Zombie," the improvement in the look and tone is obvious. Jeff's ideas on set and the collaboration between him, Matthew, and myself began the creative triumvirate we now work under.

There are several interesting inconsistencies in the final film. First, we see "The Futz's Guide to Bagging Chicks: Part 1," but never Part 2. What is this secret of the mysterious Part 2? One word: Plastics. Also, the title is "The Adventures of Jim T. Zombie" but there is really only one adventure in the film. Why is this? Because it's funnier! Or maybe, it's an indication of the often talked about sequel that may happen? Could be. Ponder this, gentle readers. Ponder it!

The film sat on the shelf for about a year. Literally, Matt has a shelf that we refer to as the G-14 Archives. Along side various G-14 chotchkies, there's a little teddy bear (thanks Kelli!) and a world's greatest lover plaque (thanks a pant load Jeff). But I digress.

The motivation to send Jim out into the world is the same as that which motivates all of our day-to-day actions; spite. Well, spite and hot women. And hot men. Not for us! Hot men for, you know, the ladies in our group. Anyway, because of spite, Matthew furiously drove to the offices of ACT 33 TV to deliver a copy of the film to the Rosebud Film Festival with only minutes to spare. Thank-you, Matthew. Thank-you, spite.

The good folks at Rosebud selected "Jim T. Zombie" as one of its 20 finalists in their 2004 festival. We were all surprised, then happy, then…a little scared, then paranoid and kind of angry. Eventually we settled on happy…and scared. The other films selected gave us pause as well. One was titled, "My Cancer Rainbow." Now, "Jim T. Zombie" is many things, but we were uncertain if it could be shown with a film about cancer. No disrespect to "Cancer Rainbow," but they're just different films. Would it be possible to judge our zombie movie in that company?

Matthew and I were the only ones who were able to attend the first screening. Matt may disagree, but I thought the screening went badly. It seemed like everyone invited their grandparents that day. It was most certainly not our crowd. The second screening of went much better. A lot of our friends and family came out and laughed at all the right places. Heck, even some people that didn't know us laughed, and dare I say...cry?

A few weeks later, Rosebud held it's award ceremony. We were greeted with a nice surprise upon our arrival. A talented and lovely actress by the name of Jackie Reyes was hired to be award bearer for the ceremony. We had worked with Jackie on a previous project and she was considered a friend. We bugged her to tell us who had won, but she herself was in the dark as to the outcome of the festival.

Lucky for us (not you, Matt), they had a bar at the reception. Unlucky for those around me (you Matt) they had a bar at the reception. You see, when I am nervous and the opportunity presents itself, I'll indulge my baser instinct to get good and ripped. So, by the time the ceremony had started, I was three sheets to the wind. Possibly four. To kill the suspense, "Jim T. Zombie" was not chosen as one of the 5 winners that night. Which is a shame, because I had a whole acceptance speech thing worked out in my drunken state. It would've gone like this: We would've bounded up to the stage like conquering heroes. I would've pulled an Adrian Brody on the unsuspecting Jackie, raised the award up high, and shouted: "We fucking BURIED 'Cancer Rainbow!'"

Now, look, just so we don't sound like the thankless bitter assholes that we are, every one of us are grateful to the Rosebud Film Festival and its staff (not you Austin; SPITE!) It was nice to receive some validation in our work. I know that I will look upon our experience with "Jim T. Zombie" and Rosebud as our first tentative step toward legitimacy. Who'd of thought that a film featuring a wisecracking anti-hero and zombies would do that? It reminds me of a respected filmmaker and his first film...Mr. Sam Rami. TOOLSHED!!!

---DCW---