What You've All Been Waiting For!!

It's here. It's time. It's part five of Animus Cross Season II and let me tell you, it is quite revealing! :P Thanks to Ravenous Studios for their hard work and to our latest addition to the cast, Christian James (Vicky Vixen web series).

Our travelers, Henry, Judith and Sarah have been through hell on their way to Animus Cross and there's no going back. Their lives are forever changed after the events in this episode.

So, I hope you all enjoy the latest addition to the Animus Cross story. As always, comments are welcome here on the blog or over at our Facebook page.

Thanks,
A.L. Steen
writer\director

Part IV of Animus Cross, "Hell For The Company" is NOW PLAYING!

It's the last Wednesday of the month and you know what that means: new Animus Cross episodes!! Head on ever to the Animus Cross You Tube Channel to view the latest part in the series and learn a little bit more about the characters.

Also, be sure to check out the store for new items. New graphics are coming soon.

I hope the summer is treating everyone well. Take care all,

A.L. Steen

"Hell For the Company" Part III is LIVE!

Hey all,

Just a quick note before we go offline for the holiday to tell you that Part III of Animus Cross "Hell For the Company" is now LIVE on the Animus Cross Website! Whoo hooo!

Check it out and let us know what you think about this action packed episode. Thanks to all who showed up to try and put a hurt on Sarcous and Henry.

Happy Independence Day to all. Let Freedom Ring!

-A.L. Steen
writer\director

BTS and Crew Photos Coming Soon!

Good morning everyone! Another rainy one here in Oregon. Just stopping in this week (quickly before the baby wakes up :P) to let you know that we will have season II behind-the-scenes and crew photos up on the website soon. Part I of "Hell For the Company" will go on our Vimeo channel this week as well.

Part III will go up on the last Wednesday of this month so make sure you catch up on this season's excitement! Things are starting to heat up for our characters. Lives will be changed forever in the episodes to come. Stay tuned and tell us what you think about it!

Have a wonderful day,

A.L. Steen

Animus Cross Series II, Episode 2 Profiled in WebseriesToday.com

Our friends at WebseriesToday.com posted a great little write-up on the release of Episode 2 and our steadily increasing audience at their site today... click here to read it!

As the press release says, we've been amazed by the response this second series is getting from viewers around the world - be sure to spread the word to all your friends and family! You don't want them to miss out, after all...

Episode 2 of Series II is LIVE

Hey everyone

The second episode of Animus Cross Series II: "Hell For The Company" is live at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XR-1_pCuMbw! Head on over and take a look - and be sure to let us know what you think on our Facebook Page.

Looks like Henry's desperate chase after Nathan has left Sarah and Ethan vulnerable to attack... And has drawn he and Sarcous into a deadly situation!

Spread the word to all your friends... We'd love to hear what you (and they) think of Episode 2!

So much Animus...

If you missed the launch of "Hell For the Company" Part I at the end of April, be sure to catch up on our YouTube and MySpace channels before Part II goes live at the end of this month.

As always, we'd love to hear your feedback on the second season of Animus Cross. You can leave your comments and creative criticism here on the blog, on the forum or at our new Facebook page.

Also, I've gotten quite a lot of requests from actors to be considered for future Animus fun. I'd like to thank you all for your interest. Please feel free to send your headshot and resumes to info@animuscross.com

In the meantime, a HD version of Part I will be up on our Vimeo page soon. Be sure to keep your eyes out for an Animus Cross "Hell For the Company" Part II teaser trailer!

Season II Begins.

Whew! It has been quite a ride between now and the last day of shooting "Hell For The Company." It feels good to finally have the first episode up for everyone to see on the Animus Cross website. It seems like only yesterday Animus Cross was but a concept.

We had just finished working on a music video for rapper JRemy, directed and shot by AC's first season DP, Jason Satterlund. My husband, Jerry Buxbaum was playing the evil sheriff and something about his look tickled my imagination. Soon, Sheriff Alban Sarcous was born (sans eye patch). The rest of Animus Cross evolved around this rough edged character. Sarcous' deep anger seemed to fuel the story, creating the darkness.

After several painful re-writes, the first season was locked. Animus Cross will always hold a special place in my writer's soul because it was the turning point for me as a writer. It made me realize just how much I had to learn about writing, even after years of doing it. To be a great writer (which I hope to be some day) you must never stop learning and always, always keep writing.

Having a baby has made the writing part a bit harder to get to these days, but Animus is never far from my thoughts. There are just too many stories to tell within this harsh world.

With all that said, I hope you all enjoy what we've put together for you for our second season of Animus Cross. We had a great time creating it! We'd love to hear your feedback at our Facebook page and on the Forum.

Take care,
A.L. Steen
writer\director

Animus Cross Series II Launches April 28!

The wait is finally over! Mark your calendars, everyone - Series II of Animus Cross, "Hell For The Company," launches next Wednesday April 28. New episodes will be released at http://www.animuscross.com/ on the last Wednesday of every month.

What can you expect from Series II? Here's a little taste!

Join us at www.animuscross.com next Wednesday for the launch of Episode 1 - and be sure to sign up for our Facebook Fan Page so you're always "in the loop" with all the latest news on the series.

See you next Wednesday...

ACTION!

We're busily putting the finishing touches on Series II, Hell For The Company. As I go through the amazing footage that our DP Andy Batt captured, I can't help but marvel at how good the action sequences look.

Most of you know that our star (and my husband) Jerry is a seasoned stunt coordinator. One of the reasons he wanted to help me produce Animus Cross was to raise the level of action available to viewers on the web. We’ve got the experience, the equipment and the personnel (including local stunt players who appeared in the TNT Television show Leverage ) to help put together some really kick ass action sequences.

We were really lucky to get the help of our friend and noted martial artist Guro John Bruce Daniels. "JD" is a 7th dan Black Belt in Arnis Demano and a certified instructor in Jeet Kune Do under Dan Inosanto, Bruce Lee's number one instructor. He's also worked on a number of film, television and video projects as a trainer, stunt performer and fight choreographer. We were in very very good hands. Working closely with Jerry, he helped make everyone look great during the big fight sequence with the creatures!

We also got to work with other seasoned stunt performers like Keith Cox (also a black belt and member of the Inosanto Academy), Derek A. Sasaki (a third-degree black belt in Kajukenbo) and Scott K. Hills (a black belt in Tae Kwon Do and Wun Hop Kuen Do kungfu).

JD's expertise in the Filipino art Arnis is also a perfect match to one of the signature weapons we use in the series - the Igorot headhunting axe wielded by Sheriff Sarcous and provided by Ron Kosakowski at Traditional Filipino Weapons. I chose the headhunting axe because of it's organic and deadly look. In JD's hands, it became very deadly and he was able to pass that aspect along to Jerry.

I'm really excited for you all to see the fight scenes we've cooked up for Series II... I've seen the footage many many times and it's STILL fun. :)

-A.L. Steen

Series II Is On The Way!

Hey everyone! I know it's been a long time since I posted anything here, and I thought it might be a good idea to touch base with you all to let you know where things stand.

First off, thanks to all of you who wished Jerry and I well when our son Trone was born on February 11.

As great as it is to receive your congratulations, we've also been getting messages from fans worried that, with Trone's arrival, Series II of Animus Cross would be delayed.

Not going to happen. Our target release date was in place while Trone was still en utero. We planned the new episodes’ release with the little guy's needs in mind. In fact, that’s why we released the trailer for Series II on http://www.animuscross.com back in November – we wanted you guys to know that we’re committed to continuing the story when the second series launches later this month.

Over the past few months we've been splitting our time between post-production, work on other projects shooting around the Pacific Northwest, and adjusting our home life to fit the needs of our new family member. And we've even been working on finding time to sleep - but that's an ongoing project. We're lucky that Animus Cross is a family affair – most of you know David Steen as ‘Pastor Carver,’ but he’s also our editor - and Trone’s grandfather! Post-production on the show has been a great excuse for him to come visit, and we’re grateful to he my mom Cindy for giving us a break from time-to-time.

So don't worry - the team is hitched and we're getting close to sending Series II of Animus Cross out of the barn! As we get closer to launch, we'll be sure to post the official date here on the blog, on our new Facebook Fan Page, and on my Twitter Feed. Be watching for it! Until then... be careful getting home. There's blood in the air tonight!