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

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!

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!

IMDB Page, Trailers & Teasers, Oh My!

Good morning,

A couple things to inform you about on this stormy Monday...

We now have an IMDB page for Animus Cross featuring the original trailer. More content will follow.

The first episode of Animus Cross is now playing on the new Animus Cross Vimeo Channel. Again, the rest of the series and the new teaser will be added as soon as possible for your viewing pleasure.

Our editor is busy logging footage and sound files and getting ready to cut together an exciting behind-the-scenes video featuring the awesome Igorot Head Hunting Axe from Traditional Filipino Weapons!

Thanks for your time and I hope you're staying dry wherever you are in the world!

-A.L. Steen

"Hell For The Company" Was a Hell of a Ride!

It's official, we made it through! Principal photography on Animus Cross "Hell For The Company" wrapped several days ago and we are looking forward to getting into the editing suite.

With four new cast members (Curt Hanson, Christian James, Ira Kortum and Mercedes Rose), a group of nasty gnarly stunt performers and several new crew members, the days were quite a bit longer than the first season of Animus. However, as promised, I believe that the action is quicker, bigger and better and the characters are more developed. The moving pictures are super pretty with the help of the Canon Eos 5D MII and the new Canon 7D.

Coming on board this time around were award winning photographer, Andy Batt, sound man extraordinare, Brian Mazzola , AC Galvin Collins and special effects makeup artist, Amber Arpin. Along with the help of Christina Kortum at Ravenous Studios, Chris Calvert and Zac Goodwin we've got one hell of a show to bring you near the beginning of next year!

A big thanks to Kelly Jo Horton at The Portlander for the wonderful article on our show. Also to Harold Phillips for his help spreading the word through press releases. Thank you my friend, you are a life-savor!

As always, thanks to Cindy and David Steen for once again doing everything, all the time (aka, producing). You're both amazing people and I'm so very lucky to call you my parents.

To returning cast members Harold Phillips, Trish Egan, Jeff Hime and Kathryne Bukowski, your continued support means the world to me. :D

And to all the stunt performers who jumped on board this time around. Thank you, thank you, thank you! Each of you brought a new level of production value to the series.

Mr. Buxbaum, you are my greatest love and without you, Animus Cross would not exist.

To all you lovely viewers... please stay tuned. This is going to be fun!

-A.L. Steen

May Day! There's a New Interview!

Happy May Day everyone!

It's a beautiful morning here in Scappoose, OR and the second of three cast\crew interviews are up and ready for viewing at animuscross.com. Thanks so much to Trish Egan and Dave Steen. It was good fun, but could have done without my silly face! :P Haha, I'm not a big fan of seeing myself on camera, but Trish and dad looked wonderful. I love hearing Trish tell stories. She has such elegance and a glorious voice. Both she and dad have great presence. I'm so looking forward to really digging into the lives of Judith and Pastor Carver.

Once again, thanks to Mercedes Rose for the great questions (LOVE the site update). Thanks to mom, Jerry and Kathryne for being our crew for the interview. Dad, once again, a nice edit. Thank you.

Have a bright day everyone and enjoy!

Cast Interviews with Mercedes Rose.

It is a bright and sunny day here in PDX. As I sit here at my computer, I look out at the river and it reminds me of the GREAT cast interviews we did a few weeks ago with the lovely Mercedes Rose using this same river as our backdrop! The first of three interviews is now live on the Animus Cross Website. Look for the new button on the main page.

Thank you again for the wonderful interviewing, Mercedes! It was a lot of fun and we hope to involve you more in future Animus Cross endeavors. Check out Mercedes' online radio program, The Quasi-Glamorous Life, the ups and downs living as a working voice-over talent and actor.

Also, please check out the Animus page on the StoryGas blog. StoryGas is, "a place on the web for people who work in, and fans who watch, online drama... " Here you'll find lots of online shows, some you've probably not been watching, but might want to check out!

A big thanks to Harold Phillips and Dave Steen for all their hard work in recent days. We'll get there, I'm sure of it!

Take care and I hope it's sunny where you're at!

-A.L.

The Animoose is Loose!

Hey all,

Head on over to the Animus Cross website to check out our Animoose in the episodes section. The moose was named Oscar after he stopped production for about fifteen minutes to head down to the lake to have himself a drink. We tried to take advantage of his appearance by putting him into a scene with Jerry Buxbaum and Jeff Hime, but he proved to be more of a distraction to the shot than anything, so sadly, we had to cut him out. Now here he is in his own little clip, with a few extra bloopers thrown in for good measure. Have fun and keep checking the site for updates! Thanks and happy spring!

-A.L. Steen

Thank you all!

Sorry for the delay in blog posts everyone. I have about a million stories milling around in my jumbled little brain and wind up being a horrible journal keeper! Excuses aside, I wanted to thank each and every person who viewed Animus Cross, passed on the link or wrote about us! The hits to the site this month have blown away all previous months. We have several new opportunties for the show and the new site has been well received. Thanks dad! Please be sure to keep checking back for new additions to the site.

I am quite confident that the story will continue with some even more exciting twist and turns... maybe even a glimps at our nighttime attackers... :P I've spoken a bit about that subject to RAD special effects make-up artist Christina Kortum, so keep your fingers crossed for us folks.

We really had a bunch of fun with this show and I'm looking forward to putting the characters through some new tortures... uh, I mean experiences.

Have a wonderful weekend,

A.L. Steen

p.s. In previous posts I have neglected to give my lovely sister Laura Steen credit for some of our behind the scenes photos! Thanks sister Lou, you rock!

-A

Returning the favor.

I was going to wait until next week to post more ramblings, but this is just too great.

Ron Kosakowski of Traditional Filipino Weapons, the company that I purchased our lead character Sheriff Sarcous' wicked axe from, has been kind enough to give us a plug on his homepage, so I thought I'd return the favor.

Please check out the great site for "Beautiful handmade swords and knives from the Philippines." I'm keeping my eye on that new sword cane for future Animus Cross episodes!

-A.L. Steen
writer\director\producer

Every time you stop...

We get closer and closer to a dream come true.

Animus Cross, our new web series set in a dark 1867 Inland Northwest, is the result of three years in development. Those years seemed very long with the 'should we's' and 'shouldn't we's' bouncing back and forth between myself (A.L. Steen) and myself. Oh yeah, and the whole not having a lot of money thing...

It all started coming together very quickly after the filming of The Outbreak. Chris and Lynn Lund put together a great cast and I used their show as a screen test. Harold Philips, Trish Egan and Kathryne Bukowski fit the characters I'd written like gloves. Add stunt coordinator extraordinaire\lead actor Jerry Buxbaum and an amazingly talented actor from Nashville, Jeff Hime and we had ourselves a boat load of talent!

I'm not sure what I would have done if our Director of Photography, Jason Satterlund had turned me down. He is just one of the many people who became a guiding force behind Animus Cross. His talent is inspiring and he really does make pretty pictures. It wouldn't have happened at all if not for Dave and Cindy Steen (mom & dad). They never hesitated and their intense support is unfailing. Not to mention they worked their butts off on camera, grip, wardrobe, locations, editing, website, financing, lifting, carrying, smiling and sooo much more that I could take an entire blog post to list.

And then there's Jerry. The love of my life and the one who keeps me forever moving forward toward my dreams.

Thank you to all who participated in Animus Cross. We wouldn't have done it without you. I hope everyone enjoys the first part of, "Hell Runs This Way." There's two more after this and hopefully a full "season" to come!

With joy and hope,

A.L. Steen - writer\director\producer

p.s. to check out the who did what, see our blog on our Myspace page!