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James Schumacher Brings Life Experiences to Film

The Astronaut

James D. Schumacher III

James D. Schumacher III is a writer that has drawn on some of his own life experiences to transform people through film. Using experiences both positive and negative, James has created rich works of art that he hopes others can relate to. James took some time to talk with JustLuxe about his films and other works as well as his future plans.

 

What was your first film?

 

"The first film I ever shot was a music video. I wrote from a very young age, as our family could not afford a video camera. My mother was stricken with cancer, when I was 11 years old and I witnessed the toll the disease had on her first hand. The horrific, long recalcitrant bouts with Chemotherapy and how it ravaged her body. This is one of the most hated memories I have, while at the same time, it served as the point where I learned at a young age, what I wanted to do. My father brought home a video camera, so while he was away at work, I would play with the camera, eventually I was caught by my mother. Instead of getting mad, she let me record my first film. What is that film? A music video of my sisters dancing to Grease 2, even at 11 years old I made my first credit slate with cardboard. "A Schumacher Film". I showed my mother the film, and watched as she smiled, and for the first time in a long while, she looked as if she had forgotten the cancer, and this is the point where I realized how much film can transform lives."

 

 

How did The Astronaut come about?

 

"The Astronaut came out of a dark time in 2013. During a cardioversion, my father's doctors discovered that he was bleeding internally, and bleeding so heavily that he was rushed in for an emergency transfusion. To our horror the transfusions were not helping, then his body began to no longer regulate his oxygen, and his body began to fail and he was rushed into the Intensive Care unit and was intubated to be kept him alive. While in the ICU he continued to get worse, and his chances of survival slimmed, and I was forced to ask him if he wanted to be kept alive should the worst happen, his solemn answer was 'No'. 

 

It was in this moment, this generational shift, this moment where time came to a sudden and sorrowful halt that the image of a father and son on the moon together popped into my head. My father and I never had a relationship when I was a child, because he worked so much to keep the medical treatments going to keep my mother alive. I always wanted that relationship with my father, and to realize that our relationship stood the chance of ending over the span of a couple days was heart wrenching. I actually penned the first draft of The Astronaut in the hospital." 

 

 

How would you describe the film?

 

"It is a love letter to often misunderstood paternal relationship between a father and his children. Quite frankly, the film is me. Every emotion, every nuance, every decision to run and hide and to stand and fight against the pain in my life. Autobiographical so to speak. Beyond that the film is about a retired astronaut who suffers from PTSD, who is running from a pain in his past, and that pain has consumed everything around him, even forcing him to neglect his son's budding interest in following in his footsteps, the dream of flying to space. For Thomas Niccol, running from his painful past might have dire consequences, as his son is fighting his own illness, and each second father and son spend apart is a second they will never get back. Thomas must confront the results of his decision to hide and hope that there is enough time left for he and his son to explore the furthest reaches of space together."

 

 

 

What would you like people to take away from watching it?

 

"That it is never too late to rekindle the relationship between and father and his children, and that nothing truly in life is insurmountable, provided that people face the pain in their lives an conquer it." 

 

 

You shot it as a short, are you looking to make it a full length feature film?

 

"Absolutely. It's a story that has universal themes and implications that we as human beings share. Pain and Loss. It's an uplifting story and it is a story that is easily brought into the realm of feature length."

 

 

Which filmmakers most influenced you?

 

"Robert Zemeckis, Andrew Niccol, Stanley Kubrick, Rod Serling, Ron Howard, Alfred Hitchcock, Steven Spielberg and so many others.  

 

 

You also recently released a graphic novel called Inheritance.  What is the work about?

 

"Inheritance explores the lineage of a family that is so disturbing, so malevolent that is crosses the generational thresholds and writhes its way into the current genealogy. Inheritance is the story of a skeptical son,  who doubts the paranormal stories his mother has told him his entire life, which eventually leads him to having her committed for severe schizophrenia. It's only when he begins to experience the very same things she describes that he begins to question his own sanity, or accept the reality that the world may not be as cut and dry as he would like it to be. It is a knock down, drag out horror story where no one is safe.

 

Is it currently out?  Where can people find it?

 

"Currently my artist, James Burton, and I have completed the Inheritance: Prologue issue and we are getting ready to shop it around to various publishers and take it out onto the comic-con tours. You can follow the progress of the graphic novel on twitter at twitter.com/inheritnovel and you can follow updates at www.schumacher3.com and www.angrybrainartworks.com

 

 

Are you looking to make it a film as well? 

 

"Ideally, yes. The story is told in the vein of the older horror stories, where fear was derived from the unknown and not violence and gore. Those were the stories that terrified me as a child. It would be an incredible story to bring to the live action tactility of film."  

 

 

Are there other projects you/re working on?

 

"Yes, I have a horror/western feature length film titled "Of Devils and Men" that we are getting ready to bring to investors. It is another film that is built upon the personal anguish in my life."

 

http://www.schumacher3.com/

twitter.com/inheritnovel

James D. Schumacher III

The Astronaut
James D. Schumacher III

The Astronaut

Carly Zinderman

Carly Zinderman is a Senior Staff Writer for JustLuxe, based just outside of Los Angeles, CA. Since graduating from Occidental College with a degree in English and Comparative Literary Studies, she has written on a variety of topics for books, magazines and online publications, but loves fashion and style best. In her spare time, when she?s not writing, Carly enjoys watching old movies, reading an...(Read More)

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