Meet William Briggs of Silent Sickies in Broomfield

Today we’d like to introduce you to William Briggs.

William, let’s start with your story. We’d love to hear how you got started and how the journey has been so far.
I have always had a drive for storytelling. From creating role-playing game campaigns to hand-drawing “flip-it” cartoons to taping-over the erasure heads on cassette recorders to create our own crowds in radio plays, my friends and I have always created as a hobby. My cousins got me into film-making in childhood with story-driven silent films on Super-8 that segued to “talkies” on VHS. Later I worked cameras for a live NEWS broadcast in my hometown, did voice-overs for commercial spots, and was a local radio DJ.

But I specialized in computer programming and focused on a career as a computer engineer on virtual reality, scientific visualization, military simulations, and 3D games. This supplanted my need for a creative outlet and led me away from film for years. However, now as a development manager with some life experience, I feel all these bottled-up stories I need to tell.

Since 2017 I have been actively involved in the Denver area film community, meeting amazingly talented filmmakers and collaborating on writing, acting, and production. I co-wrote a feature-length romantic comedy, am writer/actor on a local sci-fi series and am acting/directing a short film noir of my own writing. All the while, I am learning the ropes of PR, shooting what we can and showing behind-the-scenes to gather an interested base following. We will release a teaser for a fund-raising campaign in order to finish strong so please stay tuned to @SilkMovieProject on social media.

Great, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
I have been very lucky in Denver; the vibe is so supportive and collaborative. Of course, it is a process to cast everyone and even more difficult to schedule everyone’s lives weekend after weekend when most of us have kiddos and day-jobs. And there’s the bittersweet moment when an actor you admire becomes SAG and so is unavailable to you!

Everything is more challenging when you have almost zero budget — its a labor of love for everyone and I am so humbled and honored the lengths actors will go to. However, money talks in regards to equipment and locations so your dream must be curtailed to match your situation. But sometimes limitations are a strength because you are forced to lean on them and not spin your wheels focusing on perfection.

We’d love to hear more about your work and what you are currently focused on. What else should we know?
I am working as SilentSickies, a shout-out to our childhood silent super-8 films. I have a handful of movie plots in various stages of beat-sheets and treatments so there are many stories ready to be told: martial arts, a western, steampunk, and others. I just want to do good work and that means synergy between people. It’s always a friendly yet organized set. We have call-sheets and script-sides, I do storyboards and we have shot lists, yet ideas can come from anywhere which usually makes it even better. I like to showcase artists and musicians as well, giving credit to businesses and organizations. I feel that “when the train comes in, everybody rides,” setting all our production values higher and giving all of us more exposure and opportunities.

Is there a characteristic or quality that you feel is essential to success?
I think I am (or was) a little “manic/depressant” which makes for some high highs, but some low lows. Zany creation can happen up there. And soulful beauty can happen down below. It’s a razor’s edge to walk, however, but I feel I have mellowed with age and can “look outside myself” and capture it as a common human experience. For scripts, there has to be the spark of an idea that would grab people visually, mentally, emotionally, audibly, and the follow-through with real dialogue between humans just being. For production, perhaps success depends upon a lot of faith; it will all come together somehow, otherwise we might never start. And I think I am fueled by realizing we are not alone in this: it’s not a burden to ask people to spend a weekend working because everyone wants to create something beautiful.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.facebook.com/SilkMovieProject
• Email: Silent.Sickies@gmail.com
• Instagram: @SilkMovieProject
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/silent.sickies
• Other: https://www.imdb.me/WilliamBriggs

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