Thanks to The Mike Wagner Show for the interview! We discussed the new documentary ‘Concussed: The American Dream,’ which is now available on Apple TV, Amazon Prime Video and more. I shared some of my inspirations along the journey to becoming a filmmaker. Part of that journey has been working with director, writer, and producer David Kano which dates back to around 2012. Tune in to this episode of The Mike Wagner Show!
Ray Roman Interview on The Jan Price Show "All About Movies"
Watch the interview from The Jan Price Show “All About Movies” where I discuss the film Concussed: The American Dream directed by David Kano, Executive Produced by Brett Favre and Produced by Zach Tataryn and I. This documentary delves into the journey of Super Bowl champion Tyler Sash, tracing his rise from a small-town upbringing to a career in the NFL, which was ultimately cut short due to concussions. The film also draws a parallel with the experiences of NFL Hall of Famer Brett Favre, highlighting his struggles with the long-term effects of a 20-year professional football career. Thanks to Jan for having me on the show. If you’re interested in watching the film it’s available on various platforms including Apple TV, Amazon Prime Video, Google Play, Microsoft, Fandango, Vimeo, and Youtube.
Radio Press on Upcoming Film
Co-Producer David Kano speaks on our upcoming film 'Concussed: The American Dream' on Game Night with Matt Perrault. Hear the latest interview here. Also, in case you missed the previous broadcast the week of the Mayweather vs McGregor fight check it out here. Stay tuned!
Update: Finalizing Interviews
It's been a month since I've posted a new video here but the work hasn't stopped. As I've stated previously I'm working on a documentary involving CTE. We plan to wrap shooting next month and begin the editing process soon after. Here's a couple photos with some recent interviewees, stay tuned!
12-day filmmaking trip
I've returned from a 12-day business trip just a few days ago. I'm finally getting around to writing a blog post about the journey. Where do I start? Well, within 12-days I traveled to 17 states which include California, Nevada, Arizona, New Mexico, Texas, Arkansas, Tennessee, Virginia, Maryland, Pennsylvania, Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Iowa, Nebraska, Colorado, and Utah.
I'm working on a documentary with my business partner David Kano about C.T.E. (chronic traumatic encephalopathy). First we stopped at the Cleveland Clinic where we documented the testing done at the clinic, and sat down for some interviews.
Over these 12 days we interviewed MMA fighters, a former NFL player, doctors, and more. One of my favorite days was spending 10 hours with former WBA lightweight champion Ray ‘Boom Boom’ Mancini. Checkout the full MMA Now TV interview below.
Throughout this trip we talked with at least 8 people on camera, and met many more off camera. There’s a lot more I’d like to share about the journey but I’ve got to get back to work! Hopefully, some of the photos below will give you a glimpse of my experience.
The works not over.. still more people to meet, interviews to capture, and of course editing is going to be a huge part of this process. More to come, stay tuned!
1st Time Shooter at McQueeney Gun Club
This video is about my 1st experience shooting at the McQueeney Gun Club in New Braunfels, TX.
Underwear Man (2003 Student Film)
This is a short film from sometime around 2002-2004. I recently found the only copy of this I own, I had completely forgot about it! There was no audio on the DVD I found, the assignment might have been to make a silent movie with sound effects, or that may be have been the intention because since there was no dialogue, I'm assuming that was the plan. So here's the edited version with sound effects, the original copy is 4 minutes 8 seconds long; here I cut it down, did minor color correction, and got rid of some jittery frames. Enjoy!
Good artists copy, great artists steal.
“Good artists copy, great artists steal.”
Below is an animated .gif of a scene from My Imaginary Friend, a short film I worked on with my friend Brandon Mackey.
Now here’s a frame from the film Citizen Kane directed by Orson Welles. (screen capture is fromCreativeCOW.net)
As I mentioned before, the screen capture above is directly from a CreativeCow.net article titled “The Camera Is An Eye – Not A Vacuum Or A Gun”. The article refreshed my memory of a scene I worked on from the short film ‘My Imaginary Friend’. This image stuck out to me the moment I saw it because I can remember lifting this same technique from Citizen Kane. In 2006 when I was in college and made ‘My Imaginary Friend’, is around the time when I watched Citizen Kane for the first time. I may have watched it a couple years before, but just around this time of my life I was obsessed with Orson Welles. Now I don’t believe I was technically ‘stealing’ like I have titled this post, but I was for sure influenced by the cinematography in Citizen Kane.
Nowadays these choices of where to place the camera is ingrained in the way we make movies today. In fact every movie is technically stealing from the past in one way or another.
As a filmmaker I believe it’s important to try and understand the history of filmmaking as much as possible in order to stay creative, and fully understand how stories can be told.