It all started with a sword, mask and photoshoot

BY: Justin Donie Studios 2005

 It (Realm Komiks) all began with the picture above.  Taken by photographer, writer, author and a life coach, Justin Donie.

Justin and I met when I was a waitress. (A common job any actor or actress must take on to qualify for any roles.) Justin was a regular patron I got to know and trust and becoming friends with him was natural. We have had multiple photo shoots together, he was fun to work with and we had many visions and hobbies in common.

I had bought the above black, faux leather outfit for a Halloween costume when portraying Trinity from the Matrix one year.  A comic lover himself, Justin owned the sword and mask. We often shared our love of comics and I thought doing the shoot with the mask and sword was, excuse my language, "Bad Ass." Well, I wanted to kick ass in that out fit, I thought it was awesome. Justin sent me the above picture for my portfolio marked that he marked "Black Panther" and the wheels in my brain started turning.

Justin was moving to Seattle with his new wife and beautiful step daughter so I would be alone in undertaking this project. He gave me his blessings and encouraged me to go for it.

 My grandfather passed away and left me with much grief. I began putting a lot of my energies into my wedding, with now my ex husband, at the time and taking care of my grandma. I decided to launch Retzsch Productions, in my grandfather's honor, and then began constructing a story and characters. I decided to wait until after the wedding to go full force into pre-production.

I taught acting classes at a modeling agency and put the money I made there toward the comic book. Buying costumes, craft services (food on set),  and misc props. The beginning of Realm Komiks was in the making.

Now I just had to find a cast and crew.

Find Out More About Justin Donie by following the links below!

https://twitter.com/weekendstudio

http://www.amazon.com/Part-Happiness-Meaning-Life-ebook/dp/B0062WG3WY

http://www.newfaces.com/justindonie

Realm Komiks, ALL OR NOTHING - Let's Play

Like a pin prick at the back of my brain, I can't stop the stinging thought that now is the time to release The Realm to the world.

I would swear some nights it is Michael Cowen whispering to my subconscious to finish what we have started. There will always be time for excuses, there will always be a time for death and there is always a time for new beginnings. Let's Release the Realm.

As a mother you find time to do things you love like shoving a book that's too big onto a full shelf. I  have a dream of being an organized mother, with meals planned, rising before my son does  to get daily chores done and going to bed after he does to spend some quality time with my husband. It is just a dream. Like much of my life, I struggle for balance, tackling motherhood while keeping an identity of myself  has not proven to be an easy fleet. 

So one morning the prick is strong, jabbing at my core conscious, and so I run into the basement office and quickly grab disk files, dust off the old production book and run back up the stairs while shoving it into my computer brief case and managing to barely get my son and I out the door on time.  (I hope you read that sentenced and became winded....because that is how I felt)

As I searched through the production book a nostalgic feeling overwhelms me; Reading old emails from the cast and crew, from Michael Cowen himself. Searching through the time lines, story boards and schedules... I was proud to say I was damned organized. The excitement began to send tingles in my toes I then knew "I have to get this done for everyone. Everyone put so much into this."

Here is the glory of Indy (Independent) Projects: The Mystery if they will ever get done. I must say it frustrates me and sometimes pisses me off if I put my hard work into a project and it is never finished. You give your free time, hard work, talents and did I mention ALL that free time (that isn't really free)? It is nice to have proof, no matter failure or success, of the project, to show your friends and family why you have been MIA the last three to six months. I knew I owed everyone at least that.  We won't make a dime off of it but at least there is hard evidence, for the cast and crew that graciously gave me their time, that they helped to make my vision come true. Especially Michael Cowen's family and friends. They deserve to see  all Michael's hard work.

I have started the website. Close to being done and will announce on my blog when I have it up. Thus far my friends, family (except my husband) and the cast and crew of Realm is in the dark about the uprooting of Realm. I will let them know when it gets closer to being in order.

I will release Series I Part I in August. Series I Part I is completely finished. I am hoping this will give me time to work on the other series so there is not a huge time lapse on release dates.

Ready to play? Let's do it.