A Statement from Screenwriter/Filmmaker/ Photographer
Chad Ruin
My motivation for photography is pretty simple: It comes very easy to me. I have been writing movies and making short films for more than half my life now, and there is one thing I have learned: People are lazy. Asking someone to read a screenplay is like pulling teeth. Asking them to watch a five minute short isn’t much better.
On the other hand, people will sit and sift through photos all day long, so I started doing photography to get people to seek out my other work. I figured people would see a photo and hunt down my shorts or ask me for a script. It totally worked! A special effects artist saw my work. That led to getting an agent, the agent led to a producer, which then led to A Perfect Life.
My motivation for this shoot came from a very talented fashion designer, Holly Lucination of Artifice Clothing. She designed an awesome line of clothing that she wanted me to shoot for her catalogue. We wanted to do something artful but still show off her garments. I love the way this shoot turned out! It gets the point across without compromising my signature. The model is Severina X Sol, a very talented musician from Seattle. I just love her! She’s so easy to work with and fun to be around. Carmen Payne from The Vine Artistry did an amazing job on her makeup. Also, Severina’s hair is by the fantastic Dreadful Jonquil from Fierce Locks. This was a collaborative effort by a whole lot of very talented people, and I definitely plan to work with them all very soon.
However, it’s tough to describe my motivation behind A Perfect Life. The script itself was written out of revenge 15 years ago. I know that sounds awful, but at the time, it made sense. I was just starting out, and my skin was a lot less thick. I got the worst rejection letter I have ever received from an agent about the film I had just written before starting A Perfect Life. The agent attacked me personally, saying things like, “You’ll never make it in this industry. You have no business writing movies. Go get a warehouse job!” And my personal favorite, “No one will ever relate to a single word you will ever write.”
14 | Eyes in
You can imagine, being 21 years old and full of angst, I left my tiny apartment in a rage. I walked for four days straight, writing. I didn’t eat, sleep or even sit down. I just walked and wrote. I thought about the agent’s words, and as I was watching the homeless people in Seattle Center, it occurred to me that I was looking at myself… exposed, raw and disconnected. At the same time, I remembered something my mom has always said to me, “Turn your weakness into strength by amplifying that which makes you weakest.” I realized that I had been so concerned with the process that I had forgotten that being raw and exposed are not bad things at all. They are powerful things to embrace. All I needed to do was amplify them. Once I made that connection, the writing came fast and furious, and the script went on to make it to the second round in the Austin Heart of Film Screenplay Competition.
Fast forward 14 years: Scott Stone and I just completed writing Man of Perdition. We were invited down to Hollywood to pitch to a producer. The producer told us that if we wanted any chance at all at directing the film, we needed to prove ourselves independently first. We came back to Tacoma newly inspired, hungry and hell- bent on proving it.
I went through my arsenal of scripts and read A Perfect Life. It was already in the running for awards. It was affordable to do, and it actually held up after 15 years. It just made sense. Joe Rosati, whom I’ve worked with a few times now, made the perfect Brian. Everything just naturally fell into place as if the universe opened its arms and said, “Now is the time!” We immediately started pre- production, and here we are today. Never in a million years did any of us expect the film to be received so well. I feel like I’m dreaming.