 At the Intendence Film Festival
This whole idea started some 20 years ago, one summer night in 1993, during the time of War in Croatia, while laying in the Roman Arena in Pula, Croatia, I was looking at the bright starry sky. Watching all the possible stars and galaxies visible, I started to think that some of them might be hundreds, and even thousands of Iight years away. I realized that I was looking at live images of history happening before my eyes, and I started to find my self in a time vortex. The history was becoming the present, the present was becoming the future, and the future was becoming history. As the whole thought of space time continuum became a relative concept to me, I started to think about things such as the astronomical precession of the equinoxes, different constellation, the future age of Aquarius, the previous 2,000 years of Age of Pisces, and Aries before that. While thinking about the whole different times and ages we lived in, I realized that there were different states of minds that existed before, and that there would also be different states of minds in the future. Perhaps, being sick of the two years of war that I had experienced previously in my hometown of Karlovac, and all the negative energy that had accumulated from it, I needed some kind of a relief, some kind of an escape from the everyday darkness that surrounded my country, my world, and my entire existence at the age of 19. I really started to feel an energy and a connection with the times of the past. The fact that only some 16 centuries earlier, Gladiators fought lions on that same soil, that the Roman Legions, Senators, Caesars, as well as Barbarians, and Odoacer him self walked the same ground, on which I just happened to be laying on, and that is when this whole idea of a story about the end of Rome and Antiquity dawned on me. Interesting that some 20 years later, I shot sequences of 476 A.D. in that same Roman Arena in Pula, Croatia. However, although it seemed as a good idea at the time, it wasn't really until some 15 years later, that I started writing the full script about this idea, and actually preparing for this monumental undertaking, however, little did I know some 4 years ago what magnitude of work I was really getting my self into. Nevertheless, with a lot of passion, a stubborn vision, and lots of help from hundreds of people, this labor of love managed to turn from simply a dream into an actual creation. The love, unity, and film comradery was evident in this production from the very beginning. As Murphy's Law followed, when one option would become impossible, someone always came with another solution, and so forth. From the very beginning, with the ingenuity and craftiness of our cinematographer David Quakenbush, many impossibilities became possible. In all honesty, I would have never imagined that such a huge number of people would actually unite in bringing this dream into a reality, but to my own amazement, it really did happen.
"With a lot of passion, a stubborn vision, and lots of help from hundreds of people, this labor of love managed to turn from simply a dream into an actual creation."
 The Historic Mayan Theater Premiere of 476 A.D.
The unconditional trust of such talented actors as James Russell, Spencer Kane, Heath Heine, Mark Roeder, Dean Satriano, Kirsten Deane, Anthony Cubba, Jason Delancy, Patrick Wolfe, and Luckson Bonhomme, as well as my own little son Niko Pavletic, just gave me the assurance that this story can work. Not to mention the powerful performances by the older Aces such as Piotr Gzowski, and the famous Croatian actor Igor Galo, also gave me the needed assurance that this complex story between the old Age of Antiquity, and the Dark Ages, in fact will work.
NBC 9 in Colorado announces the film's premiere
It is hard to find words to really thank for this experience, as up to this day, I still believe that there was some deeper energy going on with this production, for so many people were ready to do so much without questioning. I always remember that line from the film, Field of Dreams, "If You Call Them, They Will Come", when I think of hundreds of people from Colorado, and other parts of US, Croatia, and Italy, all those extras, stuntman, grips, and other crews, willing to help for next to nothing, and in many cases fully volunteering for free. So much love and energy, just makes you feel obligated to return something worth while, back to all the people who were there for me. People like Bradley Burrows, who stood there with me for over two years, working with me on all those hundreds of green screen shots, and patiently keying them out. Not to mention talented post-production people like Cristofer Adrian, Matthew Rose, and Shannon Wilkerson. Then Adrianna Veal and her mother Sophia Rose, were as if God had sent them to me when I needed them, who saved me by sewing and creating dozens of 5th century Roman tunics and costumes, as well as full Barbarian outfits. And of course people like Corey Blair, Erik Olson, Eddie Portoghese, Connor Boyle, Zach Holloran, Kevin Wilson, Natalie Johnson, Zak Klecker, Jonathan Fulton, Mary Hatcliff, Stanley Sanchez, Albert Crason, and many many more, without whom this gigantic production would have never seen the light of day. My words can not start to express the gratitude to all the friends who were there for me, and I can only hope that the finished product I return back to you, will be worth all your time and energy.
"So much love and energy, just makes you feel obligated to return something worth while, back to all the people who were there for me." 
Right after the Mayan Theater Premiere in 2014.
|
