When it comes to continuing the marketing plan for First Signal and Justice Is Mind, it’s about maintenance and sharing relevant links and images on social media. As both films are on several streaming platforms, it’s in my interest to keep the films out there for discovery. Nothing is worse than seeing static social media pages that haven’t been updated in eons!

However, on a weekly basis, I do review all our IMDb listings. As that website is subject to editing by anyone with an IMDb account, it’s important as a filmmaker (or actor) to make sure that the information is accurate. It was on First Signal’s IMDb page that I noticed there was a news article from a media outlet called Moviedelic. Titled “14 Movies Like Disclosure Day You Must See,” I began to scroll through the article. You can imagine my elation when I discovered that First Signal was on the list!

I was even more thrilled to discover that First Signal was in the company of some of my favorite sci-fi films – War of the Worlds, District 9, The Day the Earth Stood Still, Contact, Arrival and the legendary Close Encounters of the Third Kind. What this proved to me is something I’ve long believed: at the end of the day, all a film needs is a solid story that engages audiences. While a robust budget is always preferable, absent that, a compelling story still goes a long way.

Seeing First Signal on this list was also a validation of sorts. This story was published by someone I don’t know who I never pitched. They simply came across it on their own and thought it was worthy of this inclusion. As filmmakers, we always wish we had more to work with, but with a quality story and talented actors and crew, anything is possible.

In some ways, this reminds me of a couple of the achievements that Justice Is Mind had—an international premiere on the MS Queen Elizabeth and a screening at Carnegie Mellon University co-hosted by Dr. Marcel Just, whose pioneering research into mind reading found him featured in a 60 Minutes story that was the motivation to write Justice Is Mind.

While so many utter the word “cool” when I tell them I’ve made a couple of feature films and a handful of shorts, the cool factor only comes alive for me when I’m watching a film I created unfold on the silver screen. Yes, of course, I love the process of seeing a script come to life, but it is the process of work done the old-fashioned way—with attention to detail and an obsessive will to produce something of quality. The same can also be said about acting for those who take it seriously.

Because that’s what this industry is, serious business. It’s owing to this dedication to the craft that First Signal wound up alongside some of the works of Robert Zemeckis, Denis Villeneuve, Steven Spielberg, and Robert Wise.

An honor.