My name is Kevin Strange

My name is Kevin Strange. I'm a director, a producer, an actor, a film editor, an author. I've written, produced, directed, and starred in more than a dozen feature and short films. I created a production company in 2005 called Hack Movies with no money, no skill and no professional help whatsoever. By 2010 I produced and directed 7 films that saw DVD release, only one of which was ever picked up by a legitimate distributor in a very limited release.

In 2012 I created a publishing house called Strangehouse Books with no money, no skill and no professional help. By 2013 I've overseen the publication of 6 full length books with another dozen to be released before the end of the year. This includes the editing, formatting, typesetting and graphic presentation including the layout, design and commission of art for each and every book.

Not a single one of these movies or books was created to exploit a trend, cash in on a fad, or enter a hot market. In nearly a decade of devoting the majority of my time and effort to the creation of art, I have never ever made a single dime.

I've felt like a god, usually right after a project has been completed and all of the pieces have fallen into place, when my vision has finally come to fruition and is ready for its audience to see it. I've had moments of crushing doubt that made me want to quit and regret every second I've spent doing this. I've felt like nothing, zero, a loser, a bum, an overgrown child, a helpless man-baby. Usually after a project has been released and fails to capture the attention of the millions of fans I know it deserves.

I'm a 5 time college dropout. On paper I don't have the skills to even operate a forklift. I work jobs far below my intellectual level, am managed by kids barely more than half my age without a tenth of the management and organizational skills I possess. I've never once made over 30 thousand dollars in a single year, sometimes not even that much in two years. I've lived with family and friends until they resented me. I've lost more friends than I can count due to my controlling nature and unwillingness to choose human loyalty over my art.

My parents either don't know or don't care what I do with my life. My high school friends think I'm a child who refuses to grow up. I don't own a home. I've never owned a car younger than 15 years old. I'm 33 years old this year and if I get sick with something serious like cancer, I will die. Guaranteed. The number of people in my life that would actually be at my side if this were to happen are few enough in number to count on one hand. Truth be told, that number might be zero.

Yet, I have never compromised my artistic vision, no matter how many people pressured me to do so. I have no children, But I have no debt. Not a single solitary penny of it. I will never be a commercial artist. I will probably never have any money. I will almost assuredly die scared and alone. But every single one my creations was brought into this world with no filter, no compromise, no fear of social stigma. Love them or hate them, they are REAL art, the way art should be produced.

Should I never make another film or write another book, I've left my mark on this world. My identity, my hopes, my dreams, my fears, my passion, my lust, all lay within the contents of those dvds and between the pages of those books for as long as there are content devices to view movies and read books. I will live on and maybe one day enough people will see my movies and read my books that all of this will have been worth it. Maybe enough already have. What's the difference between affecting and inspiring one person or one million people. Is there a difference?

Even if I make another dozen movies and write another 50 books, I will never change my process, filter my beliefs, change my attitude or bow down to a corporate master for the sake of trends or fads. Money, fame, professional accolades, nor societal pressure will ever take precedence over the pure, unfiltered creation of my art, no matter the consequence. My name is Kevin Strange, and this is my life.