The Alchemist

This film was titled The Alchemist. A story that my oldest brother Bob and I were thinking about and that I decided to make as a film school project. I was still doing animation at the time and had been deciding on whether I could transfer my interest in painting into film. I was a big Ray Harryhausen fan but was choosing to let go of animation so I could do more live-action films. My brother Daniel acts in this and he also helped with the music and wardrobe and ideas of where to shoot - the outdoor shots at Villa Montalvo in Saratoga. It's funny as I think about how the popular book The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho came out six years later. A whole other thing, of course.