SHAD CLARK's Biography

Author. Filmmaker. Screenwriter. These are all terms to describe me as a creator. Using elements of thriller, horror, and/or scifi to tell thought-provoking stories that transcend typical trappings, my work has been described as "elevated genre" and, even better, "socially explosive."
Though I've always been a writer, my first break came in 2003 when my original feature screenplay OTHERNESS won “Best Scifi/Horror” in Creative Screenwriting Magazine’s Screenwriting Expo Competition. OTHERNESS was optioned but, sadly, never went into production. Two other original screenplays, OPHELIA REFLECTED and THE CENSOR, were later recognized, respectively, by Francis Ford Coppola’s American Zoetrope Screenplay Competition and the IFP Emerging Narrative Screenplay Competition.
I made my directorial debut in 2005 with the short horror film ANONYMITY, which was inspired by the then widespread circulation of hostage beheading videos. The short was intended as a segment of a feature film exploring society's fascination with the suffering of strangers. The feature script was optioned and went into development with Sony Screen Gems and Cider Mill Productions. Sadly, that film was beheaded in development hell. Meanwhile, however, the short film won “Best Horror” at the Alameda International Film Festival and was an official selection of the Rhode Island Horror Film Festival, Dam Short Film Festival, I Misteri di Napoli, Calgary Underground Film Festival, Fangoria Weekend of Horrors, and Dead Channels. After its festival run, ANONYMITY was featured on IFC and today remains in their online Media Lab Showcase.
My next short film, the experimental nightmare SIDE EFFECTS MAY INCLUDE, opened the 2008 San Francisco Independent Film Festival and was an official selection of the Brooklyn International Film Festival, Nashville Film Festival, Dam Short Film Festival, Calgary Underground Film Festival, Phoenix Film Festival, Sydney Underground Film Festival, Hollyshorts, and Olympia Film Festival.
2008 was also the year I began hiring myself out as a writer in the video game industry, most notably working on a number of titles for Electronic Arts and Maxis. Most recently, I’ve been in talks to direct and edit films promoting a number of games and have been hired out as a film and co-creative director in advertising.
In the interim, I’ve also begun writing and publishing short fiction. LITTLE BOY PIG was featured on Colleen Patrick-Goudreau’s popular Food for Thought podcast and has been well-received by Kindle readers. In July of 2010, I published UPGRADING GOD, a story that was first manifested a decade ago as a screenplay and re-imagined this year for the page.
Currently, while seeking opportunities as a writer and/or director in film, television, games, and advertising, I’m hard at work on a novel, creating exciting new intellectual properties for development across different mediums, and moving into pre-production on my next film.