Hi everyone, I’m Raymond, and welcome to the site. I’d love to tell you how I’ve been making films since I was five years old, won lots of local contests, toiled away at this film school or that for years and graduated with honors only to be highly courted by all the major film studios. But I can’t.
Truth is, I’m one of those self-taught guys that could never afford film school, so I read a ton of books, and watched a ton of DVD extra features (I’m talking to YOU Robert Rodriguez!) and rejoiced when the digital revolution arrived.
I’m originally from Mechanic Falls, Maine, and started working for a nationally recognized document duplication company over in the town of Auburn in 1987. Believe it or not, way back in those days, it was still a rather cool and upcoming company to work for.
Then things changed.
The company got sued for attempting to lighten the unholy load of books that college students are required buy to haul around campus. A new corporate model took hold, and the company has never been the same since.
Realizing that the film industry was not coming to Maine, I began a 4-year cross-country journey, hop scotching from one copy shop location to another. When I finally arrived in California, I left the copy shop to work at The Skywalker Ranch in San Rafael. That lasted two years, and then I found myself back at the copy shop.
In that time, however, I began to experiment with the newly emerging digital filmmaking technology and had a couple of very short films under my belt, and was ready to tackle something bigger. The idea to make “Replica” arose after a long, self-pitying period after returning to the fold. I was initially reluctant, as “Clerks” had seemingly cornered that market, but then I figured, hell, it had been ten years since that film. What was there to worry about?
So now, as “Clerks 2” hangs out in the video stores, I am ready to present “Replica” for your counter programming enjoyment. Have Fun!
