My name is Hank, and I want to make movies--it's just something I've always loved to do. Does this mean I'm looking to be rich and famous? I'm not at all counting on it, but if I can do something I love, and at least make a living at it…I'll take it.

It's a rough estimate, but I'd say I've been making home movies since I was about 8 or 9. I started out with this little Fischer-Price video camera. It recorded on these weird little tapes that looked like audio cassettes. Come to think of it, I'm not even sure where this camera even came from. It was like something that was always around (but boxed up), that I wasn't supposed to touch-I suppose my Mom thought I would break it. Anyway, I used to make little movies starring my Star Wars action figures.

Sometime in second grade after I first saw "Predator", I wanted to make a "Predator 2". I had no idea how we were going to pull it off, but I was going to use bottle rockets for the laser. We had planned to film it in the canyon behind Scenic Elementary (where I went to school). Of course, that idea died one day at recess. I honestly forget why.

In 6th grade, I went to Camp Cheley for a month during the summer. That place was great, but what I will always remember about it was the movie competition we had there. I guess one day the counselors thought it would be fun to get all the campers to make a couple movies, and show them at a competition. So, they divided us into two groups, and we had one day to make our movie with a cheesy VHS video camera. After a short brainstorming session, I came up with a stupid idea about killer stuffed animals. Apparently, it wasn't as stupid as the other ideas being hatched, so we went with my story. To make a boring story less boring, our movie crushed the other group's movie. Score one for Hank!

My movie passion was dormant for about 3 years, until I had to do a project in my freshman language arts class. I decided to make a movie. Together with my friends Chris Raff and Stacy Johnson, we were to adapt the R.L. Stine novel "Stay out of the basement". Of course, since I'm a lazy bastard and hate to read (see also: my high school grade point average), I told Chris to go ahead and read it, and fill me in on the details. During filming, I remember that a man was supposed to fall off of a cliff in a one scene--something that wasn't anywhere in the book, but I felt would make the movie way cooler. Stacy threw this crappy dummy I made over the edge of a cliff near the Colorado National Monument, while Chris and I filmed from across the way. The dummy fell about 30 feet, hit a hill, rolled, and came to rest on a ledge just before the big 600+ foot drop. I was so disappointed, and without thinking, I yelled at Stacy to go get it. Of course, he told me where to stick it. So, we left the dummy there. Eventually, we re-shot the entire movie, including the dummy scene (which would now be filmed on the actual Colorado National Monument). I heard that some weeks later, a rescue team was called in to remove a "body from a ledge". Boy, I bet they were surprised! Anyway, this was the first movie I ever edited on an analog VHS editing system, which was basically three high-end VCR's, a stereo, a mixing board, and a couple monitors. This was very expensive equipment, and very nice for its day. The equipment belonged to our good family friend Lani Standifer, and if I ever make it anywhere in this business, I owe her a lot. I used this equipment to make about 15-20 other films over the next 4 years. So the final movie had almost nothing to do with the book (as I discovered a few years later in the made for TV movie-I never read that book). In fact, we even gave the movie the wrong title: “Don’t go in the Basement” as opposed to the book’s title, “Stay out of the Basement”. Fortunately, our teacher apparently had no interest in reading an R.L. Stine novel, and we got an A for our effort. I'm pretty sure that movie is the only reason I passed the class.

During the entire course of my high school career from then on, I made movies for classes whenever I had a chance. I also continued to make films outside of school with my friends Chris and Stacy, and another friend Zach Ostler (surprised I still remember all these people. Then again, this guy did kick me in the balls once on camera). We made two sequels to "Don’t go in the Basement". Naturally, the sequels had very little to do with the first one, and didn't even have a basement anywhere in the films. I also made a little movie called "Friday the 13th X"--that's right, this was in early 1995, almost a full decade before the folks at New Line decided to make the coveted "Jason X". Even as a young teenager, Hollywood was already ripping off my ideas.

It wasn't until I made a movie for my Spanish class, that I really found my niche in filmmaking (I suppose it should be called video making). The project I made for that class would be a comedy about a bunch of piñatas coming to life to take revenge on humanity. The class and teacher loved it. That's when I decided that I would like to make comedies. I guess the rationality was this: scary movies, dramas, action flicks, and the like require good special effects, lighting, equipment, etc. However, a comedy could still be funny, no matter how crappy the technology. In fact, the crappy technology often added to the charm! Sometime during all of this "popularity" I met my good friend Pat Callahan, who remains a friend to this day. He somehow convinced me to help him make a music video for his German class. It would be the first of many German films over the next 2 years, to include "Satan Santa", "All-out Porno presents: Pat's German Project", and "Rambo 4". To this day, I still know about five German words.

In 1996, after the passing of my uncle John Branscom, my cousins Andy and Chuck came to live with myself, my mom, and my sister Kayleen in Grand Junction, Colorado. It was like having two brothers all of the sudden. We had a great time, and I really think that Andy is another big influence in my movie interest. He appeared in all of my films until I graduated, including "Aliens Attack" (made it before "Mars Attacks"), "Maniac Mark", "Rambo 4", "My Antonia" (a short adaptation of one of the scenes in the book), "Backyard Commando", "Chuck dies", "Revenge of the Piñatas II", "License to roast beef", "Charles in charge of death", and a few other shorter projects which I can't remember the names to. It was when Andy, Pat, and I worked together that we developed the funniest stories. I swear that if I ever magically make it anywhere, I'm taking those guys with me.

I graduated high school in June of 1998, three weeks later I was off to Basic Training to become a soldier in the United States Army. My first assignment was Korea. I was 18 years old, away from my family and friends for the first time in my life, and the first place the Army sent me was 7,000 miles from anything I knew. This was quite a shocking experience for me; Korea is nothing like the United States. This would have been as alone as I'd ever felt in my life except for one thing-the other soldiers stationed with me. You see, overseas, nobody has their family, everyone is lonely, and everyone is miserable together. That's the key word, though-together. You will never find a closer group than an overseas military unit. These people are willing to die for each other, and you don't mess with one without messing with all of them. I made so many great friends there, including Carl Sevier, Joshua Hoy, and John Kevlock. I still keep in contact with these guys now and then.

During the twilight of my tour there, I got myself back into the filmmaking habit with two films: "The Zoeckler Heckler", and "The Zoeckler Heckler 2: Son of Simmons". Zoeckler Station was where my unit was based, just in case you were wondering. My unit loved these movies, and I sold about 65 copies of them (about 60% of the unit).

I returned home to the United States in January of 2000. Of course, it goes without saying that I was a little more than excited to get back home. However, I was saddened a little by how everything had changed; people I knew were gone. I quickly got back into filmmaking, making a couple of short projects while I was home on leave for a month. In February, I was stationed at Buckley, Air Force Base in Aurora, Colorado-about 250 miles from Grand Junction. This is where I currently remain, and I love Denver. In the summer of 2000, I made "Super Captain Guy", with my great friends Tanner Cole, Robert Dospil, and Brian Reffner.

I continued to make little projects on the side as well. In January of 2001, I bought my first computer, and started down the path of digital editing. I worked at it in the coming years, and continue to work at it. Always buying new parts and components for my computer to make the movies easier to make, and better quality. Eventually, I learned enough from ripping my computer apart so many times that I can now build one from scratch. I made movies every year for the annual Army Birthday Ball, including "Masters of the Universe: Behind the music", "Medal of honor: a tribute to heroes", "Ball Wars Episode 2003: Attack of the Casuals", and “Army Ball Reloaded”. I made my first film over an hour long in April of 2003, entitled "Five days and Fifty K". I also submitted a film entitled "Friday the 13th AGAIN!" to the Mania Fest 2003 "Friday the 13th cut 'em up" film contest, in which I won third place—but hey, it’s better than fourth, right?

Shortly after making “Army Ball Episode 2003”, I purchased the rights to the domain braxtanfilm.com. With the help of a few friends, I’ve built this website up over a year, the website going through several incarnations before the one you see before you. I’m still learning, and I’m sure one day I’ll look back on this version and laugh(like some people already are!).

In August 2004 my term of service with the Army ended, and I was honorably discharged as a Staff Sergeant. I returned to college the same month, and enrolled at the Colorado Film School (University of Colorado). Being in the Army really proved to be a period in my life which I feel had a tremendously positive impact. It was during my time in the Army that I decided that filmmaking is what I want to do. I have always been naturally inclined to entertain people, or tell a story.

So flash forward a couple years.  I left film school after three years and took a job at a production company in Hollywood. I'm currently developing a couple feature films and television shows. Things are finally coming together.

I will share a couple of quotes with you, which I think have impacted my decision to try my hand at film. The first was shared with me while I was stationed in Korea. My commanding officer of my section, WO1 Bolden said "Every man has something that they were meant to do. Something they were meant to share with society. And God damn him if he doesn’t use it." The second is a Chinese proverb: "Find a job you love, and you'll never work a day in your life". So, that’s where I’m at. Perhaps someday someone will scroll across these pages and decide to give me a shot. If nothing else, at least I can make a few people’s days brighter.

So, thanks for dropping by and giving this little autobiography a read. I shall look forward to future attempts at making you laugh!

H.R. Braxtan

Director, BraxtanFILM