Optic Nerve Productions2002.com

My appreciation for Horror movies started when I was a child around the age of 9 when my dad used to let me stay up late to watch the Hammer films. I have fond memories of watching them with a cup of tea and toast and on numerous occasions my dad crawling behind the sofa and reaching around with his arm and groaning to make me jump. As I got older I fell in love with the series 'Hammer House Of Horror', 'Hammer House of Mystery & Suspense' and 'Tales Of The Unexpected'. But it was in 1983 when my parents got a machine called a VHS recorder which changed my life forever it brought (well my dad & uncle Paul) a whole new world of sick and twisted films into the Smith household, films like 'The Evil Dead', 'The Boogeyman', 'The Burning', 'Friday The 13th', 'An American Werewolf In London', 'Phantasm' and 'The Amityville Horror' were just a few.

As far as the technical side of things goes I've always been a fan of the gadgets and gizmos of the world. I first saw a VHS camera purchased by the school to film sports day and I knew I wanted to have a go with it, but as a pupil we were not permitted to (thinking now of the cost of a vhs camera back in 1982 I can see why) touch it.
In 1991 at the age of 20 I finally purchased my first video camera. After tinkering around with it and other camcorders purchased over the next 11 years (filming lots of weddings and parties for family and friends) I decided it was time for me to take what I had learned and create something of my own.

After being let down by a few people who obviously liked the idea of filmmaking but were unable to put in the commitment it turned out the answer was right in front of me all along.Tracy (my wife) was happy to get onboard, she's also been a fan of the horror genre for many years reading the likes of Clive Barker, James Herbert and Shaun Hutson.

So that was the beginning for Optic Nerve Productions2002 in the summer of 2002.

Glen Postle is our own horror guru, actor/advisor/all round entertainer he pops up every now and again in our productions. Glen has been a very good friend to me over the years, I first met him in 1991 and we hit it off big time as we were both into the Horror genre and swapped stories of the video nasty era.

Glyn Nightingale is our amazing music maestro. He's been with us from the very start. Glyn is a genius behind the synths, ever since he scored our very first short 'The Last Walk Home' he's continued to wow us with his diverse music scores for our other productions.

The future for Optic Nerve is looking very bright and with a back catalogue of short films shot on mini DV including...The Last Walk Home, Twisted Insanity, Becky, Number 8, Every Credit, No Rest For The Wicked, Sweet Dreams and Wrong Move (Post-production) we are building quite a fan base. It's been amazing to get the likes of Tom Sullivan (The Evil Dead films special fx artist) and Actress Betsy Baker (Linda from The Evil Dead) sending us messages regarding our films.
I would not have believed it as a kid seeing those artists contacting me at all in any way shape or form but to have Tom commend us on our special effects is just mind blowing.

Myself and Tracy create all the films from story writing, Pre-Production through to Post-production right through to completion.
We look forward to making our first full length Horror film with ideas already in the can who knows were that could take us. But until then we will continue to give birth to more short Horror films and enjoy doing so thanks to the help and support of our family and friends. It might not be easy doing what we do when we both work full time but it's always fun.

Thanks
Mark Smith