MAY1973: My sister, Pam, slipped into a coma and died. I was only 8 years old. It was alleged that her husband was responsible; without the medicine Pam needed, her life slowly ebbed away.

The rage and pain felt by my family would be magnified by something equally horrible - a lack of justice. Her husband was never convicted and Pam's case would forever be filed away, lost through the legal loopholes some call justice. As the years passed, and I learned more and more of my sister's story, somewhere inside I felt the pain grow for this lovely woman I was robbed of knowing.

I've always felt slightly out of place ever since - different - unusual. Only much later did I see that as a good thing. To be "normal", just like everyone else, no longer had any cache for me. Then in 1995, I was fully introduced to the Goth/Industrial scene, wherein I found a fun social niche in which I felt accepted. I could express my eccentric tastes in music, dance, clothing and late night parties and only be called "Freak" in jest.

APRIL, 1999: Two student gunmen calling themselves the Trench Coat Mafia, killed twelve of their fellow students and one teacher before shooting themselves

A tragedy of massive proportions that has grown worse, into an epidemic of sorts, resulting in school shootings becoming almost commonplace.

Close friends of mine have been the victims of physical abuse and prejudicial comments due to this false association which, amongst other things, only exaggerates the bad feelings within the Goth/Industrial community as many of us have already felt shoved aside by peers and society.

OCTOBER, 1999 :After seeing a photo of the 15 crosses erected behind Columbine high school in Colorado, and discovering that even people in that suffering community saw the student gunmen as victims too, I was touched by their humanity and once again struck by the realization that prejudice, suffering, victimization and violence are indeed universal.

Black Coat Mob, the screenplay and now,
Black Coat Mob, the movie, were born.

Born of the events of May, 1973, April 1999, and the feeling inside me that this story had to be told.

We live in a society wherein the visual medium of film and television permeates our very existence as an Artistic Mirror. This I feel is the best reason for its existence in our world and why we find it so compelling. My hope is that Black Coat Mob will entertain you and succeed in what I feel is the greater mission of all artistic endeavours on some level : to increase our understanding of ourselves and each other.