ARTIST'S MANIFESTO

I am an artist who is compelled to tell stories. And I'm inspired by stories that force me to look deep into myself: to either face my fears and anxieties, or simply be able to laugh at my own hypocrisy.

I'm especially interested in stories that are about people in relationships. And in real life, most relationships are not one-dimensional but are very complex. I like characters in a story that throw us curve balls. Just when we think we've pegged them, they go and do something that completely surprises us.

Storytelling connects me to the rich, diverse cultures of humanity. It's my way of reaching out to the world and speaking to it. By exploring our differences, I reveal our similarities, our kinship, and our reliance on each other.

As a visual art form, films have the capacity to move and awaken human consciousness. With the manipulation of composition, or the play of light, shadow and color, film can turn ordinary life into an extraordinary human cathartic experience.

David Wendelman


BACKGROUND

Los Angeles based independent filmmaker David Wendelman was born and raised in the Midwest where he studied music and theatre at Union College and the University of Nebraska, obtaining a BA in the Performing Arts.

In 1990, he moved to Los Angeles and began working as an actor on network television, appearing in episodes of "Seinfeld" (NBC), "The Naked Truth" (NBC), "My Guide To Becoming A Rock Star" (WB) and others. Unfulfilled with the pursuit of the "Hollywood actor", Wendelman returned to his theatre roots, and on the small, "grassroots" stages of Los Angeles, he turned his energies to writing and directing. He founded and served as the Artistic Director of the Bare Bones Theatre Co., a non-profit collective of actors and writers.


INDEPENDENT FILMMAKING

Whether through writing, music or theatre, David Wendelman has always had a passion for the art of storytelling. Filmmaking is yet another medium for him to do that. So, in 2002, Wendelman made the transition from theatre to film by attending film school, where he wrote, produced and directed three short films, including SUPER MODEL (HD, 2003) which screened at the 2003 Los Angeles International Short Film Festival.

Wendelman then went on to write, direct and produce the short film BROKEN (35 mm, 2006). BROKEN, which has since screened at over a dozen film festivals in the U.S. and internationally, introduced Wendelman to independently financed filmmaking. To learn more about BROKEN please visit the official website at http://brokenthefilm.com/.

STORIES OF EVERYDAY MADNESS takes David Wendelman's writing and directing to the growing universe of "on-line entertainment," where he is currently launching this collection of new short films as a "comedy web series." For this project, Wendelman has teamed up with "30 Rock" comedy writer John Riggi (producer), and has cast Riggi in multiple leading roles for three of the "webisodes." Playing roles opposite John Riggi are fellow "30 Rock" writer Kay Cannon, "Saturday Night Live" writer Paula Pell, and comedian/screenwriter Steve Rudnick ("The Santa Clause", "Space Jam", "The Santa Clause II", "Kicking and Screaming"). Become a fan of Stories of Everyday Madness Comedy Web Series on Facebook.


SCREENWRITING

David Wendelman's first feature length screenplay "Tijuana Zebra" won the Martha Munoz Award for Best Latino-themed Screenplay at the 2009 Latino Screenplay Competition. http://latinoscreenplaycompetition.com/