Paul-Thomas L. Parnell
Writer · Director · VFX artist
I write, direct and do visual effects. Most of what I make has something impossible in it. A monster in the woods. Magic in a city that never bothered to hide it. A kid who finds out he's more than anyone thought.
I wrote, directed and produced Harker: The Awakening, an independent science fiction feature, in 2017. Making a feature on an indie budget teaches you fast what a script can ask for and what it can't. I still write with that in mind.
I've produced, written and directed two Doritos Crash the Super Bowl spots (Snare Trap passed 26 million views on YouTube), written cinema and commercial spots, and made films like Lincoln County and Time Revolver, where I directed, storyboarded and did the effects. On Lincoln County I also shot it, as cinematographer and camera operator. I also starred in Time Revolver. I've also written for the TV series Hammer Down, and wrote and edited Nerf War episodes for the Twin Toys YouTube channel, two of which passed 22 million views. I also did effects and editing for family channels including Family Fun Pack and KittiesMama.
On the effects side, I was visual effects supervisor on the short Avatar: Agni Kai and a visual effects artist on The Black Baptism, both in 2020.
On the page, I was editor in chief and publisher of Heart of Oz, a graphic novel anthology, and wrote and drew for it. I designed, wrote and published Dust World, a sci-fi western tabletop game, and I run it as the DM on our actual-play podcast.
What I'm working on
The Veilbreaker Saga. I'm writing Book One, The Raven's Gambit. It's urban fantasy, and the world is built to carry across novels, screen and tabletop.
Strangers in the Pines. An animated series that started as our actual-play podcast. I'm building the first short shot by shot on a multiplane pipeline: 3D for camera and staging, painted frames, every one directed by hand.
Black Night: Wands and Order. An urban fantasy series in development. Detectives, goblin rackets, dragons in traffic.
I also run Heat Vision Media, a video production company in North Carolina.
How I work with writers
Here's the real issue with most stuck projects: the words aren't the problem. The structure is. So I start there. What does your main character want, what's in the way, and why should anyone care how it ends?
Once that holds, the pages come faster and they come better. I'll tell you plainly what isn't working and why, then help you fix it, or write it myself if that's the job.