M2 is the world's first simultequel, or film that happens during another film. It's currently deep into the writing phase, is scheduled to be shot during the summer of 1999, and should be released around September. None of this is set in stone, but it seems most probable that this is how it will happen.

Feedback from MOSS included demands for a sequel, to which my reply was "hell no" for several reasons. Firstly, I was not yet ready to embark on the filmmaking journey again, and secondly, a sequel wouldn't work too well logically given MOSS's ending to beat all endings... But as time passed and ideas began flooding my mind, and my yearning to outdo myself took over, I gave in and announced to the old cast to start writing sketches again, I was game to do it again.

Some things have changed since MOSS, as most of us are now in college and the crew is scattered all over. Some new members will be joining the cast, some old ones dropped, but the core of our little group is the same. Some characters will reappear in LICHEN, as cameos or possibly major characters. LICHEN's plot, however, while not yet complete, will follow a very different path from its chronological twin, MOSS.

The idea to create a "simultequel" came to me and seemed to make great sense, because there's some great comic potential for showing the other side of things, or "conjugate scenes", as we've come to call them. In nonsensical films such as these, actions don't always make a whole lot of sense, and this was a chance to rectify some of these things in a clever manner. It's actually more challenging to write a film this way, since we did not originally intend there to be two films happening at the same time.

For several reasons, some of them lessons learned from MOSS, LICHEN the pace will be quicker, the picture and sound will be cleaner, and if it was weird before, it's all mucked up now.

LICHEN NEWS:
Shooting has begun, five of the movie's thirty-four scenes are complete, including the technical nightmare, the heaven scene. All of the movie's music has been written and will soon be recorded. With so many scenes yet to shoot, time will become tight, but it looks like this project will happen, possibly even on schedule.

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