Frequent co-host and contributing writer here at Death to the Movies, Tom Jones, is launching The CineFiles Project tomorrow and we’re excited to give you a little sneak peek into what you can expect. Below you will find an introduction to The CineFiles Project from Tom, as well as an example of what The Cinefiles Project is all about.

The CineFiles are a collection of YOUR stories. It is a place where you can tell everyone how film became a part of your life and why you love it. Take the time to visit our site and be a part of the launch. The Project will begin on June 18, 2010, so please take the opportunity to share your story and send it to mystory@thecinefiles.com. We look forward to hearing your story.

-Tom

MY STORY by Tom Jones

My love for film began at the early age of 5 years old. My mother (a rabid Michael Jackson fan at the time) had just acquired a VHS copy of Thriller. I remember the first time she watched it and I was in the room, I was both intrigued and frightened by the mood of the opening scene. Then the full moon is revealed, Michael Jackson’s eyes turn yellow and the fangs are showing, I swiftly bolt behind the easy chair and cover my ears so as to not here the screams as MJ undergoes his transformation into the werewolf. Still curious and intrigued by this new movie I began, without my mother’s knowledge, watching it on my own and viewing a little bit more each time before running behind the chair. Once I finally made it to the end of the tape I went to remove it from the VCR when something else began playing. This particular copy of Thriller had the Making Of segment at the end of the tape. I watched in amazement at what went into making the video. Watching them put the makeup on MJ and the various zombies and hearing John Landis and Rick Baker talk about how much fun it was to make Thriller was a life changing experience. I decided at that moment that my future as an astronaut would have to wait because I was going to make movies when I grew up.

This experience caused me to see films in a completely different light. Rather than just sitting and watching a film I began to try and figure out how the filmmakers made the movie. I spent the next couple years watching countless horror films wherever I could get my hands on them. Older cousins came in very handy for watching the slasher films of the 80’s and due to a tape accidentally being left out and queued to just the right spot I experienced a bloody “chestburster” from a rented copy of Alien at the age of young age of 6. That was awesome!

In 1988 a new type of film sparked my interest when my family went to see Who Framed Roger Rabbit. I had not been this mystified by a film since Thriller. How did the filmmakers have cartoons interacting with real people? I began having my parent record anything on TV about the movie. One night the Disney channel aired a making of the movie documentary and my parents let me stay up late to watch it with them. Immediately upon finishing with both my parents sleeping on the couch I rewound the show and watched it again. This was the time my parents took notice of my passion and began to help with broadening my horizons a bit when it came to my choice of genres and showing me many classic films. The Academy Awards was like the Super Bowl in our house and movies were watched daily. By the age of 9 I had become a regular film buddy with my parents.

Sadly I did not become a filmmaker. My desire to work in the industry turned from special effects to writing then to directing. I have been fortunate to spend some time around the filmmaking process but have since found another job path that fits me quite well. Horror is near and dear to my heart because of the role it played in my life, but thanks to nourishing parents my horizons were broadened and I learned to appreciate all film for the beautiful art that it is.

I write this article not just to share my experience but also to start a discussion. So often we get to hear from filmmakers and actors their experience with film and how it became a part of their lives. However, there are more of us out there who truly love film and will rarely, if ever, get to share our stories with anyone outside our small circles of film loving friends. So this is your opportunity. We started The CineFiles Project because whenever we as humans are passionate about something we seek out others who are passionate about the same things. We enjoy hearing other people’s origins stories about how they came to be involved in the thing we enjoy so much.

The CineFiles Project: http://thecinefiles.com
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In this episode: Titus is joined by Tom Jones… not THE Tom Jones, but this Tom Jones knows more about movies, so it works out. The topic of discussion is films that will hopefully never be remade. Titus and Tom countdown their top 5 films that they pray will never be remade. Due to the long delay on this podcast, we made sure it was extra long.

You can count on future podcasts to be added more frequently, things have been a bit hectic as of late, but are finally starting to cool down. My apologies to Azazel Jacobs, I did an interview with him a while back that keeps getting delayed, also look for that to be added shortly.

You can listen to this episode by clicking on the player below, or you can listen, and subscribe for free, to our podcast on