Originally Published: Wired.com http://www.wired.com/underwire/2012/04/exclusive-already-gone/

April 24^th by Curtis Silver

Hollywood is a wild and crazy place, and the politics of getting a feature film produced are complex to say the least. Rather than shopping a completed script to possibly interested parties, director Ross Ching and writer Bill Balas took a shortcut: They simply made a three-minute version of their action movie.

Their violent short is called Already Gone, and you can watch it exclusively above (language NSFW). The filmmakers might just be on to something big with this approach, which takes the “teaser first, movie later” concept a step further: This is a very streamlined way to get their story in front of audiences before the full feature has been completed. Think of it as a pilot for the feature film yet to be bought.

HOLLYWOOD, January 27^th 2012

Shawn Ashmore, star of the X:Men movies, has been cast alongside Harry Shum Jr. , star of the hit Fox series Glee, to play partners in crime in Already Gone.  Shawn Ashmore plays Jude Mulvey, a low level criminal suffering from a debilitating and life threatening disease, but after making a huge score against the Mob, he’s got bigger problems than just his health.

The screenplay, written by Bill Balas, was discovered through the Fresh Voices Screenplay Competition.

Since being a finalist in the 2010 Fresh Voices Screenplay Competition, Bill quit his day job selling insurance and is now a staff writer for the upcoming A&E TV series The Bates Motel starring Vera Farmiga. With the help of Fresh Voices, Bill optioned his winning screenplay Already Gone and attached Shawn Ashmore (X:Men 1,2,3) and Harry Shum Jr. (Glee) to star in the project. See the trailer here! 

The Bates Motel is a new series created by Kerry Ehrin (Parenthood, Friday Night Lights, Boston Public) and Carlton Cuse (Lost, Nash Bridges). The Bates Motel is based on Alfred Hitchcock's Psycho and is a further exploration of Norman Bates dark and twisted relationship with his morther. The series stars Vera Farmiga (The Departed, Up in the Air), Max Theriot and Freddie Highmore. The show is under a 10 episode order from Universal Television and will air on A&E in 2013.

Hollywood, Ca. October 2011

As a direct result of his placement in the 2010 Fresh Voices Screenplay Competition, screenwriter Bill Balas has optioned his winning screenplay, Aleady Gone, to producers Peter Katz and Don Le.

Bill’s journey began in February 2011 when his script was chosen from nearly 1,000 entries and announced a finalist in the Thriller Category of the 2010 Fresh Voices Screenplay Competition. While submitting the winning scripts to producers, Fresh Voices were approached by Peter and Don seeking high quality thrillers that could be made on a budget. Having read a number of samples, they quickly identified Already Gone as their next project.