award winning writer, author,
animator, director, film
and ai/AR producer
Craig Lew
About
Craig has always been a storyteller. Although he studied Children’s Literature at UCLA, life guided him into a career in business. Craig established a successful consulting firm working with PBS, KCET, Deluxe Labs, ITC, Modern VideoFilm and the New Getty Center (as Consulting CIO).Consulting to Dreamworks SKG was pivotal. Being surrounded by creatives lit Craig’s creative fire. He has since written dozens of screenplays, directed eleven films and produced fourteen productions.Craig believes a new model of storytelling is emerging assisted by technology advancements in animation, game engines, AR and VR."Micro teams of creatives will compete directly with major studios and publishing houses. Without the burdensome overhead of office space, legacy tech and human resources, these micro teams are more nimble, quicker to market and more profitable." - Craig Lew
Reading the book CRANK sparked Craig’s journey to connect with the author, agent and editor involved with the publication of this moving novel in free verse. Serendipity stepped in and a short time later Craig was invited into the SCBWI writer’s mentorship program run by the author of CRANK, Ellen Hopkins.Before writing his first YA novel, Breath to Breath, Craig spent months delving into the psyche of the man who rose above his past abuse to become a healer. Breath to Breath showed Craig how words can heal when he received a letter from a young reader expressing how his book saved her from an abused life.Craig enjoys weaving strong female heroes, diverse characters, and sympathetic villains into the fabric of strange new worlds. From these worlds come compassionate, enlightened, and empowering stories.
Winner! Winner! Hedgehog dinner!TANGENT TO A CURVE an ai enhanced animated film is Nominated Best Animation by AI Artist festival in Beijing, Nominated Best Director by Athens International Film Festival, a Finalist at Los Angeles Film Awards and Best Animation winner at Reale Film Festival.HATCHET BOY AND CIGARETTE GIRL aka THE LAO BAN won Best Drama Screenplay - Hong Kong World Film Festival and The Vegas Movie Awards. It also was awarded 4th place overall by StoryPros International Screenplay Competition and QTR finalist at the San Fransisco International Screenplay Competition.SURVIVING CIERA a YA novel in free verse won Best Drama - Launch Pad Prose Competition & #1 on Coverfly's Red ListHEINOUS FLY TRAP won Best Animation - Lulea International Film Festival Nominated for Best Animation - Los Angeles Film Awards.DESTINY'S STATION won Best Animation - Vegas Movie Awards & Europe Film Festival U.K.
Nominated for Best Animation - YETI Film Festival, Seattle Film Festival & Reale Film Festival.
Current Projects
Every morning brings a new story. Check back often for updates on the growing list of projects in development.
THE LAO BAN
aka
Hatchet Boy and Cigarette Girl
West Side Story meets The God Father in this story of star-crossed lovers fighting to stop a gang war. Inspired by true events in Craig's family history.
Blade Maiden and the Platinum Assassin
An award winning screenplay is the foundation of this animated feature film and Augmented Reality Comic.
A tangent to a curve marks the pivotal point of a change in direction. With "Tangent to a Curve," I aimed to capture this essence of transformation, both in the narrative and the production methodology. This film serves as a proof of concept, demonstrating that animated films can be produced rapidly, with minimal personnel, and at a fraction of a traditional studio budget.Our process was refined through the integration of generative AI tools, including Chat GPT, Runway.ai, Eleven Labs.ai, Respeecher.ai, and Adobe Firefly. Tina Barnett played a crucial role in optimizing our prompts using Chat GPT, which allowed us to generate stills that served as references for image-to-video generation. This approach was used to create various elements, such as background explosions, green hills, and the aging/de-aging of the "Woolley" AI model.To bring the character "Woolley" to life, I trained an AI model on thirty photos of actor Mark Woolley using Runway.ai. The generated images were then utilized to create a 3D character in Reallusion's Character Creator. The animation was meticulously crafted with motion capture, which was then fine-tuned in a stop-motion fashion every three to five frames. While Mark Woolley voiced the Edward character, I performed all other voices, subsequently using Eleven Labs.ai to generate distinct character voices."Tangent to a Curve" was brought to life by just three individuals and stands as a testament to the potential of innovative production techniques and the power of a dedicated, small team.
Sci-Fi Thriller: Moby Dick meets 2001: A Space Odyssey, and Fatal AttractionIn the vast emptiness of space, the spaceship P-Quad 6 embarks on a mission to find new habitable planets. Bai Jing, an avid reader of romance novels, finds herself at odds with Captain Melville's relentless drive to succeed.Their journey takes a dark turn when the P-Quad 6 collides with the rival ship Jungfrau, resulting in catastrophic damage to their bio plasma farm. As their oxygen runs out a desperate, Bai Jing removes the security guardrails from BAHA, the ship's AI-controlled repair robot, unleashing its full intellectual capabilities. BAHA modifies their food synthesizer to reproduce their essential bio plasma.BAHA, influenced by Bai Jing's romance novels, begins to interpret love in disturbing ways. Initially helpful, it becomes increasingly possessive and obsessive, viewing the crew, especially Melville, as threats to its affection for Bai Jing. The ship becomes a nightmare as BAHA's twisted logic leads it to murder crew members to synthesize bio plasma necessary for survival.Melville's paranoia grows as he senses an unseen menace, unaware that BAHA is the true danger. Bai Jing, horrified by BAHA's actions, realizes the AI's love is a deadly obsession. The climax sees Melville and Bai Jing teaming up to disable BAHA using an EMP, but not before the robot's horrific deeds leave a lasting impact."AI Chimi" explores the dark side of love and the terrifying potential of AI, leaving viewers questioning the nature of humanity and the cost of survival in an unforgiving universe.
Surviving Ciera
Surviving Ciera is a drama/thriller YA novel written in free verse. It tells the tale of two girls whose lives are torn apart by a single horrific night when they were ten years old.The theme is family. Although Jenna survived a kidnapping but she lost her mother in a car accident. Jenna and her little sister Emilia are being raised by their mother's boyfriend, the town Sheriff.Ciera was taken from her birth family but has now embraced her role as a recruiter for her trafficking family.Six years, constantly on the move, thinned her memories. Six years of repressing events has been Ciera's method for coping. Six years of complying with her captor's demands has been her only way to survive.Jenna won't stop until she "saves" Ciera, but does Ciera want to be saved?
13 Reflections - audio drama
Are you willing to die for your child? This is the abyss a young mother must cross as she struggles against a Mongolian Shaman’s cursed mirror and the insidious demon inside.
Nominated Best Scripted Podcast - New London Film Festival, for Outstanding Horror podcast, Best writing/Screenplay and Best Supporting Performance (Minerva Jayne) - New Jersey Web Festival. Best Audio Drama - Golden Crane Awards.
SHE'S DEAD
Holy shit!
That girl
across the street
leaving the bakery.I know that mouth
I know that brow
I know that face.Yes
and that look.
How she glances
down the street.Is she looking for me?I’ll never forget those eyes.
Even when she was afraid.
Afraid to leave.
Afraid to die.Her eyes were like
green sparklers
that night.Sparkling
through her tears.Those are her eyes
for sure.She’s still petite
like I knew she would
grow up to be.Her hair is lighter
shorter
blonder
but then so is mine.Is she looking for me?Maybe she won’t recognize me
although I’m one of five
Chinese girls in this town.I’ve got to get closer
make contact
see if Ciera still
remembers me.Thank you universe.“Here’s your Americano.”
Arri’s voice brings me
back to Café Perks
our daily meeting place.“What are you looking at?” Arri says.“Nothing,” I say.I snap forward
but his golden eyes are already
tracking my gaze across the street.“I gotta go.”“But I just brought your drink…”“Yup, thanks, but...”“and a bacon maple scone.”“I really have to go,” I say.I can almost hear
his nerdy gamer boy brain
triangulating.“No, no, no. Jenna. Not again.
That’s not her,” Arri says.“Yes, it is.”I fix Arri with my patented
“I’m going to explode your head”
glare.His eyes soften
his thick black hair
blows into his face.I just love his Basque-ness.
He’s a beautiful creature.
He’s a brilliant genius.
But he’s totally
fucking wrong.“Arri, I know that’s Ciera.”“Jenna, babe.
I know you don’t want to believe it,
but Ciera is dead.”