Serendipitous Origins

Last October, Northern Virginia magazine ran an article on Ghosts Don't Exist writer/director Eric Espejo. It was a small piece primarily about 19th + Wilson's most recent short film, The Love Story of Henry and Carol—and our desire to branch out of the techie-comedy genre we'd explored to date. Henry and Carol marked a turning point of sorts, as a considerably darker film—a natural precursor to Ghosts Don't Exist; and this article included the first mention of the film, and our desire to go about making it the right way.


That very same issue also featured an article on John Warfield, of DC Metro Area Ghost Watchers, just a few pages apart. This was serendipitous, as it provided the perfect opportunity to contact the premier local paranormal investigative group for technical advice on the film. Before long, John and his team were not only consultants, they generously offered to provide the ghosthunting equipment used in the film, as well as take us along for actual investigations.


So, not only did the October 2008 issue of Northern Virginia magazine first announce the planning of Ghosts Don't Exist, it established a key connection with the folks at DCMAG who helped us tremendously in making it. John Warfield and John Rossi, in particular, have been amazing assets to the project. And as an ongoing feature, we'll soon be launching a special section on ghostsdontexist.com called Diary of a Ghosthunter: the Journals of John Warfield. Here, you'll be able to read about actual cases that DCMAG is currently investigating, as well as submit your own paranormal questions and tips to the team.


At Monday night's wrap party for the film, there was yet another serendipitious event—photographer Jonathan Timmes was on hand to document the festivities. John Warfield instantly recognized him as the man who'd taken his photo for the magazine article last October.

Everything happens for a reason.