THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT  
              Copyright (c) 1997, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: Friday, January 31, 1997              TAG: 9701300043
SECTION: DAILY BREAK             PAGE: E11  EDITION: FINAL  
SOURCE: BY JOE MARINO, CAMPUS CORRESPONDENT 
                                            LENGTH:   44 lines

CORRECTION/CLARIFICATION: ***************************************************************** Brad Sykes, a young filmmaker featured in a Daily Break story Friday, is a 1993 graduate of Cape Henry Collegiate. The story incorrectly reported that he graduated from First Colonial High. Correction published in The Virginian-Pilot, Saturday, February 1, 1997, page A2. ***************************************************************** YOUNG FILM MAKER BEGAN SHOOTING IN HIGH SCHOOL

LIGHTS. CAMERA. Action.

The combination has always been irresistible to Brad Sykes, a student at Boston University's School of Broadcasting and Film Production.

Sykes, 21, has been making movies since his high school days at First Colonial when he shot short horror flicks with a VCR using concoctions of red food coloring and Karo syrup for blood. His high school originals include ``Shock Night IV,'' ``Demonville,'' ``The Punisher'' and ``Slaythings.''

Back in high school, Sykes' production company was called No Budget Films, for obvious reasons. His $500 VCR was bought from a Georgia warehouse. ``Tears'' is his 28th film, and it was shot using a $100,000 16mm film camera.

Sykes returned to Virginia Beach over Christmas break with a new outlook and thousands of dollars in equipment to film ``Tears,'' a short demo film that he hopes will someday interest investors in a longer version of the film.

The ``Tears'' story is one that Brad has been thinking about for years.

``I really don't know what gave me the idea for `Tears','' says Sykes. ``I wrote it in 1990 as a short story. It was supposed to be very horrific. I saw this image of a man drinking tears, and I knew I had a good story.''

Since then, the script has changed slightly. Sykes, who started making movies because of his interest in horror films, made a short video version of ``Tears'' in 1994 using a home camcorder. The main character was very sinister and brutal. In the new version of ``Tears,'' the emphasis is more on mystery.

Last weekend, Sykes was in Los Angeles talking to other film makers, learning about what he should do next to break into the film making biz. Sykes will edit ``Tears'' throughout this semester and expects to premiere it in May.