RANDY SPARKS TAKES A NEW DIRECTION >>>

I dialed Randy Sparks' number late Thursday night, and his voice, tiny amidst a mob of shouts, greeted my ears.

"Chris, hold on a second!" he cried, sounding faraway. "I'm at Hell's Kitchen!"

It figures. If you know only two indispensable truths about Sparks, they are a) he has a fondness for local music, and b) he also has a tireless drive to make movies.

Sparks took his phone to a quieter spot across the street and began to tell me about his newest venture. Rose Colored Shades marks Sparks' first foray into both producing and directing a full-length film, coming on the heels of his short works It Don't Rain on Sunny Days (2009) and A Glitch in the System (2010). Seattle-based comedian Rod Long, who played a fast-talking boss from hell in It Don't Rain, lends his talent for language to the feature script alongside Sparks, and also steps into the shoes of lead character Joe Ware.

Sparks has known for some time he would transition to a larger project at this stage in his maturing talent. He found guidance inside the good book - The Portable Film School, in which author D.B. Gilles encourages readers to first write two short films before tackling features. It took Sparks and Long only four-and-a-half months to crank out Rose's ninety-plus pages.

The breakneck pace at which this man works suggests a race against time. Having recently turned 53, Sparks tells me, "I just wish I would have jumped on doing more film earlier in my life." But his upbeat, better-late-than-never attitude continues to push his creativity in newer, more challenging directions. With his body of work growing each day, Sparks' future looks quite rosy.

LINK: See a photo of Randy Sparks