When writer Eric Bomba-Ire wrote Spleen, he was determined to get it shot. After the script was read at the Atlanta Screenwriters Group, it was proposed to producer Martin Kelley, with whom Eric had just wrapped the production of Burnt Sienna. Martin immediately jumped on the opportunity

"My first thought about the story was that it different, with a great level of ambiguity but yet very real and dealing with natural human emotions," notes Martin.

With Martin's stamp on it, the script was passed to producer Cedric Bradley who also came on board. "I loved it," Bradley says of the script, "I had read once and loved it. It was that simple"

From then principal photography was planned to start in January 2004. But complications on rounding up a cast made it harder to meet the scheduled date, thus pushing production to the early days of February.

"We needed two generations, fifteen years apart, to play the roles," notes Eric. "Our challenge was to cast actors that had not only talent but also share physical facial features to play the younger and older version of our leads. Amazingly, we were able to get that cast."

Actress Lindsay Garret was first to be casted before any auditions. Then, came along everybody else.

"After the script was done, I knew that she would have been the perfect person to play the role of the younger wife," says Eric. "I met her through her brother, with whom I have worked on several projects in the past, and I immediately felt that she had some kind of sparkle that will read well on camera. So when she mentioned that she had done some plays before and wanted to act for films, I didn't want to miss that chance."

Next on board were Michael Van Osch and Samantha Worthen.

"I saw Michael in a play a couple years ago and I thought he was really good, and when he showed up at the auditions, his looks had changed dramatically and that actually worked in his advantage. He was the character we were looking for," says Eric.

"I had also seen Samantha's work in independent shorts around town and she was highly recommended to me by Martin Kelley. I didn't doubt her acting ability, but we weren't sure of the resemblance with Lindsay; but fortunately they do look much alike," Eric adds.

They were still in search for a younger Adrian, and it happened a week later, after the auditions were held.

"Martin sent me a list of headshots," Eric remembers. "I looked at them and said they wouldn't work. The pictures were on my desk and my brother walked in. He saw the pictures and thought Brian Spruell looked like Michael. I took a closer look and they did share some of the same traits. We had Brian show up for a reading with Lindsay and the chemistry between the two was great. In the end it all worked out."

Production on Spleen then started. Shoots were planned sparsely to accommodate the actors' schedules, since they all had day jobs.

"We had little problems throughout production. Most of the shoot went smoothly. Our toughest shoot was a scene where Adrian was in his car talking on the phone," Eric remembers. "The location was the top parking deck of a building which would have been fine... but unfortunately, we were in the middle of winter with a blistering cold and we had to create artificial rain. Dave Watkins, our AD, was also operating the water hose and by the end of the shoot, he was so wet and cold, it was nearly funny."

Spleen wrapped production on February 29th, 2004

Even though Spleen can be easily categorized as an "art" film, it does split the difference between general film standards and the more arty types.

Spleen is a nuance of literary schools that ranges from symbolism, surrealism to romanticism in which melancholy, anguish and despair coalesce into this darkly woven tale of love, passion and betrayal.