This is Finish Your Monsters, a weekly blogletter about the creative process. I'm sharing adventures in art and life as well as setting CLIFFHANGER goals for myself, so--

DID I MAKE MY GOAL?

My goal for last week was to complete a THIRD AND FINAL draft of the script for a new short film.

And I did it. Well, I did a third draft but I might do one more pass.

I set this very achievable goal because I knew I’d have a busy week. And that was a good call!

This weekend I was in Durham, North Carolina at the Nevermore Film Festival for the first festival screening of our horror film, DEAD MEDIA. It was a great experience.

I got to see one other feature and about two dozen short horror films. Seeing all the other shorts really inspired me to work on the next draft of this short film. (The current working title of the short film is Victim Seven.)

On Sunday morning, after a long night of many films but only one martini, I got up early and knocked out the next draft of Victim Seven.

I condensed a lot of the dialogue so I’d have more time to tell the story visually. I’ve got some visual ideas for this film that I’m really excited to try. But I’ve also been stressing out about them because they’re out of my comfort zone.

The world is exhausting and I’m exhausted so my negative inner voice had been beating me up a little bit: “Why are you putting more work on your plate? Why don’t you just pivot to an idea that’s easier to execute? Why didn’t you get more sleep last night? Why do I have to do all the talking?” And on an on like that.

But talking with other filmmakers and watching the post-film Q&As was a great reminder that there are always challenges. Coming up with weird solutions to get the image you want is stressful, but it’s also joyful. During Q&As, it’s the thing filmmakers are excited to share: What went wrong and how did you overcome it?

Which seems relevant to many other parts of life, too.

I’ve shared this before, but I need to share it again for myself. I once played a roleplaying game where the characters were supposed to go into a haunted house and we did everything we could to avoid it. What fools would knowingly goes into a haunted house? Fair! But the point of the game, the challenge of the game, the FUN of the game was to GO INTO THE SCARY HOUSE.

I’m excited to go into the SCARY HOUSE of this new short film.

A NICE THING THAT HAPPENED THIS WEEK

I’m lucky that many nice things happened in my life this week!

At the festival, there were two screenings of DEAD MEDIA. One was in a nice intimate theater, one was in a very fancy old theater. Both went well, but it was great to accomplish the personal goal of seeing the film in a theater with Statler & Waldorf boxes in it.

Sadly, Statler & Waldorf were not there. Or if they were, they must have enjoyed the film because I didn’t hear them say anything mean.

In fact, I got to hear people say nice things. After both films, I did a Q&A. I was delighted with the kinds of questions people asked. They were thoughtful, curious, and smart. It made me feel like people really ENGAGED with the film. Liking the film or loving the film is greatly desired. But if I had to pick one response I want the most it would be that people are ENGAGED. That the images, the sounds, the feelings, the ideas of the film stick with them.

I got questions about the sound design, the score, the connection to the giallo genre, monster lore, DVD history, requests for a spin-off film, excitement about my friend and fantastic performer in the film Bill Corbett, the history of the Bryant-Lake Bowl, if one of the actors is aware that they look like Florence Pugh (the answer was yes), when the film would be available on physical media, and more.

There’s a long path to making the film a success, but these screenings felt like a great step in the right direction.

I celebrated with a martini made with a local Durham gin, Conniption, at a rooftop bar overlooking the city. I was delighted to get a perfect table number to celebrate a horror film.

LIGHT PLUGS

DEAD MEDIA MAILING LIST: We’ve got a mailing list for Dead Media. I’m only going to send out messages occasionally with concrete info and asks for help—screening dates, sales news, help getting the word out, etc. You can sign up here if you’re interested!

SHORT FILMS ON YOUTUBE: FINALLY! I’m going to start posting the short films I made leading up to DEAD MEDIA. First The Narrator starring Phil LaMarr on Thursday, March 12th, then another film the next two Thursdays. It would be a huge help if you subscribed to my YouTube channel ahead of the films’ release!

DONATIONS TO DEAD MEDIA: We need all the help we can get for film festival submission fees, advance money to book theaters, etc. Through Film North, you can make a one time tax deductible donation here. Thanks for all the help and support!

MY GOAL FOR THE WEEK--

I’ve got lots of work to do this week for DEAD MEDIA, but not all of it is under my timeline control, so I’m going to stick to making goals for the short film, Victim Seven. We’re filming the short on spooky, spooky Friday the 13th and I need to be ready for that. So for next week, my goal is to complete 90% of pre-production for the short film, Victim Seven.

YOUR GOAL FOR THE WEEK--

I would absolutely LOVE to hear what you're working on this week in the comments below. What's your goal? How can I help you literally finish your monsters?

A LITTLE SKETCH--

Also this weekend, I went to a bar and the person next to me ordered a Smoked Old Fashioned. The bartender made the drink then put it in a box, attached a hose, and pumped something into it. He then gave the box to the guy at the bar. The box was full of smoke. Totally opaque. When the bar patron pulled the drink out, the steam exploded and clung to the glass, billowing and billowing. It was lovely so I wanted to draw a picture of how it felt. I hope your feelings and creative adventures are great this week!