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 90% of pre-production for the short film we’re making, Victim Seven.

I think I hit about 82%, but I’m happy with that.

I had a rehearsal with the main actor. I did a location scout at my friend’s house where we’re filming. I’ve got all the production folks booked—a massive crew of three. I’m in the process of making very pedantic lists for the day of the shoot. Finally, I’m eagerly awaiting some equipment to be delivered on Wednesday so I can test some specific shots.

Big picture, I’m feeling fairly well prepared!

I’m doing this short horror film as part of the accountability group Just Scare Me. But I’m also doing it to have fun and experiment.

Directing is a weird creative pursuit because there can be VERY, VERY LONG STRETCHES OF TIME where you’re not practicing doing the actual work of being on set. Helping craft the performances, working with the crew, managing the time constraints, making sure you capture the pre-planned ideas but also being open to new ones in the moment. Directing is a really specific balance of flowing creativity and precision management.

And it’s distinct from producing. Producing a film is constant work. We filmed our horror feature Dead Media in Nov/Dec of 2024. I’ve been doing producing work on the film ever since with lots and lots of producing work left to go.

But I haven’t been on set directing in a long time.

I also want to practice some of the technical elements of filmmaking that I don’t know as well. So I’m running the camera and setting up the lighting. It’s added stress, but that’s how we learn sometimes.

We’re filming this coming Friday the 13th. Spooky, spooky Friday the 13th. Looking forward to creating something fun, weird, scary, and cathartic with other talented folks.

Also, I bought a hammer for the movie. Good times.

A NICE THING THAT HAPPENED THIS WEEK

I had a lot of nice things this week (including more meetings and work for getting Dead Media out into the world) but there was also a hearty helping of stress for both my wife and myself.

So we decided we’d set Sunday aside to visit Descanso Gardens—a lovely nature preserve in the general Los Angeles Metro Area.

I wrote it down in my calendar and everything. Descanso Gardens - Noon on Sunday.

But then our old pal STRESS showed up. A couple of business things that needed immediate attention smashed through our front door with an axe like Jack Nicholson in The Shining yelling, “Heeeeeere’s tax prep!”

Long story short we ended up making it to Descanso at 4 pm. The park closes at 5 pm. This created a fascinating experiment: How quickly can nature soothe me? Is an hour enough time for trees to work their calming magic?

It was like a set-up for an action movie: “This man must take a deep breath in the next hour or else! GET CALM, the new thriller coming to theaters near you!”

I’m thrilled to report nature won again. We got into the park and thought it would be nice to sit at a bench and write down some creative ideas. I wrote a few notes about another short film I want to make. Sara took the nice picture below.

Then we both stared at each other and said, “Wouldn’t it be calming to walk around?”

So we took a 45 minute stroll. A loop through lilac gardens and ancient forest trees and a Japanese garden. It was great to be in motion. Active, calm motion. Lots of ideas flowed.

And instead of feeling guilty that we got there with only an hour to enjoy it, I found myself thinking things like, “That tree never has to deal with taxes.”

“That plant has never heard of AI.”

“That squirrel that just darted across the lawn, just wants to eat, sleep, and sometimes stare at a leaf. We’re so similar.”

Anyway, I’m of the opinion that a lot of the systems and tech we interact with are getting worse. Creating more steps, more systems, more complications, more lack of human autonomy. It poisons our moods.

And nature is a great antidote.

Anyway, look for GET CALM coming soon to a theater near you.

LIGHT PLUGS

SHORT FILMS ON YOUTUBE: THIS THURSDAY MARCH 12th! 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!

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!

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--

This week I want to make sure I have good forward movement on things I can control with Dead Media and move fast on editing the new short film, Victim Seven. That one is due on Friday, March 20th. So I’m going to have two goals for the week. My goals for next week are to get Dead Media set up for Letterboxd reviews and be halfway through editing 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--

This week’s sketch is the rough poster for the upcoming relaxation adventure feature film, GET CALM. I hope everyone reading this has fun monsters to finish and enjoys some getting calm time this week!