October 1, 2024

Making Room For Gourds

This is Finish Your Monsters, a weekly blog/newsletter/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?

Last week, I committed to finishing the new sizzle reel for the horror film, DEAD MEDIA!

And unlike last week, I actually did make my goal!

At the stroke of midnight on October 1st, those ancient powerful words flashed across my computer screen:

VIMEO HAS PROCESSED YOUR VIDEO.

Right now, the video is set to private so we can share it with a few potential investors, but we’ll probably make it public soon to help with our push to raise funds for the film via Film North!

As always, a creative career is an odd mix of business work (contracts, fundraising, budgeting, checking your starmeter on IMDb, etc) but every time I get back to the CREATIVE part all of that melts away.

I was in a little bubble of zen while editing this teaser. In the last couple of years, I decided to focus on film so I could stretch lots of different creative muscles. Turns out, editing is one of my favorite muscles to flex. Edit-squats are great. The sheer satisfaction when a clip lines up perfectly with a sound cue is worth every bit of stress.

ADVENTURES OF THE WEEK--

It hasn’t even been a full week since the last blog entry because I was running late last week.

So at first, I felt like maybe I didn’t get a ton done but then I reviewed my photos to remember what I got up to. Not only did I get a lot done, I also apparently completed the goal of lying to myself about it. FUN!(I think the vast majority of us are working harder and coping with more than we even realize unless we really, really stop to reflect.)

Anyway, my adventures included: Getting my COVID booster and flu shot. One in each arm so I could celebrate the beginning of spooky season with a stiff upper torso just like Frankenstein’s Monster. “Vaccines goooood,” I mumbled to myself as I watched horror movies on the couch that evening.

I’m very lucky that the shots just make me a little sore and sleepy because I was able to go to a friend’s birthday party on Saturday.

And other than that, I almost entirely worked on the film. I’m entering a point in the process where I will only barely be able to maintain a semblance of a normal life.

The plan is to shoot the film in mid-November, but many pieces still need to fall in place to make that goal. And one of those pieces is everyone’s favorite thing about creating art—RAISING FUNDS.

I’m lucky to have many kind friends/family/fans who have invested in the film. I developed a pitch deck a while back that shares the story of the film, the mood, the creative people attached, etc. And it’s served the project well!

But this week, I needed to get the pitch deck to the next level. In order to go out to more investors we needed NUMBERS. So we hired a great guy to dig into comparable horror films of the last 20 years and build projections to demonstrate our (relatively) low budget horror film’s potential for profitability. I spent most of the weekend taking those numbers and translating them into the pitch deck with some visual flair.

Yes, in order to raise funds for this film, I spent hours and hours bedazzling a spreadsheet. Strangely gratifying.

And just as I finished this task, a writer friend of mine sent me an article about how horror films are actually a great investment. I chose to see that as validation of my spreadsheet-bedazzling.

We also publicly announced our fiscal sponsorship with the great Minnesota org, Film North, and we’re gearing up to make the absolute most of that means of fundraising!

Also recorded some podcasts, worked on casting, hiring crew, planning my next trip back to Minnesota, and—and—and—

It’s easy to get caught up in the checklist of tasks. And on some level, I have to be laser-focused on the task list for the film. But I know it’s also important to breathe a bit and make time to savor the creative reasons you’re doing all this work in the first place.

So I’ll end this week’s blog with a special thanks to my wife, Sara, who loves that I love spooky season. She left this bit of delightful reconnection to daily life on my desk this morning. After all, I’m working on a horror movie so enjoying Halloween needs to be on the task list.

LIGHT PLUGS—

If you want to help with the film, here’s a great way!

I’ve set-up a fiscal sponsorship with the great Twin Cites org, Film North. They can accept one-time donations that will go directly toward funding the film!

It’s like a Kickstarter where the rewards are A) a tax deduction and B) helping us make the film.

For full info, please check out the page for the upcoming horror film, DEAD MEDIA!

Or if you have any questions about supporting the film, feel free to reach out to me personally!

MY GOAL FOR THE WEEK--

I have many, many goals for work on the film, but in the spirit of balance, I’m going to focus on a life goal this week. I write letters for a great organization called VOTE FORWARD that encourages people to use their power and vote. This year, I made a goal to write a total of 200 letters and I’ve got 80 left. So this week, I’m committing to finishing the last 80 letters for Vote Forward!

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? Are gourds involved? How can I help you finish your monsters?

A LITTLE SKETCH--

This week’s sketch continues the gourd celebration. It’s fun to imagine sentient gourds realizing how big they are on social media this time of year. I know, Gourd, it’s a lot to process. I hope everyone has a wonderful week balancing life, work, and gourds!