The Power of the Place I Know
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?
Big picture, I’m working away on the post-production of our horror film, Dead Media. Last week, I committed to the goal of finishing the THIRD DRAFT of the edit and getting closer to picture lock!
And I completed this goal with an asterisk! I finished the third draft edit with the exception of two scenes. There’s a specific supernatural thing going on in both scenes and I want to revise how the emotion of that is conveyed visually. Which, unfortunately, isn’t just going in and making a few tweaks. It means pulling apart the scenes and rebuilding them.
But this is the point of focusing on drafts, on the Finish Your Monsters ethos: If you get a draft done you are less overwhelmed and can better isolate the specific beats, scenes, lines, etc that still need work.
I’m very happy with how the film is progressing but there is still much work left to be done. Right now, finishing the post-production on this film doesn’t just mean climbing up a metaphorical hill. It means living my life clinging to the side of a mountain like an oldie-time stunt actor dangling off the pointy side of the Vasquez Rocks. Equal parts stressful and thrilling!
And speaking of thrilling, next week I’m heading back to Minneapolis to do a few isolated pick up shots for Dead Media. Excited to reunite with the cast and crew!
Anyway, if you’re interested in helping us pull the film across that finish line, I need to raise a bit more money for post-production. You can make a one time tax-deductible donation via Film North here. Thanks to the folks who have made contributions in the last few weeks. Deeply, deeply appreciated.
ADVENTURES OF THE WEEK--
This week I had lots of things happen that made me think about PLACE—how it affects our lives, our art, our culture, our sense of self.
I’m lucky to feel like I have two homes.
-Minneapolis, where I grew up and where I’ve been spending a lot more time in the last few years working on Dead Media.
-Los Angeles, where my wife and I have lived for the last eleven years.
I love both cities and get annoyed when people want to pit them against one another. There is no better or worse. There is just different. They both have wonderful qualities and challenging qualities. Sometimes, the challenges are what give them their charm. (Insert picture of Minneapolis mosquitos shaking hands with LA traffic.)
Right now, Los Angeles is the subject of national attention and a deluge of lies. (Just like Minneapolis was in 2020.) ICE raids are illegally grabbing people from their homes, their schools, their jobs with no due process. Citizens are exercising their constitutional right to protest. And lies are being spun across the news and social media that LA is a war zone, that it’s on fire, that it’s been “invaded and occupied.”
There are no invaders, only neighbors.
During all this, I had several moments of much needed comfort by enjoying Los Angeles. Here are some of the fun things I did.
I attended a dance show at my wife’s workplace, Greystone Mansion and Gardens. The show is called Gatsby Redux, a site specific dance version of Fitzgerald’s classic novel, The Great Gatsby. (Also a story of a person from Minnesota who ventures out to a coast!)
The show moves through the mansion and the grounds of Greystone with dances capturing the vibes of the characters and some specific moments in the plot. The choreography and the acting was fantastic to convey the truth of the novel. Young, rich, wild people partying away with a constant sub-text of trauma and ennui.
It would have been a great show if it was in a theater,but what made it magical was the site specific choreography. There is a big party number with spins, flips, and complex lifts performed in Greystone’s narrow Cypress Lane. You’re so close to the dancers, if you move an inch you’ll be on the dance floor.
There’s a piece towards the end where the character Daisy emerges from the darkness, lit by a lamp post, and descends down a staircase like a light breeze is casually wafting her toward horrible tragedy.
An amazing experience of place transforming and enhancing art. (EDIT: Unfortunately, the remaining shows have been postponed due to illness, but I will share this again when the shows get rescheduled!)
Maybe the show got me thinking about place on a deeper level. Because without thinking about it or planning it, everything else I did to give myself a break this week was tied to place.
After the show, Sara and I stopped at one of the most unique dining experiences currently available in Los Angeles. And it probably won’t be available much longer.
A few blocks from our apartment, there’s an Arby’s. One of the few with an old neon sign. The Arby’s itself was a bit of Hollywood history. It’s close to a bunch of the studios so a lot of people in the entertainment industry have stories of hanging out there when they couldn’t afford to go to fancier Hollywood hang outs.
After Arby’s left, the building was taken over by a pop-up pizza place called Prince Street. Prince Street has other locations. They serve a limited menu of large gourmet pizza slices. The business has a very LA cuisine vibe—a common food jazzed up.
They made the Arby’s building a drive thru, so you place your order, then park under the neon glow of the old Arby’s hat. They’ve got painted signs and a billboard that reads: “LA traffic sucks less with a slice.” They’re both reveling in and tortured by the reality of LA’s car culture. Also, their pizza is messy as hell and trying to eat it while driving would make you look like an extra in a horror movie.
But waiting under the glow of the hat, there’s a sense of the past, the present, and the imminent future where the building is going to be taken over by a Raising Cane’s and the sign will be removed (but hopefully preserved.)
Places, like time, move on fast so I’m trying to savor them while I can.
Even when I took a break to watch a film this week, I couldn’t help but travel around Los Angeles.
Sara’s been working every night the last few weeks so I’ve been picking out films to revisit. One night this week, I scanned our physical media collection and the film that jumped out to me was Double Indemnity.
I didn’t even realize I had picked a movie about Los Angeles until I started re-watching. There’s a strong sense of time and place in the film, but it’s also universal. The characters are surrounded by other people, in a big, vibrant city. And instead of drawing strength from it, they feel trapped by it. Walter by his rigid job and his eagle-eyed boss. Phyllis by her controlling husband and her glorious mansion which has become a gloomy prison.
I think it’s a film that’s at least partially about failing to find genuine connection. Even in a massive place like Los Angeles. It’s a great place to be alone with lots of people.
Also, it’s funny to hear them talk about Glendale in rapid, machine gun fire Raymond Chandler hardboiled dialogue. (The most hardboiled thing about Glendale is the parking structure at the Glendale Galleria shopping mall.)
This film about failing to find connection in LA hit even harder in a week where the people of LA are finding connection. We’re standing up for their neighbors at protests, we’re standing up for the truth on social media, we’re waiting in line for late night pizza at an Arby’s.
This was a week where I needed to focus on some positives and LA was there for me. It put me in a dreamy, thoughtful mood. It made me conscious of my life here. What is my LA? How much of it is built on the past? How much the present or the looming future? How much is it based on my choices and circumstances and how much am I swept up in its rituals and challenges? What story can I tell to share the Los Angeles that I know?
It was a good LA week but I also look forward to getting dreamy in my other home of Minneapolis next week.
LIGHT PLUGS—
Imposter!
This is a short film I have nothing to do with, but it looks great! My friend, Anna Sundberg, (who stars in Dead Media) also stars in this short, thought-provoking thriller.
I also had a chance to meet the filmmaking team at Lucky Cut Productions and they’re a great crew with a great mission.
They’re raising funds for IMPOSTER.
You can check out their promo video and their crowdfunding campaign here.
The Nightmare Adorable!
I wrote and directed this short horror film back in 2023. Can you help us get to 1000 views on YouTube?
DEAD MEDIA! We’ve got a fiscal sponsorship with the great Minnesota organization Film North. They can accept one-time donations that will go directly toward finishing the film: SCORE, VFX, COLOR GRADING, etc. 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’ve got to spin a lot of plates to keep things moving on the post-production for Dead Media. I’m headed to Minneapolis to do pick-up shoots so that has to be my primary focus. So my goal again this week is to get the pick-up shots done for Dead Media and do them well!
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 a palm tree walling into an old noir detective’s office. For what case? Can the tree be trusted? Is it experiencing existential dread? YOU DECIDE! Anyway, thanks for reading, I hope you enjoy your places, and best of luck finishing your monsters!
