This is Finish Your Monsters, a (sometimes) 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?

I’ve been too busy to keep up with the blog for the last several months, but when I left off in early May my goal was to find some moments of balance and joy as I get all the creative work done.

And I give myself a solid B. I’ve had some wonderful moments of fun with my wife, Sara. Recently, we made time to go see The Phantom of the Opera at the Pantages Theater in Hollywood. When seeing The Phantom of the Opera is the most relaxing thing you’ve done in three months, it’s a sign that you’ve been busy.

Here’s the big thing I’ve been busy with:

Our horror film DEAD MEDIA has been picked up for distribution by a company called Antenna Releasing and we’re going on a series of roadshow screenings across the United States called The Bonus Features Tour.

We’re kicking off with our Los Angeles premiere on Saturday, July 18th at Brain Dead Studios.

Then we’re headed off to the Pacific Northwest, the East Coast, the South, The Midwest and finally ending up back where the movie was filmed in Minneapolis, Minnesota at the beautiful Heights Theater.

Full info and tickets for the roadshow are here!

There will be more announcements in the coming weeks about streaming and physical media. There will be many ways to see Dead Media but for now, let’s sit in a big dark theater and watch the story unfold together!

I would, of course, love to see subscribers to the ol’ blogletter at any screenings and would gladly take any help promoting all these events. If you make it out, please say hello. I’ll be at every screening doing an intro and a post-film Q&A. Plus there will be exclusive movie merch, a photo op, and more surprises.

Now to the title of this blog entry: The Unwritten Story of Dead Media.

When I started making a feature film, I knew I was in for lots of surprises.

And one of the biggest has been: When is this done?

Coming from the world of theater and live comedy, I’m used to a certain arc. Conceive the show, book the show, work on the show, promote the show, and finally perform the show live in person for a set number of performances. Then it goes really well or okay or rocky. You process it and move on to the next show. The story of the show is written.

And that will happen with the film, but I still don’t know WHEN.

I wrote the first draft of the script in October of 2023 so in just a few months I will have been on this rollercoaster for three years.

There have been many moments where the ride spins, flips, the change falls out of my pocket, and then we slow down. And I get a brief feeling that the ride is complete, the story is written.

When we completed principal photography in December of 2024. When I finished the first edit of the film in May of 2025. When I finished the post-production and we had our premiere in Minneapolis in October of 2025. When the film started getting accepted to film festivals in January of 2026. When I signed the distribution deal in April of 2026. When I finished making some tweaks to the film in June of 2026.

But those have all been chapters of the story. At each of those moments, I’ve been proud. I’ve been happy with the work and with the film. But there’s still the unanswered question, “How will this all go in the end? What will be the story of Dead Media?”

And the challenging truth with art is that the artist only plays a part in writing the story. The audience is the author, too. And time. And random fate. Like licensing shenanigans causing TV stations to play It’s A Wonderful Life again and again, changing the film’s story decades after it was released.

When I finished making Dead Media, I was really proud. My goal was to make something unique. Something that felt like it could only be made by this group of people, at this time.

Artistically, I thought, “Awesome, we made something unique.”

Then when I thought about marketing the film, I thought, “Oh shit, we made something unique.”

I believe in creating unique, specific art. I think it almost always pays off. But looking at film history, sometimes the pay off is immediate and sometimes it can take years or decades. When you’re making a film, it’s inspiring to remember a ton of great films weren’t understood or accepted when they were first released—everything from It’s A Wonderful Life to Fire Walk With Me to The Big Lebowski to John Carpenter’s The Thing.

When you’re looking at getting a film out into the world, that prospect of waiting years or decades to be appreciated is not quite as thrilling.

All of which is to say, the story of Dead Media is very, very far from finished.

This roadshow is only the next chapter. A huge and important chapter. I’m very proud of the film and excited to share it with friends old and new.

So if you’re interested, check out the dates, get some tickets, bring some friends, follow Dead Media’s new instagram account, post about the film on ol’ social media, sit and think about the film. It all matters.

I would love your help writing the next chapter of Dead Media.

MY GOAL FOR THE WEEK/S--

I don’t know if I’ll be able to get back to regular weekly blogs for a bit. So here are a few goals for the next several weeks: Have fun on tour. Remember to take lots of photos. And keep jotting down notes for the next film. Because as stressful as Dead Media has been, it’s also been one of the biggest joys of my entire life and I can’t wait to start the next story.

YOUR GOAL FOR THE WEEKS AHEAD--

I would LOVE to hear what you're working on 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 not by me! It’s by my very talented niece, Kayla. At each screening, we’re handing out little mini-zine like programs. Here’s the great art Kayla did for the front cover.