Hey everyone.
Hope your holidays are going well.
Dropping in to wish you all a restorative new year, hand you a short film, and provide a few updates.
FOLLOWER, a 4-Minute One Word
This short film project came as an unexpected boon.
After WOODBINE, I was tapped out and had no ambition to tackle another project. I resigned myself to playing Disco Elysium (great game, by the way) and waiting for the spark to re-ignite in 2024.
Then
asked if I’d like to contribute to his visual Salon du Monde experience, and the challenge of cramming my style of filmmaking into a 4-minute block sounded appealing.This small project gave me a chance to play around with some of the feelings I can’t seem to escape. Feelings that circle fatherhood, creativity and the internet, and how bittersweet it is shepherding my daughter into a modern world that is filled with both wonder and unease.
I hope you like the short.
What’s Around the Corner: WORKS Ep. 1
I’m wrapping up editing my first interview.
In early January, you’ll receive a 40-minute podcast along with an incredible written piece by my guest. This individual is a very talented writer, and I know you’re all going to love the work they’ve generously shared with us.
What’s Further Down the Bend
I’ve begun work on the next ~20-minute film. I’m not very good at predicting when these films are finished — looking back on past efforts, I’m always a few weeks off — but I think the next film should be done by the end of February or early March.
The upcoming One Word continues some of the ideas in FOLLOWER but dares to venture a lot further: into the nostalgia-tinged past, into our increasingly cyberpunk future, and, if I can pull it off, into the cold vacuum of outer space.
What’s Way Off in the Distance: “The Big One (Word)”
We’re on 2024’s doorstep, and I’m going to take a moment to reiterate that it hasn’t even been a year since I picked up my camera, pointed it at a miniature television I found in the discount bin at the local Toys-R-Us and said: “The unifying communication method of humans in the 21st century has to be video.”
Most days I feel like I’m moving too slowly. There is a near-endless amount of content out there, and consuming it often tricks me into thinking I need to keep up — produce more videos and send out more emails. It’s an insatiable urge.
In my life, nothing calms the urge more than my year-long project. When I bring up the project to my wife, I resort to calling it The Big One.
The Big One is strange. I feel this project more than I see it. I can’t describe it beat-for-beat. There’s no script. At the same time, it is a film project, with dates attached to deadlines and an underlining message and a call to action.
Another twist to The Big One is that I’ve asked a few very good friends (artists, all) to produce the film with me.
This last fact is yet another challenge The Big One imposes on my life. Every film I made in 2023 I made alone, and welcoming others into the process feels like pouring the contents of my head into a glass bowl.
Right now, we’re working on a list of potential interviewees and locations, plus drafting a proposal to the Canadian Arts Council. So, if anyone has tips for acquiring grant funds, please get in touch with me.
Okay, that’s it for now.
Enjoy FOLLOWER. Enjoy the New Year.
Oh, one more thing.
If you craft a few goals for 2024, eschew the practical. Dream up something daunting and scary, something that, as you write it down, makes your hand tremble. We’re moving into a year that will need every big idea us mortals can muster.
Be in touch soon.
- T
