Little Victories
Making a feature film is a marathon, not a sprint. Things don’t just happen overnight, and that can be frustrating- often discouraging. You have to celebrate the “little victories” to keep going. Like turning 40.
A little over a week ago we celebrated Dan’s 40th birthday. By “we” I mean me and several of his closest friends. It was a surprise party. Oh boy, was he surprised. Tears were shed. Hugs all around. A good time was had by all. And it was VHS-themed! (No surprise there)
But four years earlier, the future wasn’t so bright for our man Dan. It wasn’t Covid related, though the rest of the world was in an existential tailspin at the time. No, his future had come to an abrupt and violent stop when it collided with a dump truck at 60 mph.
“When I came to, my truck was stuck under the dump truck and it had dragged me to the side of the road. I suffered a shattered right patella, four broken ribs and my right wrist was broken in two places,” recalled Dan.
According to him, the road to recovery was hell. A “functional” knee is considered to bend at least 90°. Well, after the accident Dan’s range of motion was 10°. A year, two surgeries, and fifty-seven physical therapy sessions later, and his knee could bend 125°. It wasn’t easy, and it didn’t happen overnight. Dan knows about that marathon pace. He knows about the importance of little victories.
Since 2017, Dan has been working as a 2nd AC (assistant camera) in the film industry. It can be an incredibly physically demanding job, but it was important for him to get back to it as quickly as possible. Not only for financial reasons, but for his team, his friends; the kind of friends that would support him as he hobbled through a 7 week shoot. The kind that would show up on a Saturday night to a surprise party. The kind that would volunteer their time to help make Dan’s directorial debut, Last Request.
That’s where I come in. Dan and I have known each other for a long time- going on thirteen years, give or take. We co-owned a small production company back in the day. I consider him one of my closest friends. After the accident, he was in a dark place, by his own admission. We were talking regularly- talking about the future and the lives we envisioned for ourselves.
Dan was reevaluating what he wanted to do for the rest of his life. He’d come to the realization that he wanted to direct. He had the crew and he had the resources, but he needed a script. I offered to write one, if he suggested some loglines. That became Last Request.
Based off of the modest success of that short (screening at Fantastic Fest, winning some awards), we were emboldened to make a feature film. And here we are! We’ve assembled an amazing crew and cast- a lot of the same folks who worked on Last Request. It’s a COOL project and we can’t wait to tell you more about it.
The waiting has been hard. For every two steps forward it seems like we take one step back. But that’s filmmaking. We have to remind ourselves how far we’ve come.
We’ve got a feature length script and it’s pretty dang good! We’ve got an incredible creature puppet created by KreatureKid that’s a central character in our story. We’ve had meetings and email exchanges with people in the industry that would have seemed totally out of reach only a few years ago. Sure, there’s still a long way to go, but we’re going to celebrate the little victories along the way- ideally, with our friends and loved ones. And if there’s VHS-shaped cake involved, that’s a bonus.
Happy birthday, Dan! No need to rewind- 40 is just fine.
And now a few words from the birthday boy:
“I would like to thank everyone who was there for me in my time of need! From the people who called me, brought me meals, gave me rides, and sent me care packages— I couldn’t have done it without each and every one of you. Thank you, and much love to all! And I would encourage anyone reading this newsletter to not go for what you know you can achieve, but to go for what you want! Life’s too short to compromise what you want out of it!"