DEADSTICK JOHN (2020)
(Content Warning: Themes of depression, alcoholism, and suicide.)
Deadstick John is a short film I edited in early 2020, directed, written, and produced by my friend Gwydion Morris, the fifth short we'd worked on together. This was a very challenging project but one I am especially proud of having been involved in.
Gwydion talked to me about the project early on, sharing the script with me, and even months before filming we had discussions on what our goals were. It was vital that nothing in the short felt like it was for shock value. The comedic beats and the more thoughtful moments could not clash. Things needed to feel ambiguous but also satisfying. With an ending we wanted left open to interpretation, even some character motivation left open to interpretation, we needed to make sure that regardless of what conclusion an audience member drew from the ending, that the story hit a fulfilling arc.
In terms of pacing, we knew it would be a slow burn, but hoped that would feel warranted. We sent Deadstick around to people we knew and trusted to give honest, thoughtful feedback. It was an incredibly important part of the process and resulted in us cutting a 30 second chunk of a scene right out.
Deadstick John ended up releasing during the Covid-19 pandemic, which ultimately was not ideal for its festival run, but went on to win Best Short Film at the 2021 Screen Nova Scotia Awards.
KINDA FUNNY TEACHES FILM ANALYSIS (2022)
Leading into the livestreamed launch of Kinda Funny's new studio, Roger Pokorny reached out to see if I had any ideas for edits to help fill gaps between segments. Having been involved in the In Review series for so long, it felt fitting to work on a fake ad for it, in the same style as MasterClass advertisements.
This was an extremely busy time for everyone involved, so to make sure I could get all of the new footage I needed in one go, I wrote out a script broken up by section that could be recorded in any order, included examples of the style we were trying to achieve, and tried to include directional notes that were as clear but concise as possible throughout.
I'm really happy with how it turned out and Greg absolutely killed it, giving me multiple takes with different delivery to work with on every line.
OTHER WORK
(Click on images to view)
DONAIR DYNASTY (2017) - Co-Director & Editor
THE SLATER SISTERS (2019) - Editor
