Filmmaker Statement

I bought this old Bolex for cheap and promised the seller I'd actually use it. First time shooting film - just me and my girlfriend, no crew, no backup plan. The 60-year-old camera had to be wound by hand and the lens froze in the cold. We ended up in Nashville because our rental car got screwed up. Got kicked off property by a sheriff who let us finish the scene. Then it rained and got foggy - turned out that was perfect. Film is expensive so every frame counts. One take has to work. I'd been doing big commercial stuff and needed to get back to basics where mistakes become part of the story. Loading that first roll, my hands were shaking. You're supposed to waste the first few feet but I didn't - that "mistake" became our final shot. We shot everything analog and embraced the light leaks. The story is about someone breaking free but it's ambiguous - is she transforming or falling apart? The fog we thought would ruin everything became the texture that made it work. This is filmmaking.