I legitimately could not believe we got what was supposed to be a TikTok video into one of the most prestigious festivals in the world for young directors, The Cannes Young Director Awards.
The Journey Begins
This one started on a slow summer afternoon at my day job, cutting commercials for corporate overlords at a production company. Steady work, sure, but the monotony was getting to me, and I needed a reminder of why I got into filmmaking at all. What I didn’t know was that my friend, roommate, and director Zac Stracener was about to pull me into something unexpected.
As the sunlight dimmed in the living room, the drudgery of corporate communication via Slack was momentarily interrupted by Zac’s burst of enthusiasm. Known for his TikTok fame, Zac’s proposition to create a TikTok video was hardly surprising. Yet, his vision transcended the casual; he aspired to craft a meaningful narrative for Mental Health Awareness Month. Contrary to the ephemeral nature of typical TikTok content, Zac’s endeavor required thought, planning, and a departure from the fleeting to the impactful.
Zac wasn’t a conventional TikToker; he was a storyteller, leveraging the platform to explore the depths of human experiences through well-scripted short videos. His proposal intrigued me, igniting a spark to contribute to a narrative that mattered.
Anyway… we began talking. What exactly were we going to make? So as a low-budget filmmaker does, we decided to create a 5 minute science fiction short film. As we all know, science fiction short films almost never require expensive VFX, props, or set design. Actually… we both know that’s a lie. But I like doing hard things and so does Zac so we went with it. We saw something on the news about these extremely dystopian “medical devices” called Sarco. Basically, it was an assisted suicide device… and it just left us feeling uneasy… to say the least. We wanted to present an alternate world where this device was actually used not to end life but to help someone who is clinically depressed understand that life is still worth living.
Our brainstorming kept circling therapy tech, and we landed on the device being a tool for psychedelic-assisted therapy, a young field showing real results against severe depression. If this interests you, read more on the John Hopkins Medicine website.
With a concept in hand, our first target was a TikTok-sponsored short film competition at Cannes. Then I read Zac’s script, and it was obvious this story deserved more than a vertical video on TikTok. It wanted to be a real short film.
In short,
Cole Powell loses his wife and newborn in a fatal car accident, he decides to end his life via Forever Sleep™️. Once it begins, his whole life flashes before him as he relives his most precious and traumatic memories. He is given a choice to terminate the procedure and live or to “sleep” forever.
In pursuit of this vision, I reached out to Eric Ulbrich, a cinematographer whose expertise I had revered over years of collaboration. His enthusiasm matched ours, and with a cinematographer on board, the logistics of locations and props unfolded. Despite hurdles like securing unique filming locations within tight schedules and wrestling with a cumbersome, nearly 390lb prop for the pivotal ‘pod’, our resolve only strengthened.
The narrative of sourcing a pod from a prop house in Glendale, the challenge of its transport, and the juxtaposition of our filming locales from a serene beach in Malibu to a stark warehouse in DTLA, mirrored the dichotomy of our film’s theme – confronting despair with hope.
Somewhere between “simple TikTok video” and “bona fide short film,” I remembered why we do this. A good story and a team that cares will carry a tiny budget a lot further than you’d think, all the way to Cannes in our case, and, more importantly, all the way to an audience that actually felt something.
Everything was going smoothly. We were going to make this thing and it was going to be epic.
To enhance the pod, we added some white electrical tape and random clear tubes to make the screen and the pod a little more interesting…the tape also acted as practical tracking markers for our VFX. It worked perfectly.
We Needed Actors
We really tried to find someone to play the lead but honestly… Zac always acted in his TikTok videos and always killed it. I felt he would be able to accurately portray the real pains of depression and the character of Cole Powel better than anyone we could have hired given the minimal budget.
However, we also had to have someone play the nurse which was given to the amazing actress and friend of ours, Alivia Levie. She crushed the role and perfectly portrayed the caring nurse towards the end of the film.
Shoot day
On a shoestring budget, efficient management is crucial. I turned to StudioBinder, a stellar production management tool ideal for small-scale projects. It streamlined the process of creating call sheets, setting call times, distributing parking diagrams, and detailing the shot list for the day.
After arriving at the beach, we started the morning violating every OSHA rule in the book by carrying this 350lb fiberglass sarcophagus out of the U-Haul truck, down a steep rocky “driveway”, and then across 300 feet of sand.
After that spawn from hell was settled; I donned my sound equipment. Being the producer it made perfect sense for me to also be the sound guy you know? Luckily, I used to run sound on sets professionally so I still had my Lectrosonics gear and Rode Mics. I geared up and headed down to the beach.
With Eric and the 1st AC meticulously setting up the camera, the choice fell on a Red V-Raptor paired with rehoused Canon FD lenses, aiming for a soft, dreamy sci-fi visual palette.
The overcast sky gave us the exact gloom the story needed, and the day ran without a hitch, which anyone who’s been on set knows almost never happens. Weather, crew, story: everything just lined up. Below are some behind-the-scenes captures from that day:
And So We Wrap.
Now begins the long and tedious process of post-production. Having two jobs on the production wasn’t enough. Not only was I the producer and sound guy, but I was also the editor. Post-shoot, my ritual involves poring over the footage, identifying select shots, allowing them to marinate in my thoughts, and formulating an editing blueprint. Inspired by Terrence Malick’s ‘The Tree Of Life’, I envisioned a narrative woven with serene chaos, celebrating the subtle, beautiful intricacies of life.
Then I sat down in Adobe Premiere Pro and started cutting. It wasn’t a straight line; Zac and I went back and forth hard on the ending. “Too obvious.” “Too ex machina.” “It needs ambiguity.” Eventually Zac cracked it, and the fix needed one small pickup shot: a laptop screen captured through his RED Komodo.
We also grabbed a day of B-roll in Malibu for the flashback scenes. For the “old film footage” look we went to FilmSupply, who cut us a deal on clips that punched way above our budget. That B-roll did a lot of quiet work in the final film.
After around a month of editing, we finally had a product we were happy with. Generally, both me and Zac are very critical of our work and usually hate it after working on it for a few weeks. When we sat down to watch it though, we both said that this film was “fucking great.” We had ourselves a winner.
To Color
Color is everything. If you can’t get a good grade on the footage you are quite literally wasting your film’s potential. I would say the color grade is just as important as the audio mix. Do not neglect it.
There are only a few colorists I know can really elevate a project to another level and for this film, I chose long-time collaborator, Matt Osborne at Company 3 and he’s the best colorist I’ve worked with, full stop. Matt got what we were going for immediately. Two grading passes and one round of detailed notes later, the film had the exact visual tone we’d been chasing.
To Mix
For the score, we wanted live instruments, not a synth pass. We brought in composer Alex Shenkman and pointed him at the score from Denis Villeneuve’s ‘Arrival’ as the emotional reference. He delivered. The score carries scenes we’d been worried about for weeks.
For the sound design, I hired an old college friend, Ryan Baker, who collaborated closely with Zac and myself to meticulously craft sound effects that served as the seamless bridge between the visuals and the score.
We transitioned everything from ProTools into our timeline, and just like that, were we done? Well, not quite.
To VFX
Remember, this is a science fiction short film. We have to have VFX. I hired our motion artist Gary Schutz and VFX generalist, Sergio Mishchenko. Between them, we were able to craft these incredible-looking HUD elements for the pod. We also cleaned up a few footprints in the sand and removed some blemishes from the warehouse in the final scene. The attention to detail in VFX encapsulated our narrative in a polished, immersive realm.
We Render
This project was a rollercoaster. There were stretches where we doubted the story, doubted the plot, and seriously talked about shelving the whole thing and starting over. We didn’t. Every problem got a solution, and we refused to take no for an answer, because a shot at failing beats the guaranteed loss of quitting. The payoff caught us completely off guard.
I made this for myself during a time when I needed it most. I want this film to be used as a tool for others to share and talk about mental health and suicide prevention. This film may be fiction but the stories it originates from are not. They are real. These issues are real. And they need to be discussed far more often than we do. No more masquerading with mere talk about how mental health matters. Let’s dive head-first into these conversations. Every second counts.
Zac Stracener
We recognized the significance of our film, yet its true impact was unveiled only upon its premiere on Beyond The Short, followed by a nomination for a Cannes Young Director Award. The euphoria of such accolades, while surreal, seemed superficial when compared to the ripple effect that followed. Post-premiere, Zac received a heartfelt message on Instagram, revealing how our film, ‘Forever Sleep’, acted as a deterrent to someone’s contemplation of suicide that week. Similar messages trickled in over the days that followed, painting our endeavor in a completely new light. What began as a modest project transcended into a life-affirming narrative far beyond the fleeting fame of a TikTok video.
Every filmmaker hopes their story lands with someone. We never imagined ours would be a lifeline. When Zac told me, it wrecked me a little, and it still does. If my filmmaking ended today… I’d be satisfied. But we’re not done. We want to keep making stories that save lives and make people glad to be here.
The creation of this film was a communal effort, a testament to the collective spirit of volunteers and those who generously invested their time. Without them, the film might have remained an abstract idea, its potential impact on lives left unrealized. Reflecting upon this endeavor reinstates the profound notion that filmmaking, even on a shoestring budget, possesses the might to alter life’s narrative.
I sat down to write this as a “look what you can pull off with no budget” piece. It turned into something else. Films can entertain, sure, but they can also change how someone thinks, and once in a while they can save a life. That part gets lost in the grind of making them. The budget matters so much less than the people: a small crew who all want the same thing can hit harder than money ever will.
Please enjoy, “Forever Sleep”
