Cat

This Award was rather unexpected. In May of 2024, I wasn't quite sure what to do. I was in-between projects and trying to find the next film to make, this was around the same time I was looking through my emails. In my inbox, I noticed an interesting email from Silver State Storytellers. 

 It was an invitation, to compete in a new event entitled: "Moon Rocks", a completely Sci-Fi based Film Competition. Being intrigued by this offer, and out of a desire to collaborate with colleague and fellow filmmaker: Caroline Branch, I accepted that invitation. I never knew this meant I was going to be making a film during finals week. 

 See, the timeframe of the competition was exactly 2 weeks, giving us enough time to go through all phases of production with wiggle room for quality. This timeframe also happened to be in the last 2 weeks of May, right before the end of the school year, and at the same time as finals. Caroline and I had to balance out studying and filmmaking at the same time, but despite this, I believe the final result was something to remember. 

 Together, we co-directed a film entitled: "How to Talk to Aliens", which follows a crazy kid trying to communicate with the extraterrestrial using rather confusing and unconventional means. This film was submitted to the competition with hours left to spare after a grind of an editing session, but with a sense of optimism. This optimism would be confirmed at the award ceremony, which happened a few weeks later in July. We were up against some rather amazing and engaging films with some of the most amazing visual and emotional storytelling, and it seemed like we didn't have a chance. 

 The time came for the last award to be announced, and I had already given up on a chance for victory, but then, the unexpected happened. Our Film was announced for a special award, the "Save The Cat Award", given to a Film for exceptional writing, in fact, the name of the award is named after the book with the same name, written by hollywood film writer: Blake Synder.