In August of 2025 I joined my production company Film in a Bag Productions to produce and capture a film in 48 hours as a part of the Chicago 48-Hour Film Festival. We wrote, produced shot, and edited a short film all within 2 days, while adhering to some basic rules and guidelines. For our genres, we had the choice between a mystery or a superhero film, we needed to include tape as a prop, we needed a character named Dan or Danielle Stanbreaker, and lastly, we needed to include the line of dialogue "Why do you ask?"
HOLD YOUR HORSES was made during this time and won the award for best VFX.
On the film, I acted as a cinematographer, gaffer, camera operator and colorist.
WRITING
I co-wrote this short alongside Adam Rebora. We wrote this piece in about 3 hours all while planning the production for the next day.
POSTER CREATION
I photographed the image for the poster on the same day the film was shot. I collaborated with a designer to complete the poster design along with a few alt poster images.
STILLS
VFX COMPOSITING
For the closing shot of the film we were inspired by the poster art of "THE BLOB" with the pink goo. In order to create a more dynamic final shot, I captured pink jello, backlit on a piece of white acrylic. That way I was able to composite the silhouettes of the captured victims into the shot, but give the last frames some life and motion.
BEHIND THE SCENES
I collaborated with Daniel Mashburn to create the poster for Hold Your Horses within 48 hours. I captured the prinicpal photography and provided some of the color grading a photoshop effects.
ADDITIONAL SCREENING
To give back to our gracious location host, Resolute Farm, we hosted a screening night of the film for their local community.
SOCIAL MEDIA PROMOTION
To build hype for our film's release, I collaborated on these social media posts including alternate poster art and a daily countdown ticker.
