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I’m going to be completely honest with you, friends… This is a terrifying blog post for me. Complete transparency is embarrassing, often painful, but I feel that you deserve it. You already have too many websites/corporations/people faking you out, and I refuse to be one of them.
There will be no Storygram short film this month, despite the fact that you exerted the effort to read through five stories and vote for one. Here’s the short answer as to why:
I FAILED AT GETTING IT TOGETHER.
Yes, I was busy. I was crazy busy. But that’s no excuse. It was all planned by me from the very beginning. I thought I could do it, but I overexerted myself and failed at getting it together. I honestly feel like I have let all of you down, and I am truly sorry for that. Know that I am so very thankful to you for voting!
But there’s a background story at work here. It’s a story that I haven’t really voiced to you. In fact very few people know, beyond my wife. And that story is why I quit YouTube videos (this relates to the Storygram films, I promise).
Sometimes Quitting Is Good
In 2011 I spent about six months doing a comedy film every week. It was an amazing learning experience, and I wouldn’t trade that time for anything. However, films are involved, to say the least. Films are complicated. Films are hard work. Films require collaboration. Films… take time.
The level of professionalism a film reaches is directly correlated with the amount of time the professional spends making it and the team he or she has.
YouTube videos every week were far more than just difficult and exhausting. I eat difficult and exhausting for breakfast. The videos were impossible to do on a professional level without a partner (or two or three) to delegate the work load.
As a filmmaker, I began to grow out of the weekly YouTube grind, desiring to make bigger, better films. Films I knew I was capable of but had neither the equipment/connections nor the time to pursue. It was like being confined to a pair of shoes that my toes had burst out of at the ends.
So, I quit. I earned the money and bought a cinema camera, not for clients but for myself. I freed up my time and honed in on what I was best at in filmmaking; cinematography. In other words, I started molding my own pair of new shoes.
How Storygram Films Have Felt
Now, I’m a cinematographer. Directors/Producers hire me for lighting, color, and composition expertise to carry out the vision for their film, and I love doing what I do! I’m always making new connections and doing bigger and bigger projects, rapidly gaining more and more experience. And as you know, I’m making a big push for writing and ultimately authorship in my spare time (or rather, I MAKE the time). All with a few entrepreneurial endeavors sprinkled into the mix.
But the Storygram films have felt like backtracking. I feel that I am digressing, somehow worming my way back into a world of rushed filmmaking for the sake of being prolific. And that isn’t where I want to be. Let’s face it: A lot of rushed content is great but disposable. It’s the stuff that takes years off your life that is worth making. That’s the work I want to be doing. I’m ready for BIG projects!
Divided Houses Cannot Stand
The Storygram short film voting ended on the 1st of the month. The film had to be completed halfway through the month because I needed a minimum of a day for the shoot, a day for any VFX work, a day for editing, a day for color grading, and a day for sound design. That’s at least a week gone every month, not including writing a script and organizing the location, props, and actors. Quality was already beginning to suffer, in just two attempts! I just didn’t have enough time, so I was doing projects halfway, not giving them my all because I still had to work as a cinematographer on other films, write new Storygrams every day, and work on the other miscellaneous things I do.
You deserve better than that! I am capable of much more, and you deserve my best. I want to give you my best.
Moving Forward
We may still vote on films. I honestly haven’t made up my mind yet, but I’m not going to do them every month. Instead, I’m going to occasionally make a spontaneous post about open voting for films based on Storygrams. You would be like me going about my normal day, and then, BAM! a random David Crowder *Band reunion concert is announced, whacking you right in the face with awesome feelings. Maybe I’ll even elaborate on the story within the film? Hmm…
So, all of that is where the Eagle has landed, friends. I am absolutely open to your suggestions while I’m still trying to figure all of this out. And the best way to do that is to leave a comment below, where we can all have a conversation about it.
Again, thank you all for your wonderful support and your kind words about my writing and films! It really means a lot to me and is always a huge encouragement! I do have an exciting announcement about the Storygrams themselves coming November 1st, so be on the lookout for that!