Director's Vlog / Independent Short Film
An abandoned cart. A man no one else believes is missing. Two detectives about to turn one hunch into a citywide hunt.
YouTube / Episodes 1 + 2 Coming Soon
Chris Colebank wrote this story many moons ago. Bringing a friend's script back to life has been one of the most personal and enjoyable parts of the process. The dialogue already had its own strange, sharp rhythm. My job is to protect that voice while finding the clearest path through the mystery.
The script already knew who Foster and Mink were. Directing it means discovering how their timing, silences, glances, and physical distance can make Chris's comedy land on screen without rewriting what makes it unique. I love this story.
01
The release begins before the cart becomes a case. First, we see why Foster needs a mystery and why Mink would rather go home.
Foster follows a promising tip from a Chinese buffet to a Crab Shack stakeout. Nothing shows. Mink watches the clock while Foster keeps looking for the big case he believes is out there. Their night ends with tomorrow's least glamorous assignment: cart duty.
A routine cart pickup turns personal when Foster sees what the job costs Jerry, a man he knew from social services. Then Foster spots an abandoned, untagged cart. Mink sees something to haul away. Foster sees a person who may be missing.
Episodes 1 and 2 introduce the partnership, the dark comedy, and the moment an ordinary assignment becomes a mystery. Their YouTube premiere links will appear here when the episodes are ready.
02
Foster's theory has to feel human enough to follow, funny enough to question, and dangerous enough to fear.
The work began with one promise: protect Chris Colebank's latest draft, preserve the characters, and make the investigation easy to follow without rewriting his dialogue.
Foster sees an abandoned cart and refuses to treat its absent owner as invisible. As his concern hardens into certainty, every new clue asks whether he is noticing what others ignore or seeing what he wants to see.
I checked every dialogue choice against the latest draft. I kept one disconnected flashback outside the main film because it pulls attention away from the cart investigation and its ending. It may return later as a separate illustrated chapter.
03
Every clue pushes the case forward while one ordinary explanation remains possible. The tension comes from watching conviction outrun proof.
The audience can question Foster without the film stepping outside his investigation to explain what to think.
Every criminal theory is challenged by mundane information, keeping the film from endorsing Foster's certainty.
A recurring cart composition lets the same ordinary object gather new meaning as Foster moves deeper into the case.
04
Every frame must make the same city feel ordinary to Mink and charged with meaning to Foster.
05
Each choice either pulls Foster deeper into the case or gives the audience a reason to doubt him.
His concern needs to feel personal before the investigation becomes extreme. If we understand why he cannot walk away, the escalation feels human.
I do not want the film to prove Foster right too early. The everyday clues give us room to question his certainty.
Foster moves toward the mystery while Mink keeps trying to leave it. Their growing physical distance tells us what dialogue does not.
By returning to similar compositions, the film keeps asking whether the object has changed or only Foster's interpretation of it.
06
Before paying for motion, I compressed the original 21-page script into an episodic film without rewriting Chris's dialogue or sanding away its odd rhythm.
I removed repeated coverage and kept every retained dialogue line aligned with the latest draft. The goal was not to modernize the writing. It was to make the cart investigation move.
One funny flashback interrupted the mystery and required its own production system. I moved it outside the main film as a possible illustrated bonus chapter rather than force it into the episode run.
The silent timing pass allocates space before performance, sound, and motion are final. If a beat does not read there, rendering it beautifully will not rescue it.
The first clean production keyframe now locks Foster, the cart, the street, and their negative space. Paid motion waits until the image proves that the story and continuity can survive the next step.
Storyboards are allowed to be wrong. That is cheaper than asking the finished film to apologize. The purpose of development is to find the weak decision while it is still easy to change.
07
The film is in production. The story, cast, locations, episode boards, and first approved keyframe now drive the scene build.
Find what each character wants, what changes, and where the ending should leave us.
Choose the people, places, objects, color, and camera language that belong in this world.
Use storyboards and rough timing to discover what works before finishing every scene.
Approve the strongest images, bring them to life, then shape the edit, sound, color, and final release.
The story, look, cast, locations, and episode boards are ready. Episodes 1 and 2 are the first release unit, and I am now turning their strongest frames into finished scenes. The edit, sound, color, captions, and YouTube premieres will follow.
Work directly with Maxwell from concept through delivery
Send the audience, message, launch date, and required placements. I will identify the story worth building around them, then align treatment, visual system, storyboard, and production approvals before delivery.
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