Last Friday, March 27^th, began the final edit of our first feature film, Feet. This is a thorough sound edit which should be complete in about two weeks.

Confused? Understandable.

Yes, we have declared this movie finished previously (please don’t remind me). But we came to the conclusion that it needed a more professional sound edit and finally pulled the budget together to get that done this year…2020…the Year of Total Insanity.

It’s been almost seven years since we held auditions for this movie. SEVEN YEARS!! In some ways it feels longer than that and in others it seems impossible that so many years have sped by since we started.

I am full of emotion as I write this, and it’s not necessarily excitement. We are currently on a stay-at-home order due to a pandemic sweeping the world, which is an absolutely un-freaking believable turn of events. I can’t even focus on the news for too long or I fall into a pit of despair. And as far as obstacles to finishing a movie go, this one is a real doozy.

We have faced so many obstacles on our way to the completion of this film. Money – we have never had any kind of budget to work with, literally next to zero. Time – we both have had to work full time all seven years, sometimes more than one job, except for a three month stint when we quit our jobs and edited non-stop to get picture lock. And in the middle of that three months the electricity failed and we had to run an extension cord to our editing bay because we couldn’t afford to pay an electrician. A crazy, crazy journey to be sure.

Then there were the General Life Obstacles – including all of the normal challenges of adult existence, things like the buying and maintaining of homes, the ins and outs of family, raising kids, caring for pets, trying to make a profit at our company, deciding to get day jobs instead, finding day jobs, worrying about retirement accounts, student loan debt, politics, global warming, you name it. And that doesn’t even include the emotional and spiritual obstacles that all of us tend to put up when we are trying to accomplish an epic creative goal.

And yet. Here we are.

Days away from having the final professional sound edit completed and weeks (more like months because of the pandemic) away from the official premiere event of our movie, Feet.

One has to wonder during this time of chaos, uncertainty, and low grade panic, if any of this was really worth the struggle. In light of everything the world is going through right now, and everything we have gone through to get here, I have to say that I truly don’t know. Is anything we have to say in a quirky little indie comedy going to be remotely important in the vast scheme of the world? Could the time, effort, and stress involved in pulling this whole movie together from script to screen have been used in wiser pursuits?

Perhaps.

But, honestly, right now, I just don’t know.

And I suppose I never will, because that’s not the path I chose. It’s not the path Terri chose. And good or bad, pass or fail, our paths have led us to this point. Side-by-side, with the help of some wonderfully talented friends, we have created a movie. As I write this and know that the process is nearly over, I must admit to hoping we do it again. Because I don’t think we’re done. I don’t feel done. In fact, I feel like everything is just beginning.

Here’s hoping. Hoping for the best and looking toward the future.

Be well, everyone. We want you to come see our movie when it’s out!

Darci

Oh! I almost forgot…a shout out to Eric and Kirk at Crosspoint for helping us and being so thoroughly patient and professional!