404: Creativity Not Found
Diving into what's consumed my creative brain lately
When I first set out to jot more things down [here on Substack], the goal was consistency. Why? To hold myself accountable—and to create a space where I could store ideas for the long haul. My first post was on March 8th.
Before diving into what’s been eating up my creative energy lately, here’s a quick bit of background: I work as a freelancer in the television and film industry—mostly on commercials (for now). A lot of my gigs are tied to local medical facilities, the Green Bay Packers, and Milwaukee Bucks. I’m still relatively new to the market, so most of my roles have been near the bottom of the call sheet, working as a production assistant. But this year alone, I’ve stepped into roles as a production coordinator, producer, and script supervisor. I am finally starting to get noticed!
I moved to Wisconsin in 2022, drawn in by its proximity to Chicago and their vibrant TV production scene. But my partner and I have since fallen in love with Milwaukee, and if Wisconsin ever brings back film incentives, this could easily be our forever home.
The downside? Winter. With few studio spaces here, production tends to dry up between December and March. It’s a long, quiet stretch where everything slows way down.
In February, when I had absolutely nothing to do and no gigs lined up, I was writing. Not just new Substack posts, but diving back into screenwriting (my true passion). I started a monster-horror feature called Wild Horses, kept editing my horror pilot The Mississippi Muck, and started outlining a potential pro wrestling documentary about Milwaukee.
It sounds like a lot (because it is), but when the creativity is flowing, you’ve got to get it all out while you can. Because once things get busy again, so does your brain. And that’s exactly what happened to me.
I landed a gig on my first feature film—a shoot that stretched over four weeks around Milwaukee. The days were long, and the weeks somehow even longer, but it was the kind of crash course that I desperately needed at this point in my career. Overall, I helped make a freakin’ movie and some good friends along the way—and for that, I am forever grateful.
Active NDAs keep me from saying much, but I highly recommend looking into and supporting the current film incentive bill [SB231] in Wisconsin. Our market deserves a much stronger foothold for indie film, and the current bill could make that happen. Action! Wisconsin is your go-to for updates and ways to get involved.
Somewhere in the middle of all that chaos, I also took part in my third 48 Hour Film Project! My first two entries were The Weight, directed by Daniel Pico (I ran sound) and Mending, directed by John Carlo Rosillo (I jumped in as a production assistant).
This time around, I joined Team Chameleon and got to co-write a short with Jocelyne Berumen under the direction of Priscilla Brock. Their team was an absolute joy to work with—and finally getting the chance to write one felt long overdue.
Our assigned genres? Sci-Fi and Time Travel. (“PERFECT,” I screamed internally.) The result was To: Tillie, a short film about a motivational speaker who discovers a diary… written from the future. Our premiere was on May 18 in Madison, Wisconsin (pictured above)—we were awarded Best Trailer and the Spirit Award (Haylie Olson) at the Take a Bow Awards Screening on June 1, 2025.
Since wrapping the feature, I’ve worked on a couple quick commercial gigs here and there, but overall, this month has been a chance to breathe.
I caught Patti’s latest stage production, A Gentleman’s Guide to Love and Murder, made it to the Milwaukee Film Festival premiere of The Ugly Stepsister, and attended the world premiere of The Herro’s Journey—a pro wrestling documentary about GLCW’s David Herro.
And now, finally, the spark’s returning. The creativity, the motivation—it’s all coming back. So is the summer weather. And with that, I am a happy man.