Producing The Trunk (2023) was one of my first bigger projects as a producer. We jumped through many hoops, the obstacles that come with shooting the whole production on 16mm film, to our main actor getting arrested on Day 1 of the shoot, we were thrown some curveballs. 

Given the project in December, I spent the next two months scouting locations. I started getting emails for cattle sales, my search history was so flooded with inquiries about “Open Land Near Me” and “100+ Acre Ranches For Rent Within 30 Miles of Austin, Texas”. 

In February, I had scouted and secured the perfect place for a post-apocalyptic Western wasteland: a ranch in Elgin, Texas, complete with a rusting and decrepit camper van and discarded signage and farm tools peppered with bullet-holes. 

As the Producer, I managed the $3000 budget of the operation and designated money for everything from costumes, to props, to crew meals on set. 

I had so much fun doing costume design for this production and sourcing all of the props. However, I found the most joy in crunching the numbers, and managing the production. 

When we finally wrapped in early March, I was sure that producing films was something that I wanted to do for my whole life!