Welcome to Gehenna: September 2026 Recap.
Welcome to Gehenna is a monthly series of journal entries taken during the production of our next film, Gehenna. Follow along as I share the experience bringing this story from script to screen. Except when discussing plot points, these entries are completely unedited.
Tuesday, September 1, 2026
We don’t have any shooting scheduled for this month, so hopefully I can take some time to relax. “Relax.” You bet, Edd. My mind can't help but stay in production mode—there's always something else to plan or tweak. Even on days off, I’m playing out scenes in my head, jotting notes on scraps of paper, or waking up in the middle of the night with a new idea. I can’t stop thinking about this picture. Still, that’s not sustainable. I don’t want to burn out before we’re even halfway through.
Beau Ideal is screening at two festivals at the end of the month. One is in Seattle, and the other is in Coeur d’Alene. Since it’s impossible to be in two places at once, Patrick is tackling Seattle, and I’ll head to Idaho. I’m looking forward to this trip. Besides the festival, I get to revisit the lake where I spent so many summers as a child. April is coming with me, which makes this whole thing even more special. She hasn’t watched anything I’ve done in a room of strangers before, plus she gets to see an important part of my childhood.
In the meantime, I’ll be working on some of the details for phase two. Probably run some color tests, too. It’s mostly done, but I can always process more, especially when I think about what I shot with the cast last month.
Sunday, September 6, 2026
April and I were supposed to see Weird Al perform in Bend tonight, but we decided to sell our tickets. Bummer. Seeing him has been on both our bucket lists for a long time, but we couldn’t justify the cost of going down there when the money could instead go to Gehenna. It’s one of those classic indie filmmaker choices: sacrifice something fun now so the film can keep moving forward. Oh well. April is a rockstar. She’s committed to this as much as I am.
Monday, September 7, 2026
I did some tests comparing last month's DV footage with the tests we shot earlier in the year. They look great. Both have drastically different looks, of course, but still work in a complementary way. A blotchy DV texture mixed with the crisp digital frames. It adds a kind of restlessness that fits the narrative. I’m relieved this idea of shooting on three different formats is working out as well as I pictured. Perhaps better, in fact.
Instead of simply dropping the DV footage into the timeline, I actually play it back on a TV, point my cinema camera at the screen, and record that. I keep my tripod head loose so it can explore the image, not really capturing the whole frame at any one time. It creates a nice texture that comes across as both organic and artificial at the same time. Yeah, I know how that sounds, but it’s the best description I can think of. It looks ugly in the most fantastic kind of way. The shadows in the footage are absolutely crushed, leaving behind a mystery begging for answers. I suppose this could all be done digitally, but I’m not sure it would be nearly as effective. You’d have to plan it out, and I want this all to feel spontaneous.
Thursday, September 10, 2026
I slept like garbage last night. Total shit. I hope I’m not getting sick. My kid has had the sniffles all week. Screw that, it was a complete snot-fest. Poor guy. Despite trying my damnedest, I think it finally got me. I also had a gnarly nightmare that didn’t help. I woke up clammy with my heart racing. It wasn’t a wake-up-screaming kind of nightmare, but it was enough to fuck me up. I wish I could have remembered it (I almost never remember my dreams). If I did, maybe I could have somehow thrown it into Gehenna. Not that the story needs it. This film is already going to be a trip.
Tuesday, September 22, 2026
We’ll need to postpone the next day with Patrick and Anna due to another unforeseen circumstance. This is the second time this has happened for them, but thankfully, they’re both immensely professional. This is just how indie film works sometimes. You need to adapt and trust the process. April will be happy about the delay. We had scheduled it on my birthday, which would have meant no free birthday doughnuts from Pips. Mmm… I can taste them now.
Thursday, September 24, 2026
We’re leaving for Coeur d’Alene in the morning. Beau Ideal screens at 8pm on Saturday, which is usually my bedtime. I’ve been an early riser for a long time now. Here’s hoping I don’t fall asleep during our own screening. I’d never live that down. Yikes!
I’m bringing my laptop, but I doubt I’ll have time to get any real work done on Gehenna. This trip is to celebrate and promote Beau Ideal. Whatever free time I have outside that will go to showing April the lake and seeing some of my family.
Sunday, September 27, 2026
Beau Ideal got three awards last night. Best Writer (Patrick D. Green), Best Actor (Eric Martin Reid), and Best Feature. I’m so glad I came up here! I wish the rest of the team could have made it, but most of us are in Portland, and that’s a long drive.
The festival directors were awesome, and they loved the goodie bags Patrick made for them. The crowd was great, too—full of thoughtful questions and genuine curiosity about our process. I got a ton of questions at the awards ceremony while we were in line for free beer. How did we pull off this or that, and what's next for us? I told them how Patrick and I are currently shooting Gehenna, and that it’s a ten-month production. I also mentioned that we both have other scripts we’re sitting on after we finish this one. They seemed truly eager to stay in touch. I’m pumped to get back to filming.
(Note: Read my recap of the 2026 NoID Film Festival)
Monday, September 28, 2026
I ordered some gear this morning. Nothing fancy. It’s mostly small stuff I need for phase two, but most of it was either on sale or special order, so I figured I might as well grab it now. One item was an interchangeable mount for a lens I don’t even have yet. It’ll take about a month to get here, so I need to order it early enough so I can actually test the lens when it arrives. This thing could just sit unopened for weeks. I don’t know why, but that seems hilarious to me. Maybe I’m still tired from the festival.
Track our progress on the film’s official website.