A-FRAME is a film about pressure. We face many pressures as we grow up- maturity, appearances, sometimes even religious pressure. Nested within those pressures is an expectation for our individual actions- social mores, rights of passage, etc.. So what happens when you’re faced with the failure to meet an expectation? What do you do when the possibility of failure becomes terrifyingly real?

A-FRAME, at its most basic concept, is about that fear. Perhaps worst of all, the story is deeply and unfortunately autobiographical. Almost nothing has been changed or added in translating this terrible anecdote from my own experience into a film. Beyond the fear of death, few things are as universal as the terror that accompanies knowing how close you are to shitting your pants in public. It’s an intimate, intense fear. A personal melodrama that exposes you to shame and humiliation through the failure to perform perhaps the most human of all human acts in its designated setting- the most basic of expectations. People don’t forget the kid that shit their pants. And it’s there where our story begins.

More than any of my previous films, A-FRAME offers the chance to really highlight my skills as an evocative, immersive storyteller. Where it would seem natural to lean into the comedy of the films’ premise, I feel that the laughs in A-FRAME are found in the heightened emotional state of the character. I want to play the drama of the situation and let the comedy exist as a backstop for the audience. Making this choice allows the audience to move in lockstep with the character’s decision-making. As the character moves about the camp in search of a restroom, the camera will trace their every step. We’ll hold tight on their face as the wheels turn in their mind, allowing the audience to do the math right alongside them. I want the experience to linger with the audience- the combination of dark comedy and coming of age rippling in your mind far beyond the end of the film. I see this film as the Uncut Gems of movies about shitting your pants. It’s not just about him trying to find a bathroom; it’s about what will happen if he doesn’t.

I’m excited to move A-FRAME from script to screen because it offers the chance to create a rich, vivid story with a subject matter that illuminates a wide spectrum of emotion. I aspire to make films that examine the emotions that inform our decision-making, whether we’re conscious of them or not. It’s a belief I feel is essential in times like ours. I sincerely hope you’ll consider supporting this project.