After years of creative frustration and burnout, “Earlybird” flew out of my fingers, through my keyboard, and onto a screenplay. I seasoned it with my guilt, my feelings on collaboration (and “the auteur”), a series of run-on sentences, and tried to make it funny. I hope people enjoy watching it as much as we enjoyed making it.

As is so often true about the independent filmmaker, Earlybird explores how those who work in theater define themselves by their output and the reception of their work. Each character shows they have lost their patience and, now threadbare from too many long nights and too little material success, they are at odds with each other. In this film, we explore how our culture, not limited to the arts, of constant grinding pushes people to losing their humanity. It isn’t just our protagonist Michael that forgets to consider the feelings and needs of the people around him. In this film, our goal is to show how difficult it is to live well when you’re living for the attention and approval of the ever-elusive kudo.

As an artist, I have struggled at times with the balance of commerce and art. Not just for financial gain, but within the art I make. As the term “content” becomes more prevalent in relation to art, I feel Earlybird’s focus on the balance between work, art, and life becomes more and more pertinent. The film’s theme of workplace culture within the arts is also more relevant than ever, given the seemingly daily reveal of toxic work environments in collaborative art-making.