The concept for Mischief grew very slowly and very strangely over the course of several years. While on it's surface it is a silly little tale of a rat with a man in his wall- Mischief is the amalgimation of thoughts, feelings and fears surrounding growing up, failing and trying new things. Risk, change, and self destruction are all playing a part in this alternate reality.

When I try to trace all the ideas back to the beginning, I'm taken back to being fresh out of highschool; a completely naive and directionless creature who was terrified of pursuing what I really wanted to do. Working in a rodent infested coffee shop, cleaning up after the little guys everyday gives you a lot of time to reflect. As they say, clean up enough poop and eventually you'll re-evaluate. After juggling with the idea endlessly, I quit and finally went back to school for film; shortly thereafter my house became so lovingly infested with rodents as well. Hilariously ironic is about the only way to sum it up.

It was important to me that if I took this leap and went back to school, that I would put everything into making exactly what felt right in this moment, in this time. To not reach out aimlessly and try to grasp onto something that I didn't connect with in order to make a specific kind of project. That is partly why I have always been drawn to watch and create experimental films, where the sometimes unjustified bizzareness of our thoughts can be realized into something we can see and feel. Setting up camp in a universe outside of our own, putting on shoes that wouldn't ordinarily fit and walking around allows for so much more creative freedom and possibility.

This is a film being made by a group of wonderful people, all more or less on the same adventure. We are learning, we are making mistakes all the time, but more than anything we are open; open to trying things that we've never done before, open to thinking about things we've never thought about and all diving head first into this film, knowing we will come out the other end both better filmmakers and better individuals for indulging ourselves in the ridiculousness of Mischief. 

COVID quite obviously threw everyone for a loop, and suddenly things that were already difficult became a million times harder. Though it's been a major challenge navigating how to produce a short film with a limited crew and limited actors safely and effectively, it has not deterred our team one bit from finding a way to make it work. This is precisely why we decided to launch this campaign! Aside from the mounting costs of pulling together any film, there are several additional costs that come with making our set a fully functioning, sanitary and safe one for everyone involved. With your support, we feel very confident that we can make this happen!

This project is a major challenge for everyone involved, we are pushing ourselves and eachother to make this world a reality, and this is one of the first films I've ever been a part of where there is nothing but excitement and anticipation. There's always worry; logistics, technology, scheduling blah blah blah blah. With Mischief, all of that feels secondary to the butterflies and giddiness around us all figuring out how to do this together. Without that hunger and unsteadiness, you cannot create meaningfully, and when all is said and done that is what this team wants to do. We cannot wait to see who wants to grab their doggy bag and come aboard this project in one way or another! Maybe after this, next time you see a rat scurry by your feet, rather than screaming bloody murder and running for your life, you'll giggle to yourself and think of Mischief.

If you'd like to take a closer look and keep tabs on this project, we encourage you to check out our Twitter & Instagram, both @MischiefTheFilm, for more information, photos and future BTS content!