Picture a young boy, alone in an attic, his sole friend a great ugly monstrous sculpture whose memories seem to traverse a millennia of time and space. They play games, and swap fantastical stories, but the Boy is uneasy. What happens next is a treatise on familial love, sacrifice, fantasy, and storytelling.

When I began working on this film, I knew I wanted to make something that felt like a folktale, that pulled on fairytale, on mythology, on religion, on poetry, and that had this sort of musical, floral dialogue that fairytales and myths often have. I wanted the story to reflect the real emotions of loss and sacrifice within a family, while also leading to moments of catharsis. I feel like genre and fantasy are similar in that both can be used to illuminate the truths of our world.

The Boy and the Heron (Miyazaki)

E.T. (Spielberg)

I’m Thinking of Ending Things (Kaufman)

Picnic at Hanging Rock (Weir)

Fanny and Alexander (Bergman)

The Seventh Seal (Bergman)

Pan’s Labyrinth (Del Toro)

My Neighbor Totoro (Miyazaki)

Ivan's Childhood (Tarkovsky)

Antichrist (Von Trier)

A Man Escaped (Bresson)

A child with great imagination and curiosity. He is innocent, young, contemplative, curious, and there is a deep sadness inside. He lives in a sort of fantasy world with this sculpture, though becomes wary of the relationship when he fears the sculpture possesses menacing intentions. The character will go through an emotional range of joy, guilt, anger, sadness, and horror. He is alone, and angry, and his family has abandoned him. This is THE BOY.

A mysterious, age-old being, like the personification of death, or an angel that’s existed since before time and space. It speaks entirely through a mental link with the Boy but it’s voice shifts in tone and timbre throughout the film - a sort of shape-shifting entity. This is THE MONSTER.

SOOTFIG will unspool like a like a story book. Think Miyazaki meets Bergman’s Fanny and Alexander, with a dose of Pan’s Labyrinth. 

The tone of the film will begin lighthearted as we establish the relationship between the Boy and the sculpture. As the film progresses, the tone will become more dread induced, as the intentions of the characters change and shift. At the end the tone will be revelatory and angelic, with fantasy mirroring the sacrifices of a family, and catharsis.

We intend to have the entirety of our mis-en-scène feel like it belongs outside of a specific time period. The film will use cinematic and lighting techniques to paint a dark and dramatic location, one that feels like it exists in limbo or purgatory.

Our use of sound design will be inventive, fresh, and imaginative, combining real sounds heard in the space as well as imagined sounds birthed directly out of the storytelling between the two characters, creating a fantastical and at times nightmarish world.

We will be utilizing a variety of special camera techniques such as shooting with vaseline, through pieces of glass, through split diopters, etc. to produce gauzy and imaginative images that feel fantastical and alien.

The music will be of mostly female vocals in the choral, extended-technique, contemporary-classical tradition, with some folk touches. Paired with deep, dark synth basses, and some shiny shimmery synths, the over-all effect will be like an alien singing from another planet, and very dramatic.

Narratively how that connects to the story is that, with the majority of the music being small-scale groups of female singers, and young voices, the audience will infer a connection that what we’re hearing is a representation of a family member calling out from beyond.

Taylor Joshua Rankin, Writer, Director, Composer

Taylor Joshua Rankin is a filmmaker and composer of new music based in Los Angeles, CA. 

Taylor's music has been performed by ensembles across the United States, such as Grammy award winning ensemble Third Coast Percussion, The San Francisco Contemporary Music Players, and Friction Quartet. Taylor finds a strong harmony between the composition process and the process of filmmaking. His collaborators include professionals that have worked on projects for Lucasfilm, Pixar, Disney, Universal, Paramount, Marvel, and the independent film scenes in Los Angeles and the Bay Area. Taylor’s films have garnered a wide array of acclaim and festival praise.

Taylor’s recent short film The Snow Leopard has won multiple awards for its directing and original music, and has screened at film festivals including the 24th Beverly Hills Film Festival®. It also ranked in FilmShortage’s top 10 short films of 2024.

Pokey Spears, Producer

Pokey Spears is a seasoned DGA Unit Production Manager and Producer with expertise in film, TV, commercials, and music videos. He excels in executing complex productions efficiently and with cinematic excellence. With experience in major studios, indie films, and global campaigns, Pokey specializes in feature films, international shoots, documentaries, and high-profile collaborations. His ability to manage large-scale productions and intimate storytelling makes him a go-to producer for seamless execution and creative problem-solving. Known for delivering results that exceed expectations, Pokey ensures every project runs smoothly from start to finish.

Joe Picard, Director of Photography

Cinematographer Joseph Picard was inspired to pursue his artistic journey very young and as such has maintained a playful spirit to his work. He pulls inspiration widely across mediums and genres, and his work is prolific both in the avant-garde and in popular culture. He has worked with artists such as Beck, Tan Dun, Donald Glover, Sam Levinson, Jennifer Lopez, Emmanuel Lubezki, John Mayer, Eric Prydz, Tycho, and Zendaya. He photographically created the Windows logo which is considered the most viewed photograph in history, and shot the Bot & Dolly film “BOX” which won best of show at SIGGRAPH. Joseph believes that art leads society to a better future.

Craig Blair, Consulting Producer

As a producer, Craig has worked in various fields, including Live Action production, both in the narrative and documentary genres, as well as commercials. His abilities extend to supervising and line producing, ensuring the seamless execution of projects. He possesses a keen eye for talent and excels in field producing and creative development, shaping engaging narratives from their inception. Additionally, Craig has honed his skills as a 1st Assistant Director and production manager, efficiently overseeing the production process.

His passion is crafting exceptional content for diverse audiences, be it through captivating narratives or informative documentaries. With years of experience in TV/Film physical production, creative producing, and development, Craig Blair is dedicated to contributing his diverse skill set to collaborate on high-level projects at esteemed Studios, Production Companies, TV Networks, or Streaming services.

Sean Wells, Colorist

Sean has been a full-time colorist since 2011, and his experience working with the artists at The Orphanage, Lucasfilm & ILM has turned me into a pixel purist for color and creative collaboration! He runs a micro-roaster and post-production studio in Oakland called Roast n' Post where he has worked on the finishing touches for Disney, Netflix and HBO including over 250 episodes of Star Wars, 30+ features, music videos, and over a thousand commercial projects for world-leading brands and companies including Lucasfilm, Salesforce, Lucid Motors, Google and the Golden State Warriors.

Our goal is to raise at least $15,000 to assist in the production costs associated with SOOTFIG. These costs include cast, crew, equipment rentals, locations, wardrobe, production design, hair and makeup, and crafty. As the campaign progresses we hope to stretch this goal even further, as the more we expand our budget, the more alive this film will become.

We are so thankful for your support. Your contribution will truly mean the world to our team in bringing this fantastical story to life. Thank you for your time and consideration.