After yet another late night at the office alone, Jack grapples with his career, his sanity, and a mysterious horror that threatens more than just his work.

Director’s Vision for ‘Deadline’

I’ve made short films before, but I decided to create this one entirely on my own. No crew, no actors, no friends, family, or partners to collaborate with—just me. There were a few reasons for that decision, but the biggest one was that I needed a creative and emotional reset.

Working in a creative field that is often dictated by a client’s needs and demands, I began feeling an intense level of anxiety and depression when I’d enter my office. What I once thought of as a creative playground suddenly felt like an inescapable cycle of mundane tasks. Like an out-of-body experience, I felt myself becoming oddly mechanical and lifeless—regardless of where I was or what I was doing. The responsibilities of the daily routine were beginning to exhaust my creative motivations even outside of work, and it was having a severe effect on my overall mental health.

So I knew deep down that I wanted to tell this story — if for no other reason than to process my own emotions. I decided to channel my artistic impulses into a new project and challenge myself in a way I had not done so previously. With that, the short film [“Deadline”] was created. The short taught me to look beyond the temporary satisfaction of creating anything and everything and instead use truth for stories—ultimately allowing me to discover a new perspective on what life can be.