Don desperately wants a new life, even if it means stealing someone else’s.

Director’s Vision for ‘Sublet’

Like so many others who bring ideas and passion to life, it wasn’t always easy to pursue the medium I love. Along the way, I wrestled with uncertainty and self-doubt as I scrambled to find work and make rent. I watched my friends progress through more traditional careers marked by milestones of success: a new car, a committed relationship, a home to call their own. At times, envy builds and you question your decisions as all these symbols of growth arrive later in your own life, or not at all.

All of this was on my mind as I wrote Sublet with my co-author Kris Bertin. The film is about finding confidence, identity, and stability in your life; but feeling like you have to become something other than yourself to achieve them. It’s about believing the acquisition of material goods will fill those gaps, and what happens when someone doesn’t have the emotional capacity to understand the difference.

In Sublet, the main character, Don, attempts to ‘lease’ other people’s existence to feel more complete. He is loathsome and pitiful, endearing and infuriating, but helps us reflect on where self-worth can be found.

This film has meant so much to me personally, not just because it’s my first short film, but because it is ripped from my own struggles with insecurity. I love and relate to Don, even as I’m horrified by the lengths he will go to achieve his goals.