An experimental, dramatized portrayal of artist Cristian Fredrick’s journey: from terminally ill, to alive and thriving through therapeutic paintings.

director’s Vision

“The Masterpiece” has been a magical journey. Years ago, I shot a small ‘day in the life of’ video for Cristian, and he loved it so much he told me “One day when I can afford it, I’ll hire you to make a movie about my life and work.” That was in 2018. True to his word, in January of ’21, he came to me and basically said “I’ve got $10,000, right me a script and let’s do this.”

I’m paraphrasing, but that’s how it started. He told me his life story, and as a painter, wanted something that visually would set him apart from other artists. He entrusted the vision of this film to me, and I couldn’t be more grateful—because I’ve never been more proud of a finished product, or the team we put together.

With only an 8-person crew, 5 days, and 9 locations…we pulled it off. Every single day ended with smiles and laughter, and I was blown away that every single shot, in camera…looked exactly how I imagined when I wrote the script. I wanted this film to be like a painting. Certain elements blend from scene to scene, and carry over from shot to shot like brush strokes in a painting…separate them and it doesn’t make sense, but put it together and you experience the journey as a whole.

It wouldn’t have been possible without the incredible talent and dedication of our crew, during and after production. I hope you enjoy the film, I hope it speaks to you, and I hope you’ll get to learn more about the incredible humans that helped make this happen. Making-of video will be coming soon!