MAY: TOUCH GRASS
A FILMMAKER'S GUIDE TO NAVIGATING THE TIMES
**this magazine was made with care and layered engagement points (links). one can ‘flip through it’ idly as you would a typical magazine or if you’d like, sit with it awhile, and click on all the little gems found along the way. the choice is yours, dear reader. **this week’s edition is framed for filmmakers but can and should be applied to all artists. **this post may be too long for your inbox so why don’t you go ahead and open it up in the app or a web browser for the full experience.
EDITOR’S NOTE:
why a magazine? and why now?
short answer: I love graphic design, curation, and writing streams of consciousness I then label “letter from the editor.”
second short answer: I got tired of finding all these incredible things happening in this creative world of ours and saying, why is no one talking about this??
and yeah maybe I was equally inspired by 13 Going on 30 and All the President’s Men because I love stories and finding clues and connecting things and people - like real life people with hopes and dreams and fears and poor judgement -
and I’m also so tired of the ‘main narrative’ treating the love of my life, cinema, as some box office number or celeb brand strategy - she deserves better.
You deserve better.
so welcome to Luz Films Mag VOLUME 1.
in the volumes to come, I’ve invited various writers on the platform to contribute their work so that this isn’t just a more polished version of Luz Films, but for this first one, you’re stuck with my thoughts for just a little while longer…
WE NEED FILMS THAT SOUND LIKE YOU BY TAYLOR LEWIS
one good thing about spending almost the entirety of your 20s manically depressed is you get really good at dancing yourself clean - not completely - but just enough to be a functional member of society once again.
in fact, I have come back from the brink of insanity more times than I can count by the first few notes of a great song.
see I think a lot of times I can come off as “relentlessly optimistic” or “energized” and that’s great… but hard-earned. because for years there were days when I physically could not lift myself from bed because the literal ‘weight of the world’ coagulated inside my blood stream until I and farnese’s atlas were one.
and what does this have to do with you?
well lucky for you, dear reader - (sometimes) - traumatized individuals become really good at handling chaos - and even better at creating ‘systems of order’ so that the chaos doesn’t seep in and once again tear apart their lives.
another thing you get really good at?
you stop being embarrassed because for a long time you were out of your mind from the grief and self-loathing and you didn’t really have any control of your behavior and so you already kinda did the most embarrassing things possible so now you’re fully equipped to handle the occasional side-eye or snarky comment that comes from building something no one else can see yet.
and that’s what you’re doing by making a movie aren’t you?
getting people stoked about a story that has yet to live on screen and thus our collective consciousness?
getting people to see what they can’t just yet…
so let’s have a quick convo about what’s really needed to be a filmmaker in these ‘times’ and why things like dancing, ‘touching grass,’ and getting over how embarrassing it can be to really ‘put yourself out there’ will help you thrive this summer and beyond.
I have never really been one of those people that finds comfort in things like status quo or groupthink. I actually find those things exhausting to be a part of.
see, my entire life I’ve needed to understand my own train of thought: my beliefs, my biases, my patterns, my blindspots like I need oxygen to breathe.
in fact when I am in situations where I feel like I am “performing” or not being authentic to myself by saying things I wouldn’t normally say in an effort to “fit in,”
it absolutely does feel like I’m suffocating.
and if I’m being completely honest, for a long time when I was “talking things out” with someone it was just so I can hear my own thoughts out loud as they’d grown too crowded inside my head. (I know how very solipsistic of me.)
I am thrilled to announce this kind of “selfish thinking” has given way to collaborating with the beautiful and expansively imaginative minds of this community some of which I have the pleasure of meeting with on a regular basis.
however I am forever grateful for the years I spent, alone, sitting with my thoughts: weighing them, dissecting them, interrogating them, and when necessary - setting them free.
I treated my mind like a dark cave I’d go spelunking through with a flashlight; shining the light upon any thought I’d come across and asking, where did you come from?
and if that place was from somewhere good I’d take the thought’s hand and say, walk alongside with me for awhile and tell me all about yourself.
this is the same process I use for storytelling.
you can learn a lot in trying to discover the sound of your own voice.
you can learn even more by figuring out the ways your voice is both different from and the same as others.
I’m talking about contextualization my dear friends.
one of the greatest benefits and necessities to come out of “non-dependence,” or this new era of filmmaking we are in, is our ability to truly and fully express ourselves on screen and off.
to not tell the stories or live the lives that check certain boxes or meet historical metrics of success.
because we need films that paint this world of ours in an entirely new light.
better yet, we need films that light up an entirely new world.
but most of all -
we need films that sound like you.
SUMMER CHALLENGE:
cinema isn’t some passive relic or superficial fantasy, it’s a living breathing artform and we need it now more than ever before.
so this summer I challenge you to:
1. sit with yourself and your thoughts and if you find one worthy of exploring, walk with it awhile, ask it to tell you about itself.
2. write the manifesto as your framework for autonomy.
3. we are creators of experiences and that is incumbent on our ability to have them ourselves - experience the summer.
4. in community and collaboration, a story becomes something entirely different from what you originally thought - let it. (because you’ve already done the hard work of understanding where a story is coming from so you are free to take it wherever you like.)
5. take all that tension between who you were (a voice put inside a box) and who you are becoming (the freed voice we need right now) and tell it you’re no longer afraid.
Have Film and TV Lost Their Imagination
An artist has many tools at their disposal, and imagination is one of them. Imagination is what takes art beyond being mere remix of the world or other works and into completely new territory. Deeply imaginative work is the work that takes us so far into new territory that it’s almost unrecognizable. Imaginative work is what helps us discover new possibilities and futures. It is what helps us see the world and ourselves in new ways. Imagination pushes forward science, society, and art into new territory. It’s the impulse that envisions something other than what we already are.
It’s also rare. It’s rare because it requires the artist to do the actual work of imagining, something few set aside the time it takes to do these days. Imaginative work also takes a real commitment to the product of your own imagination. When you’re in deeply imaginative territory with a work, you can’t look to others for confirmation that you’re on the right path, because you’re blazing a new one. Nobody can tell you if you’re headed in the right direction, you just have to do it and see.
Why Should Indie Artists Care So Much About Free Thinking?
If a journalist reports what is happening by documenting exterior life, then an artist reports what is happening by documenting interiority.
Another way to say it: the journalist deals with exterior facts. The artist deals with interior facts.
Exterior facts and interior facts both have a degree of bias.
But you can’t bullshit interiority.
Upon hearing or seeing a piece of art whose message strikes you on a profound level, you can only briefly pretend it hasn’t. You can deny the message outwardly forever, of course, but on the inside, you know when you’re lying.
This is the capacity of art, and why it’s a matter of life and death: it valorizes free thinking.
And when artists inspire freedom of thought in others through works of art, it’s a form of holding the pencil last.
- Courtney Romano
the space to hear yourself again
Lately I’ve been thinking about sovereignty as an artistic practice.
Not just sovereignty in the grand sense of freedom, ownership, or independence, but in the quieter everyday sense. The ability to decide your own pace. To protect your attention. To recognize when your body is asking for rest before your mind has the language for it. To make work from a place that feels grounded instead of reactive.
I started thinking about this after watching Andre Wagner speak during his MEKKA residency. A lot of the conversation circled around things I’ve been interested in lately: sovereignty, resetting the nervous system, rest, presence, and the importance of being placed in an environment where you can actually hear yourself again. It made me think about how much of art making is not just about what we produce, but what conditions we create for ourselves in order to produce honestly.
(…)
And suddenly the question isn’t, “How much more can I do?”
It becomes, “What kind of pace lets me keep going?”
That’s where the idea of sovereignty starts to feel real to me. It’s not always dramatic. Sometimes it’s choosing not to post yet. Sometimes it’s letting a project sit. Sometimes it’s taking the long way home because your eye needs the walk. Sometimes it’s saying no to urgency when urgency is only coming from comparison. Sometimes it’s realizing that productivity without alignment can still leave you feeling disconnected from the work.
I think a lot of artists are trying to build lives where the work can breathe. Not just careers where the work can be seen, but lives where the work can actually develop. And that requires a different kind of discipline. One that isn’t only about output, but about protection.
COMMUNITY SPOTLIGHT:
25 Picks for A Summer of Cinema
the luz films mag group chat submitted their picks for a cinematic summer.
you can find the full list on Letterboxd here.
(and if you haven’t heard the BREAKING NEWS that a fan and filmmaker owned Letterboxd is now possible - read more about it here.)
so I asked the group to pick the films they felt represented both summer AND cinema.
while also adding a few of my own picks…"for me I was def feeling ‘heat’ and ‘liminal space’ maybe a little bit of ‘longing….’
shoutout to all who participated:
brandt, M!DDLEK!D, Thehumangaze, Bluntly Speaking, Browsing by Whitney Saffel, Raphaël — The Long Take, Will Ephlin, and John Noire
And I LOVED hearing some of ya’ll explain your choices: (added the Mel Zog take for spice)
It has everything that I feel during summertime: emotional impulsiveness, music bleeding into memory, heat, overstimulation and it has that adolescent energy, you know, that energy where every feeling arrives at like full volume.
And it’s very cinematic, you have shifting aspect ratios, color saturation, music used so well in the storyline.
- Raphaël — The Long Take
Naomi Kawase’s “The Mourning Forest”, a really strange film that really captures the textures of summer, and perfectly depicts the feeling of freedom that “knows” the end is coming… The other is Bai Xue’s “The Crossing”, a very unique and smartly styled film about two high school girls in Hong Kong that long to one day see snow. It’s very colorful, very humid, and almost feels it is breathing down your neck the whole time. - Will Ephlin
Don’t know if this counts as a summer film but Bi Gan’s “Long Days Journey Into Night” reminds me of those hazy summer evenings where it’s still light at 9pm and you feel like you’re right at the edge between reality and a blurry nostalgic memory. - John Noire
THE FIRST OFFICIAL: LUZ FILMS MAG “FILMMAKERS TO WATCH”
alright here’s how this is gonna go…
I will introduce you to the filmmaker’s current film project with a logline and status update. then I’m going to highlight one thing (out of many) they have said that has stuck with me. then they’ve agreed to answer 3 questions I’ve given them based on this whole “touching grass/ dance yourself clean” mentality we’ve got going on here. it’s gonna be fun.
the three questions I asked:
What is one way you are “touching grass” this summer (i.e. connecting with people in person - cinema-related preferably)
What is your favorite song to dance to - or one that makes you feel like dancing?
What is a movie you recommend ‘no one has ever heard of’ that changed how you view cinema?
Courtney Romano:
HEY HEY: a hopeful but friendless alien comes to earth to make a documentary about the goodness of humanity, but he must face the possibility his movie won’t have a happy ending.
Set to film September 2026.
Romano on redefining successs for yourself:
It’s an ambitious thing to define yourself and relentlessly go towards that.
**I highly recommend checking out the interview this quote came from with Laverne McKinnon when it comes out this week!! here’s a little clip.
1) What is one way you are “touching grass” this summer (i.e. connecting with people in person - cinema-related preferably.)
We’re heading into pre-production for my debut feature film, and this summer I’ll be location scouting around Providence. Getting my feet on the ground here is necessary for the film of course, but also a nice way to acquaint myself with a city that’s still new to me. I’m also setting up screenings of Kinsley Vs. to meet and engage with audiences in more intimate settings where we can chat about art and life, the only things I ever want to talk about.
2) What is your favorite song to dance to - or one that makes you feel like dancing?
Juicy by Notorious B.I.G. without fail, moves my body.
3) What is a movie you recommend ‘no one has ever heard of’ that changed how you view “cinema?”
I think plenty of people have heard of this film, but Perfect Days demonstrated to me how there can be urgency in the smallest moments. Kōji Yakusho is a mesmerizing actor and while I usually like films that move at a clip, this one felt slow and fast to me at the same time. The moments were slow, but the presence of Yakusho made me feel the slip of time, which is perhaps the most urgent and human narrative of all. It was a magic trick, and even if you like a faster paced film, I found the resistance of speed to be tonally pressing.
Maris Lidaka:
CONCRETE RIVER: a vibrant deeply human story of a homeless father in Los Angeles who scavenges the streets at night, haunted by a broken past, and desperate to reconnect with his estranged daughter, a young woman with the voice of angel, until a chance encounter with a runaway teen changes his life and forces them both to fight for a future they’re not sure they deserve.
Set to film in September 2026.
Lidaka on finding “the audience” for your film:
What is the question your film is asking?
What are the characters in your film asking?
Find the people asking those same questions.
1) What is one way you are “touching grass” this summer (i.e. connecting with people in person - cinema-related preferably.)
I have a film to shoot in the next few months (website link here) we need to find locations. I'm heading out all over downtown Los Angeles with a camera in hand and taking photos. With a film about the experience of being homeless. Being around the city, seeing and feeling what it's like can help me connect with the story and the character even more. Just being in that moment and visualizing what's about to happen in a few months is keeping me grounded. And from getting too overwhelmed with the scope of what we're trying to pull off.
2) What is your favorite song to dance to - or one that makes you feel like dancing?
Move On Up by Curtis Mayfield. If that doesn't get you on your feet, you might as well not have them.
3) What is a movie you recommend ‘no one has ever heard of’ that changed how you view “cinema?”
I just watched In The Fade recently and it changed how I viewed end credits. The ending scene led into the credits that had a visual companion of going closer towards the water. It made me live with the filim even longer while appreciating everyone who was a part of it. Most end credits are a throwaway. But this made it part of the film, which is how it should be.
Hudson Phillips:
BEFORE WE WERE MONSTERS: after a classmate dies in front of them, four outcast teens awaken strange new abilities and must piece together what’s happening before the changes inside them escalate.
Set to film in August 2026.
Phillips advice to his younger self:
If I could talk to 15-year-old Hudson today, I’d tell him:
“You don’t need someone to ‘discover’ you to have a voice. It’s the very creation of that poem that gives you value. You stopped dreaming of one day being a writer, and you wrote. The validation you are so hungry for was realized in the act of making.”
1) What is one way you are “touching grass” this summer (i.e. connecting with people in person - cinema-related preferably.)
We've got a micro-budget film event coming up in Atlanta on May 26! The micro-budget film lab Jeff and I are in, we're all launching Seed & Spark crowdfunding campaigns on the same day and we thought it'd be fun to have an in-person launch party. Five filmmaking teams. Five movies. Five crowdfunding campaigns. So we're gonna screen teasers, pitch our movies, and provide a spot for filmmakers to learn more about what micro-budget film is and how we're pushing what's possible. We all believe deeply in the power of in-person experiences around filmmaking and are excited about building up the film scene here in Atlanta.
2) What is your favorite song to dance to - or one that makes you feel like dancing?
Lately, it's been Dancing On My Own by Robyn. Which I guess is like 10 years old but for some reason I only recently discovered it seeing Paul Rudd dance to it at the SNL music special. Not only is it a banger but it also makes me cry every time I hear it. It's probably hard enough to picture me dancing... much less being a blubbering mess on the dance floor.
3) What is a movie you recommend 'no one has ever heard of' that changed how you view "cinema?"
I'm gonna cheat and choose two. In the early 2010s, I was writing and trying to sell big-budget Hollywood stuff (still am!). I have always loved high-concept genre storytelling and as I was starting to dip a toe into making our own movies, there were two films, both released in 2011, that created a model for low-budget / hich-concept movies that leaned heavily into genre and world-building and still told a compelling and emotional narrative with very little money. Sound of My Voice and Another Earth became the model for every movie I've done after. Both co-written by and starring Brit Marling and co-written and directed by Zal Batmanglij and Mike Cahill respectively. Sound of My Voice is about a journalist couple going undercover into a cult whose founder claims to be from the future (and has one of my favorite endings of all time). Another Earth is about a second version of our planet that pops up in the sky. Both cost around $100k. Both are brilliant and inspiring.
Jeff Phungglan:
MEI I: a Thai-American woman searching for her missing brother uncovers an America where immigrants aren’t deported or detained — they’re replaced.
Set to film in June 2026.
Phungglan on telling a necessary story at an impossible time:
I’m trying to tell a story about immigration at a moment when the headlines keep arriving faster and more unfathomable than the last. It’s made me question what a film like this can offer that the news can’t. Or whether it will always feel a step behind.
There are days when the work feels impossibly small compared to what’s unfolding. When the idea of spending years on a story while everything else feels on fire can feel naïve, or even irresponsible.
And yet.
I keep coming back to the story. Not as a solution. Not as commentary.
But as an act of care.
1) What is one way you are “touching grass” this summer (i.e. connecting with people in person - cinema-related preferably.)
Coffee. I have an irresponsible coffee budget to meet with other filmmakers. I’m not a super extroverted person, so “mixers” aren’t really my thing. But, if I see something dope from another ATL filmmaker, you can be damn sure I’m sliding into their DMs seeing if they want to meetup for coffee. (And for anyone asking, it’s usually at White Windmill Bakery off Buford Highway).
2) What is your favorite song to dance to - or one that makes you feel like dancing?
Better yet, I dare someone to find a song I won’t dance to. I’ve earned the nickname “Happy Feet” at more than one job.
Life’s too short, dance early. Dance often.
3) What is a movie you recommend ‘no one has ever heard of’ that changed how you view “cinema?”
I LOVE The Forty Year Old Version. It’s such a beautiful story and one we don’t always see. It makes you question what an artist really is. I rewatch this one...a lot.
Hudson and Jeff are part of University of North Georgia’s Micro-Budget Film Lab which you can read about from Hudson here and from Jeff here.
I’m always fascinated with “scenes.” Groups that come together to make art that ends up something bigger than themselves. If you look at the start of the Mumblecore movement or the French New Wave, it’s just like-minded friends who are doing a thing without permission. This feels like that. Something is in the air.
And I think the key is that community. Filmmakers. Cast. Crew. Funders. Audiences. Platforms. All coming together to get behind what they believe in.
Wouldn’t it be cool to be in on the ground floor of something rad and experimental that changes the game for filmmakers everywhere?
- Hudson Phillips
Gregory Falatek:
ELMWOOD PARK: three high school boys are led on a strange, psychedelic journey through the underworld of a run-down American town.
In Post-Production Set to Release Later This Year.
Falatek on the importance of documenting your hometown:
This film is an exploration of youth, mental health, and how institutions of church, school, and medicine have failed members of society for years. Elmwood Park is a meditation on what it means to be a product of your own environment and how truly difficult that can be for people.
My hometown, like many places in the United States of America, is undergoing serious renovations and this film will be the last chance to capture its current look, feel, and controversial history before the town covers it up forever. Many things in our neighborhood have already started to change and this film will be an homage to its strange past.
In my opinion, the innate beauty of the medium of film is the the collaboration of multiple people to create one singular piece of art.
1) What is one way you are “touching grass” this summer (i.e. connecting with people in person - cinema-related preferably.)
Since we wrapped principal photography on my feature film, Elmwood Park, I’ve been spending a majority of my time editing and composing in my basement, and writing new screenplays. Whenever I take a break from writing, editing, or composing, I enjoy skateboarding around my neighborhood, or going for a drive to scout locations for other films we are developing at Stony Creek. We live pretty close to the beach so we just went to Avalon & Stone Harbor in New Jersey last weekend, which was a beautiful break from all of the work we’ve been doing lately.
Now that we have finished production, I’m looking forward to having more time to go to Philadelphia screenings as the filmmaking scene around here is really thriving lately. I always love going to rep screenings at the local arthouse theaters as it is always nice to connect with other filmmakers and film lovers in the area, but when I’m focused on an idea, it’s tough for me to stop writing at home.
2) What is your favorite song to dance to - or one that makes you feel like dancing?
“Party Time” by The Jazz Butcher
3) What is a movie you recommend ‘no one has ever heard of’ that changed how you view “cinema?”
These are by no means underground films, but I’d be lying if I didn’t say “The Wizard of Oz” and “Labyrinth” because I watched those VHS tapes constantly at my parents’ house. I rented “The Big Lebowski” when I was really young and that film definitely had a huge effect on me. Everyone has heard of those films so I’ll give you one more: “Noi, the Albino” by Dagur Kari. I’m not sure why, but I saw it when I was young and for some reason, I always think about it.
POV: LIFE IS CINEMA BY TAYLOR LEWIS
what engaged me was film, which is a great thing to fill up your entire life because it encompasses everything - richard linklater
a side effect of being out of your mind for any bout of time is that you don’t think anything is real and so you question everything and you notice everything and you process everything.
I’m talking about every sound, every dissonant chord, every beam of light through darkness, every time the air felt heavier and thus even more suffocating - things that wouldn’t even register on most people’s radar.
this is why I am so good at building worlds out of nothing.
because I never really had a solid foundation or an extended accepted reality - so everything felt like a dream or a nightmare or simply not real.
it is also why I can so easily move between worlds because for a long time I felt like nothing.
because if I told myself nothing is real or that I was nothing then I could let go of the pain and trauma without having it swallow me - though it still did.
but aren’t the best lies the ones we tell ourselves?
i love cinema because, like linklater said, it is the artform that encompasses everything.
exploring the world through cinema and cinema through the world allowed me to process not only my grief and pain but the beauty in every moment -
I am still here.
EXCLUSIVE LOOK: THE MAKING OF MY NEXT SHORT FILM
please stay is my latest short film about a woman in the midst of an existential crisis and received the LA Filmmakers Grant at VisionFest. It will be the first of four projects (2 features and 2 shorts) I’ve been working on as a reflection of my early 20s which were riddled with bouts of manic depression, addiction, suicide ideation, and an unrelenting desire to feel alive.
Diliana Deltcheva and I will be launching the campaign to finally bring the world behind please stay to the big screen. the Kickstarter is set to launch June 3rd (if all goes according to plan) but I wanted to give you an “exclusive look” at the creative deck for the campaign.
I also wanted to explain why I am not directing and I asked Diliana to instead - to which she graciously agreed:
I love acting more than I love anything else in this world. It is when I feel most alive and present and like I’m doing exactly what I was made for. When I moved to LA to pursue this “dream” I was immediately introduced to the predatory nature of the system and its desire to abuse. So pretty quickly acting no longer felt safe. In telling the story of please stay I knew I wanted to get back into acting again and that I’d have to explore parts of my past I have spent years healing from. I knew that needed to bring in someone to direct I not only trusted but that could elevate the work artistically - into the realm of cinema -
I knew the only person who could do this and that I wholeheartedly trusted was Diliana.
already she’s made the script so much more than it was because of her necessary questions, generous curiosity, and singular vision.
this story has been about a decade in the making… it is a fictional story from my real life experience.
I wrote it as my way out of an overwhelming feeling of being alone.
and my prayer is that through the process of filming and releasing it into the world, others might find a way out too.
yeah, maybe you’ve never ‘lost your mind’ but our world is full of grief and hopelessness and disconnection and feeling lost and like our dreams will never come true because they’re too BIG and the world is too unstable.
but I know a thing or two about finding stability in the chaos and I want you to know that we need your BIG DREAMS now more than ever.
and that no matter what, there is always a way forward and with it a reason to stay.
The script struck us as something profoundly raw and personal, as if it had been written from a place of lived experience. It tells a deep story with an intimate lens, drawing you close to its characters in a way that feels both vulnerable and unflinching. Visually, on the page, each moment feels textured, and deliberate. What ultimately set it apart was a clear voice and a sense of passion behind it. That sense of belief in the project, of someone needing to tell this story, is exactly why it deserved to be chosen and brought to life. - jury at VisionFest
SUMMER CHALLENGE #2:
summer challenge #2:
study manifestos of old
dream outloud in your own voice
be so unbelievably clear about the kind of stories you want to tell
then write a manifesto you can dance to. - Ted Hope
IN: WRITING A PERSONAL MANIFESTO FOR AUTONOMY
OUT: NEGATIVE OLD THOUGHT PATTERNS WEIGHING YOU DOWN
The BFP Manifesto: 12 Principles of Signature Media
One: Protect Yourself. Protect the asset - You
Two: Master the Tools. Know what your tools are and learn how to use them
Three: Use Stories to Build Trust. “Brand Repeated Story Over Time.”
Four: Tell Local, Think Global. “The more specific your story — the more universal it becomes.”
Five: Small is Sustainable. “Start small. Stay true to yourself. Scale only what works.”
Six: Own Your Platform. “Don’t build your dreams on someone else’s land.“
Seven: Work Slow, Publish Fast. “Take your time creating. Share often.”
Eight: The Process is the Exchange. “People will pay to be part of the journey.”
Nine: Curate Partnerships. Creativity is a collaborative effort.
Ten: Community Over Audience. “Your project is only as strong as your relationships.”
Eleven: Build Infrastructure. “You don’t rise to the level of your talent; you fall to the level of your systems.”
Twelve: Train the Next Generation. “What matters is who comes next.“
DIGITAL SPACES: (where did you spend the most time online this month? here’s my top 3.)
ANALOGUE SUMMER: (consider this my moodboard for the summer. what’s yours look like?)
Emily White created this website as “a snapshot of what’s playing on college radios across the country. the wide-ranging, deeply human, and often surprising taste of DJs who meticulously curate weekly playlists for their communities.”
how freaking rad. find the link for riyl here.
SUMMER CHALLENGE #3:
summer challenge #3:
one of my absolute favorite things to do when I am writing a script is make playlists that feel like the world of the film.
I made the below playlist from mostly songs I’d never heard of so that I could expand upon my own listening library.
I was looking for songs that felt like summer and dreaming and new york by way of san francisco.
I then found a “cover image” for the playlist which is the album cover for mellow fellow’s dancing
I then chose a movie that the playlist could live in as a reference point - it be a sick soundtrack of a modern remake of Metropolitan. Shot on 16mm with a bunch of real life friends.
Now it’s your turn…
metropolitan (2026) directed by alex ross perry: is this playlist random, dreamy, and dissonant like thoughts are sometimes? you better believe it.
opening credits:
dance yrself clean - lcd soundsystem (one of my favorite live performances ever… it never fails to hype me up… see below for link)
dancing on the wall - muna (does the intro to summer sound like the 80s - yes it does)
dancing by mellow fellow (lo-fi sad boi music over scenes from godard - enjoy)
out of my bag - tv star (this is a proper dream jam)
cut your hair - pavement (after listening, do me a favor and go watch alex ross perry’s pavements doc so we can talk about it)
the rat - the walkmen (it’s like punk arctic monkeys)
strange world - la luz (femme psych surf rock)
où va le monde - la femme (more pysch surf rock but french)
i had a dream she took my hand - james blake (I lowkey <3 James Blake. my favorite sad boi. saw him at the Hollywood Bowl by myself - and wept.)
beatrice - teo planell (one of the dreamiest songs ever)
end credits:
new york I love you but you’re brining me down by lcd soundsystem (can you tell yet I love lcd soundsystem?)
(ya’ll this thumbnail image of linklater is making me smile wider the longer I look at it. it’s so good…)
You’ve officially inspired me! Working on my manifesto now. And there is not many things in this world more fun than an LCD Soundsystem show. Also- I adore Pavement, but Pavements was awful (IMHO)
thanks for including me, Taylor! congrats on the release.