After everything I learned from my first short film, my goal was clear: try to make something simple and hopefully entertaining. I tightened the script, kept the concept light, and approached the edit with more intention. I also wanted to push myself a bit more technically and conceptually, but without overcomplicating things. I wanted to see if I could translate what I saw in my mind to something practical or even come close.

 When I say I dialed it back, I mean it. The first short had a crew of about 12 and that was the biggest crew I had ever worked with at that time. This time, we were three—including me. Roger Lee, a longtime friend and someone whose work I’d respected and followed, came on as Director of Photography. I’d been watching him grow as a videographer and always thought about reaching out, but I’m not the type to say “let’s work together” for the sake of saying it. I had asked him to hop on for my first short film as a colorist. Through that, he saw that I was serious enough to put my own money into something and really go for it. It also showed me that he understood the technical aspects of post-production. He was there as an extra set of eyes as I was editing my first short. I quickly realized our taste and knowledge for film were very similar. This was also my second time working with Kang Kim. We had become good friends after the first short film and wanted to grow that working relationship.

So, for this one, because Roger and I had never worked together and didn’t really know what to expect, I thought this would be a great way to see what we could do. Film making is extremely dependent on who you can trust, that’s the whole point of networking and meeting people in this field. But the best advice I ever got was, don’t waste time networking. Find people who love doing this as much as you do and grow with them. The level of knowledge can vary but as long as you work with people who have the same drive, it might work out. When I first started out, I knew the only way any of this would work was if I was able to form a team. A team who could consistently work on projects, regardless of scale, and grow in our respective fields together. I never wanted to jump from crew to crew. I understand how rare it is to build a close-knit crew in this industry.

 The film itself is simple—a couple trying to figure out what to eat. That’s it. High concept. We shot it at my apartment and my cousin’s place. Every extra in the film is one of my family members. The budget was basically nonexistent compared to my first film.

 This wasn’t about making something perfect. Far from it. I just needed to know if I could get an idea to work. And in the end, it came together. It was never about using the best equipment or waiting till the moment was perfect, it was about figuring things out, not just for me but for Roger too. Could I even tell a story on a simple level? Simple is never easy, to be honest, I think simple is even harder because it needs to work. Other genres have different devices to kind of masks short comings. When something is simple, you want the audience to turn their brains off and allow the story to navigate them and if it works, they will have experienced something. This is a fun short film that anyone who has been in a relationship could relate. We did the best we could with what we had. We didn’t cut corners, and I’m proud of what we pulled off.