Completed in Winter 2017, this rabble-rousing dialectical deconstruction of Hollywood studio standards is my feature-length directing, writing, and producing debut. Wildlife: A Storytelling Manifesto is an 85-minute feature film documentary diatribe modeled after the work of those who’ve made bold statements that changed the world – the noted manifestos and calls to action of the Marxists, the Dadaists, the Situationists, etc.
This documentary explores the past century of cinematic storytelling, specifically how the influences of Sigmund Freud and Syd Field enabled the Hollywood studio system to craft stories that culminated in modern social stagnation and the control of consumers by a handful of corporations. This polemic uses a highly novel approach, appearing onscreen on two layers simultaneously, as both a storytelling manifesto and a manifesto that tells a story, a sui generis exercise that exists in two layers: first building a fictional film, then tearing apart its reliance on modern story mechanisms to reveal why we watch what we do – romantic comedies, road trip films, teen horror franchises, premium television series, digital shorts, and even animated GIFs.
