A really unexpected thing has been happening recently. My 2013 short film. "Playing with Ice," has been experiencing a dramatic increase in plays on YouTube. I'm not entirely why this is happening now, more than three years after the film was posted to YouTube. But the film has blown past 40,000 plays just recently and continues to rise. I suspect that the subject matter of the film feels all the more important in the current political and cultural landscape. We are in some weird times, folks.
What's really great are the comments people have been making on the video. People seem to be emotionally engaged in the journey of the characters. "Playing with Ice" was a bit of a personal risk for me, but I chose to make it anyway. Telling the story of gay characters in a subtle, loving, and very empathetic manner felt quite important to me in spite of my rather conservative upbringing that does not view LGBTQ issues all that favorable. In fact, making the film seems to have cost me a friendship. All the same, I'm so glad people are enjoying the film, commenting, and sharing. My goal was to spark conversation and connection built around empathy.
If you'd like to see the film, here is it:
A couple of my favorite comments so far are from people asking for a sequel. I think that's quite fascinating. To be perfectly honest, I don't know what the sequel to "Playing with Ice" would even be. I've told the story I wanted to tell in those 20 minutes. But the fact that people are asking for a sequel tells me that they must have felt engaged by the story. And a good story should always leave the audience both satisfied and yet wanting more. So I take it as a high five.
In the spirit of sharing more about what inspired this story and what went into making this film, I've just recently recorded an audio commentary. You can check that out below.
Okay, now it's your turn. What would the sequel to "Playing with Ice" be? For real, I'm dying to know.
