#m: nate renshaw

[saintlegacy]

[ james → njbc ]: I’m eating pizza in the bathtub (they obvs have a group chat thing/app)

Vienna → Squad Goals™: You’re disgustingAstor → Squad Goals™: Where’s my invite?!Nate → Squad Goals™: P sure that ain’t on ur diet broCassie → Squad Goals™: fun fact: i, too, am eating pizza in the bath tubHunter → Squad Goals™: Fucckk pizza sounds so good rn I fuckin hate uNate → Squad Goals™: Cass that explains a lot

[dohertywrites-archive]

“when i’m fucked up, that’s the real me.” (davenshaw)

Nate’s frown is almost automatic as he listens to Heather babble drunkenly. He eavesdrops on her conversation by force of habit and with concern, truly unable to stop himself when it comes to the youngest Davenport. She’s everything that needs to be protected, even if she refuses to believe it. After a few minutes of listening to her uncomfortably laugh as another girl slurs  on and on about how good of a fuck Hunter Davenport is, Nate intervenes. He slips easily into the conversation with a dazzling smile and extends his hand out for Heather to take, ignoring the stares others give them as she stands and wobbles in her heels.

“Hey, I’ve got you,” he murmurs against her ear as she buries her face into the material of his shirt. Nate presses a hand against the small of her back and presses a gentle kiss to her forehead, excusing the two of them from the couch. It takes a few minutes for them to find a quiet hallway to talk in, but even that doesn’t last long before he feels something wet against his neck. At first, Nate thinks she’s licking him, but her body shudders against his and he hears her short, hyperventilating breaths against his shirt. He slips them into an empty room and sits on the bed with her, concern covering every inch of his features.

“Heather?” He touches her jaw soft and brushes the tears falling from her eyes quickly. What’s going on? She seemed okay before. Not great, but not like this, either. His eyebrows pull together in confusion as she sobs, murmuring words that he doesn’t understand until he catches one. When I’m fucked up... Nate doesn’t know what it’s in reference to. He has no fucking clue, and the idea bothers him.

Still, he pushes past his own worries and focuses on Heather instead. She needs him. Now, apparently, more than anything. “That’s not true,” he coos. She sniffles and shakes her head, which only causes Nate to tilt her chin up so she can tearfully look at him. He frowns, but keeps his eyes gentle. “Heather, you’re beautiful inside and out. I don’t give a fuck what anyone else says about you. Half the people out there don’t even know you, so how could they make assumptions? The Heather that I see, that Scott sees, that Cassie sees, she is beautiful and smart and caring. She’s gorgeous, and there’s... There’s this sunshine inside of her that only the best can see.”

Her sniffles subside, if only for a second, before she buries her face in the side of his neck. Words are coming up short, and while he would love to sit there and talk her ear off, everything seems to fail him. All he knows is that he wants to help her in any way that he can. Nate wraps his arms around her and allows himself the chance to bask in the moment, unsure if he’ll get anything like this ever again. “You’re beautiful, Heather Davenport. You’re absolutely beautiful.”

[caffeineivore]

M/N Leaf-Peeping

Prompted by @galaxylily and written on a plane. A weird segment. Choppy and sort of...idek??

***

Nate Renshaw’s idea of a vacation does not entail anything along the lines of roaming through wooded areas undoubtedly full of creepy crawlies and distinctly lacking in the bare necessities of life, such as Wi-Fi, a cell phone signal, AC and running water. But when one’s (very expensive and very foreign) car decides to break down somewhere in BFE, Appalachia, en route to what should have been a routine drive to Philadelphia... Well. It was bullshit.

Complete, industrial-grade, economy-sized, one hundred percent USDA certified grade A bullshit, that’s what.

Now, he hadn’t the faintest idea of where the nearest habitable town was, let alone a city with an auto shop carrying parts for a Maserati.

“I’m going to end up getting eaten by the fucking hill people,” he mutters in disgust after kicking one of two unfortunately pancake-flat tires on said vehicle. “And that’s if I don’t get eaten by coyotes, first.”

And then, a musical giggle-- a woman’s laugh, as though such a sound had a right to be here, in the middle of the forest-- sounded quite close by.

“Coyotes don’t live here, silly. And besides, they’re not likely to find you at all appetizing.”

Nate yelps and whirls around so fast he almost loses a Ferragamo loafer. Nothing but trees. The one he’s directly facing is tall and shapely, autumn leaves turning rather gorgeously red-brown, but he couldn’t have identified it outside of “not a pine aka Christmas tree” and “not a maple aka Canadian flag tree”.

“Who’s there?” he yells, staring up at the canopy of burnished autumn leaves. “Oh God. Now I’m tripping balls. I’m talking to myself in a goddamn forest because I’m hearing voices because I’ve been off the grid for far too long. Fucking Verizon lies about their fucking network. I might as well believe in Santa. And elves. And fairies.”

“Hey, I’m good friends with a very nice fairy. What are you trying to say about magical folk? That’s not very nice, is it?”

The voice again! Nate plants his feet in the loamy soil and brandishes the tire iron (that he has only vague ideas of how to use) in his hands. “Okay, sugar. I’m going to need you to stop messing with me. Or at least show yourself. I am armed and dangerous. Dangerous, I tell you!” He slaps the never-before-used tire iron against his palm, to another trill of laughter. 

“Well, look up then.”

Nate raises his head dumbly, unsure of what to expect, but whatever he was anticipating was certainly not for the bark of the tree in front of him to shift like sand on an ocean beach washed by surf, and morph into an eye-poppingly beautiful face. And then, right before his eyes, the face seems to separate out of the wood, followed by a truly spectacular body clad in something green and brown and diaphanous. She would have looked just like a beautiful woman Nate might have flirted with and bought a drink for in a Manhattan bar aside from the slightly pointed ears and, well, the fact that she had materialized out of a freaking tree. 

“Cat got your tongue?” The tree lady chuckles. “I do love that phrase. So quaint and yet nonsensical, isn’t it? Haven’t you heard of dryads, human?”

“They’re not real,” Nate’s voice is a not-particularly-manly squeak. “Isn’t that, like, some thousand-year-old myth?”

“Mmm, and I wonder how humans got the idea in the first place.” The self-proclaimed dryad raises an eyebrow. “Though, there are drawbacks and benefits both of being here now as opposed to then. I’m happy that my homes aren’t getting cut down and burned willy-nilly because you humans are cold, of course. But.... the pollution and acid rain I could do without.” Her eyes are the bright green of a summer meadow and glances at his currently-disabled vehicle with a bit of distaste. “A bit impractical, human, but at least it isn’t a Humvee.”

“Uh, right, Do you have a name, uh, Ms Dryad? Miss? Is it ‘miss’ or are you, like, married or something? Do dryads date?” Nate does not know why this particular line of questioning snaps into his head. Or, at least, he doesn’t want to think about it too hard. The whole situation was bizarre enough without him noticing the fact that the dryad’s gauze-clad breasts were quite possibly the most perfect pair he’d ever seen. Even if they were completely, decently covered.

“You can call me Sylvana.”

“I’m Nate. It’s nice to meet you.” He grasped her hand, and to his surprise, it felt just like a regular woman’s hand, soft and smooth and supple as new leaves. “So, uh, maybe you could help me? I got two flats, no signal, and no idea where I am. I got money and I’ll be happy to... oh God, what am I talking about? Trees don’t take American Express. And... what does one get a tree, anyway? Well, I’m useless to you and I’m sure you want me and this car out of your forest. And back to the city where we belong.” 

Sylvana’s full lips curve up in a mysterious dimpled smile. “Don’t underestimate yourself, human Nate. But as you ask... the path you seek would take you roughly three hours, if one traveled as the crow flies. But you... you’d take a bit longer.”

“I haven’t even been lost for three hours, though! What do you mean?”

“You found this place, then, by chance or fate.” A breeze stirs tendrils of Sylvana’s flowing auburn hair and plasters the gauzy thing she wears tighter against her fabulous bosom. Not that Nate notices or anything. Then she smiles again. “How interesting.”

[pyromouse]

REPOST. DON’T REBLOG. post TEN characters you’d like to roleplay as, have roleplayed as and might bring back, then tag ten people to do the same.  ( If you can’t think of ten characters, just write down however many you can. feel free to go over ten, too. )

TAGGED BY: swiped from @rogue-valor​ TAGGING: If anyone wants to: @carnivorarium​, @servusx​, @eisoptrxphobiic​

currently playing:

Mouse Renshaw

Nate Foster

Rides-The-Wind, tabaxi acrobat and charter keeper (in a DND campaign)

have played / might bring back:

Lore, tiefling librarian and wild mage (previous DND campaign)

A thief/medic gremlin child from a larp i used to do.

Also i had a fantroll because i am homestuck trash. 

want to play:

Garry from Ib. i don’t do a lot of canon characters because I’m afraid I wouldn’t get the characterization right, but i love Garry and have ideas for a bunch of different verses 

i’m not sure what other characters i’d wanna play because some are concepts for DND and others are AUs for characters i’m currently playing. that said, hit me up for AUs :3c

[anthonykrierion]

How Digital Marketing Companies are Affected by COVID-19

Last updated on April 7, 2020 at 04:43 pm

The past few months have been rough as the infectious COVID-19 continues to plague the world. Countries affected are implementing lockdowns to prevent further spread of the virus and the economical effects are massive. Businesses are in crisis mode; some are able to continue to operate but with limitations while some have to completely halt operations.

A few weeks ago, I published an article on How the Coronavirus is affecting search and the negative effects of COVID-19 are evident for some industries. Due to companies losing profits, the service industry is massively affected and digital marketing companies are no exception

Fortunately, our team here at SEO Hacker was able to adjust accordingly to this crisis but I was curious to know how my fellow digital marketers are doing during these times so I asked them a few questions to further know how digital marketing companies are doing.

Work Setup

One of the advantages of working in the digital industry is that most of the resources that you need to operate are accessible through the internet. That is why most companies, as well as our team, have transitioned to working remotely.

David Langton’s team at Langton Creative Group Ltd makes use of various tools to make it easier for their team.

“We are set-up remotely with access to our server and catalog of past and present work. So much is available via cloud-services that working remotely is not as challenging as it once was. We meet weekly via Zoom to touch base and coordinate work schedules.”

Additionally, they also use some of the free time they get from working remotely to produce more materials. Langton said, “Currently, we are using this time to create new case studies, update our website and address some long-term marketing goals.” 

But working remotely is a huge adjustment for some companies that are used to having their team together in one office. Taylor Cimara, Principal and Strategic Director of Digital Third Coast said that communication takes the most adjustment needed.

  “Our entire team is working remotely and has been since March 13th. While we let employees have flexibility in working from home, we’ve never had to have the entire team work remotely for an extended period of time. Communication is the biggest change – many more intentional touchpoints with the team, and more mindfulness with management and what everyone is going through individually at home.”

However, for some companies, working from home isn’t really new. Some digital marketing companies run their operations remotely even before the quarantine. For Juan Pablo Diaz, Founder of Krows Digital, business is just as usual.

“The quarantine didn’t have much impact on our day-to-day work as we have been working remotely since the early days of the company. We usually meet once or twice a week in a shared open space in Tokyo but now we prefer to do our meetings through Discord.”

Juan also sees something positive in the situation. Having their meetings online actually makes their meetings more productive. Juan said “In a way, it is actually a good thing for us as we tend to always talk about many things that are not relevant. Doing online meetings forces us to get straight to the point and to prepare our report presentations”.

Speaking of positivity, Graeme Barlow’s team over at Iversoft found a way to keep things fun and transition their office culture to their now fully remote workforce.

“We are fortunate to have a pretty fun culture in our office and it’s been absolutely amazing to see what people have done to bring that virtual. From pet photos to gaming hangouts to hosting video social hours, it’s been fantastic to see how we’ve translated the atmosphere from an open office to a remote equivalent.”

How Their Clients are Affected

The impact of the COVID-19 varies from one industry to another. Some may experience gains, but most industries are expected to suffer from the crisis.

According to Nate Nead, CEO of SEO.co, their clients that are in the retail industry were hit the most. Nate said,“Client budgets have definitely shrunk quickly, regardless of size. Clients hit the hardest have been local clients in retail, while larger, national clients have been more engaged, but are proceeding cautiously.”

The tourism industry is one of the most affected as well with people being forced to stay at home. Amy Draheim of ABD Creative LLC discussed that their clients are suffering from the crisis.

“Our hotel clients are experiencing extremely low occupancy. They’ve redeployed their housekeeping staff to high touch areas, and focus on deep cleaning instead of daily tidying for travelers who are still traveling (few and far between). Our restaurants are only offering delivery/take out services, and have laid off most of their employees as a result. Business is slow across the board.” 

Similar for Brogan Renshaw of Firewire Digital, clients are being affected across the board but their team was quick to react and give solutions to their clients.

“Approximately 30% of our clients’ businesses have been significantly impacted by COVID-19. A further 20% have been partially impacted by a drop in revenue. 

As the crisis was in its early stages we were proactive and offered all our clients the opportunities to pause and reduce contracts for a period of time. We wanted to be on the front foot and reduce any stress or anxiety for our clients. I would rather see clients come out the other side of all this and still be operating and for them to know we helped them get through it.” 

However, for Erika Thomas’ clients at Coveted Portfolio, there are clients that are looking to take advantage of the situation and are shifting their focus on transitioning to e-commerce.

“Some are experiencing a delay in launching their brands and physical locations in this current market, some are still “guns blazing” to take advantage of this very unique time for e-commerce. It really depends on who they are and what they can offer at this moment”.

Did They Lose Clients?

During these times, some companies are forced to cut their marketing budgets to allot the money for payroll and other operational expenses. This means digital marketing companies are in danger of losing contracts.

Aliza Sherman, CEO of Ellementa and Spark the Creative, has lost clients but made quick adjustments with their pricing to retain some clients.

“We’ve lost most of our clients. To maintain the ones we still have, we’ve reduced our fees drastically, looking at the long term relationship. We’d rather make sure we all stay in business than trying to gouge clients in the short term. If we can all support one another and weather this crisis, we’ll be stronger and thrive in the long run.”

I could say this is a good strategy because some companies are still looking to continue their digital efforts amidst the crisis. Those who can’t afford the same budget they had before may look for alternatives. Bernie Clark of Majux Marketing has the same thing in mind.

“We have had a few clients who have been forced to put projects or initiatives on a temporary hold.  We are lucky enough to have not lost any accounts so far, but we have been getting calls from businesses who had to leave their previous agency because of an over-reliance or singular offering of paid media. Nobody wants to dump tens of thousands of dollars into Google Ads or TV right now, so if that was your agency’s sole offering or the large piece of your previous agency’s strategy, you’re going to be looking for a new agency that focuses on a more balanced strategy.”

Some companies have handled the situation well. They didn’t lose any clients but contracts are put on hold. This gives them faster recovery once the COVID-19 crisis is over. Monica Smith, CEO of Marketsmith, believes that this is a time to have empathy for their clients and be good partners.

“We have not lost any clients at this time.  We are working with our clients to be the best partner we can be.  If that means extending their terms or allowing campaign shifts and pauses we are committed to that.  We specialize in bringing companies up during challenging times – we are working on strategic plans and initiatives for each client to make that possible”. 

What is Their Plan Moving Forward?

We don’t know for sure yet when this pandemic will be over but it is important to be positive and make plans moving forward. We’re also not sure yet how the world will look after COVID-19 but I’m pretty sure it’s not going to be business as usual. 

Erico Franco, Senior Manager at Agencia de Marketing Digital, managed to negotiate with their current clients but they are still looking for prospects to keep their business going.

“We are cutting costs and negotiating with our already customer to see what we can do to help them and so not losing the account. We keep trying to prospect new customers even a lot of them don’t want to talk now. We don’t know how long this crisis will take but we are trying to prepare to the worst and keeping moving forward and in a positive way.”

Olga Gonzales, CEO of Pietra Communications, believes this is a good time to expand their agency’s capabilities.

“Our agency is known for our print and digital placements, but the virus really has taught us that digital is the basket to put more eggs in. Therefore, we will be looking into more ways to expand our capabilities, and continue to focus on growing editorial relationships here in “think outside the box” ways. “

On the other hand, Khaeleelah Jones, founder and CEO of Careful Feet Digital Agency is innovating that would allow them to tap more companies.

“We are in the process of creating a tool that automates many of our services, so we can offer our services at a lower price point, for companies of all sizes and budgets. It allows us to scale and democratize access while continuing to offering higher-cost boutique services for those companies that should need it.”

Because of the COVID-19 crisis, Clement Conor, COO of Smartboost, believes that companies will realize more the importance of having an online presence once the crisis is over.

“We would like to educate the market that a digital presence is now an essential aspect of the business. Transitioning your business to a digital platform now can be useful and will likely make your operations more cost-efficient. A lot of our clients will realize first hand that their ROI online is a lot better than you see with traditional marketing.”

Key Takeaway

COVID-19 has caught the world off-guard and I’m really glad to see other digital marketing companies are able to go through this crisis. It’s amazing to see that digital marketing companies are doing what they can to help their clients and I pray that we can all recover from this crisis. It is really important that we all stay positive during these tough times.

If you own or work in a digital marketing company, let me know how you’re doing in the comments and I would love to talk about it.

How Digital Marketing Companies are Affected by COVID-19 was originally posted by Video And Blog Marketing

[cathygeha]

Review and Excerpt Tour for TUNES by KC Enders!

 What’s more cliché than falling for a guy in a band or pinning for the one who got away? Find out in TUNES by KC Enders, a Beekman Hills novel where a no-strings spring break fling turns into something more for Gracyn George and rocker Gavin Keller. Fans of A.L. Jackson’s STAY, DRUMLINE by Stacy Kestwick, and authors Jiffy Kate & Winter Renshaw will love this spicy and angsty second-chance romance.

 Title: Tunes

Author: KC Enders

Release Date: October 1, 2018

Publisher: Self-published

Series: Beekman Hills #2

Genres: New Adult Romance

Word Count: 73K

Format: Paperback & digital

 Synopsis:

 What’s more cliché than falling for a guy in a band?

 A no-strings fling is all it was meant to be for Gracyn George. Sun, sand, sex, and then move on. That was before he strummed his way into her life. Each note leaving a tingle in her spine, their lasting melodies burned into her memory.

 What’s more cliché than pining for the one who got away?

 Gavin Keller has sacrificed far too much to chase after the girl who snuck out in the middle of the night and left him wondering, What if …

 No matter how high his star rises or how many sold-out shows he plays, he ends each concert scanning the audience for her.

 What was supposed to be temporary becomes a longing neither is willing to let go. After months of trying to move on, can they sync the tunes in their hearts?

Available on Amazon and FREE in Kindle Unlimited!

Amazon → https://amzn.to/2IfUuF7

 Add to Goodreads → http://bit.ly/2oBSoX9

 TUNES Excerpt

Copyright © 2018 KC Enders

Gavin

Gracyn’s gone. She fucking left me in the middle of the night, buck-ass naked and in her bed.

I waited more than an hour for her to come back from wherever she’d scampered off to, almost certain that she’d just gone out to grab us some breakfast. Took a shower and threw on my clothes from last night. Well, my board shorts because my favorite fucking shirt was gone, too.

No Gracyn.

No note.

No shirt.

Nothing.

The sun blazes down on my bare shoulders as I walk back to my shitty motel. It’s petty and stupid, but I’m too pissed off to put on a different T-shirt. It’s the principle.

My fist connects with Ian’s door with three solid thumps. The last thing I want to do is walk in on him getting ass when my chick had taken her fill and bailed on me. No fucking way I feel like dealing with his shit over this. I don’t want to hear it.

“Dude, you good?” I call as I hit the door again.

“S’open,” Nate yells. “Hey, didn’t think we’d see you today. She leaves tomorrow, right? That chick you’ve been hanging with all week,” he asks, looking away from the movie he’s watching, head propped up against the headboard of his bed.

“Fuck, man. Forgot we swapped rooms. I’ll—”

Ian looks up from his laptop and leans back, the colorful tats shifting as he folds his arms across his chest. “Jesus, what did she do? Steal your clothes and skip town?” The disgusted look on his face probably mirrors my own.

The door closes behind me as I cross the room and sit my ass down on the edge of the empty bed. I dig through Ian’s pack for a T-shirt. I pull on the first one I find, not caring if it’s clean, and flop back, staring at the water stains blooming across the ceiling by the bathroom. Hopefully, it’s the shower leaking in the room above us and not the shitter.

What the fuck happened? Why did she leave like that?

“Gavin? Seriously, man, what happened?” Nate’s sitting on the edge of his bed, features twisted in concern.

“I don’t know. I woke up, and she was gone.”

“Gone? Or out for a minute?”

“Gone. Left. Bags packed, including my fucking shirt. Just gone.” No matter how many times I go over it in my mind, it doesn’t congeal into anything that makes sense.

“Shit, man. That sucks balls,” Ian mumbles as he goes back to tapping at his keyboard. “What’re you gonna do? You text her yet?”

If only.

I run my hands through my hair, gathering it in my fists, and blow out a frustrated breath. “I don’t have her number.”

“Wait, what? You spent all fucking week with her. How do you not have her number?”

I roll my head to the side, so he can see just how fucking miserable I am. “I spent all fucking week with her. I didn’t really need it … until now.” Jesus, this is the worst. “What time are we playing tonight?”

“Ten, down on the beach. So … nothing? You got nothing? No way to find her?” Nate asks.

“Fuck. No, not really. Just a general idea of where she goes to school, and … no, I don’t even have a last name. I mean, I’m sure I could try to stalk the shit out of her, but she bolted, man.”

“Yeah … I guess she just wasn’t that into you, man. Fucked the rocker on spring break and went back to her Ivy League boyfriend.” As soon as the words leave his mouth, Ian cringes, gritting his teeth and sucking a breath through them. “Sorry, shit. I didn’t mean …”

“Whatever.” I pull out my phone, hoping there’s a message, but this day is nothing but all kinds of disappointments. I pop my earbuds in and pull up my post-show playlist. I crank some old school ’70s disco to clear my mind. And hopefully drift off to sleep.

 Check out these other titles in the Beekman Hill series!

TROUBLES (Book #1)

A chance at true happiness.

Amazon | Goodreads

Amazon → https://amzn.to/2MNfh8u

 TWIST (Book #1.5)

A twist that no one can imagine.

Amazon | Goodreads

Amazon → https://amzn.to/2oCMd5i

  Enter to win a Signed Set of Beekman Hills books! Plus, five will win a Beekman Hills eBook of their choice!

 http://www.rafflecopter.com/rafl/display/b050ef29577/?

  About KC Enders:

 Karin is a New York Girl living in a Midwest world. A connoisseur of great words, fine bourbon, and strong coffee, she’s married to the love of her life who is also her best friend. The mother of two grown men, she is proud to say that they can cook, open car doors for the ladies, and clean up after themselves (you’re welcome, world). Even though her boys no longer live at home, the three dogs she’s rescued have taken up their empty space.

Follow:  Website | Facebook | Reader Group | Twitter | Goodreads | Amazon | BookBub | Instagram

 http://www.barclaypublicity.com/

[martens-movie-reviews]

Released: August 2017 Running Time: 12 minutes 

“In a post apocalyptic world where the air is toxic to breathe and oxygen is a precious resource, a young boy embarks on a perilous supply run to obtain water and medicine for his ailing mother. With just his toy robot as a companion on his journey, he faces many obstacles, but the real danger is waiting for him back at home.”

I will be reviewing one short film a month, beginning with ‘The Survivor: A Tale From the Nearscape.’ The film has seen some success during its continued festival run, winning Best Sci Fi at the Festigious International Film Festival, and Best Sci – Fi at the Top Shorts Film Festival.

I’m always interested in watching movies, and with short films it is always interesting to see how the filmmakers compress the story in such a small amount of screen time.

Below is the full short film, which can be found on Vimeo and Youtube, its runtime is 11 minutes and 53 seconds. Check out my review for it below the link, followed by a Q&A with the film’s director Christopher Carson Emmons.

The Survivor Short Film – Saga Flight Entertainment

Cast & Crew

The director of The Survivor is Christopher Carson Emmons, who has worked on numerous other short films, as well as 3 full length films, and several series. Emmons also has an upcoming short film called ‘Roebling’s Bridge‘ that is mentioned in the interview with him below.

Written by Mark Renshaw who has previously written other shorts such as ‘No More Tomorrows’ in and ‘Surrender’, he’s also written a television series in called ‘So Dark’ that will be premiering soon.

Nick Kordysh as Billy – Source: Saga Flight Entertainment

The cast of The Survivor includes Nick Kordysh, Valerie Dewie Lighthart, Sam Kozé, Anna Kordysh, Alida LaCosse, Tawnie Thompson, Carl Chopp, Zach McLain, Martin Doordan, Rodney Craig Dukes and Matthew Nichols.

Review

I found that the music in the film which was done by Zaalen Tallis, was futuristic yet familiar. I really enjoyed the ambience and hectic feel that it brought to the film. It enhanced the movie, just as music is supposed to do. I did find that the music was a little loud in some points of the short, however that could just be my preference and my inexperience with short films and their style. The acting in this short was well done, especially the young Kordysh, who portrayed the main character, Billy. The other actors while doing a good job with what what they were given, had too little screen time to get to know them as well as you might like.

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The quality in the story for The Survivor was really thought provoking and made you fear this dystopian future. We don’t have to worry about aliens or vampires or zombies in this movie, but each other. The humans in this film are what’s horrifying about this future, where people are capable of killing another human to use as food. At another point the cops are about to shoot Billy because they don’t want to have to deal with the paperwork that would be involved if they brought him in.

Roy killed Billy’s father because he wanted his mother, that is something that is reprehensible, and it makes you wonder in what kind of society would that be acceptable. It’s also telling of Roy’s character that he doesn’t acknowledge Winny anymore since she’s been sick, even going as far as turning his back to her and focusing on the television instead of trying to take care of her and lessen her suffering.

Another point that I might be misreading is at the beginning of the film, Roy is zipping up his pants after coming into the room with Billy, whatever that is supposed to imply is potentially even worse than killing the father to be with the mother.

I enjoyed the way in which Billy killed Roy with the rat poison that he had grabbed at the shop, when I first watched it, I thought it was just a comedic effect in the film to have a bodyguard be afraid of mice, but when the flashback happened, everything clicked together, and I appreciated that they didn’t show that part the first time around.

Matthew Nichols as Preacher – Source: Saga Flight Entertainment

I believe that this short has potential as full length film one day, as it sets up the world really well, and makes you want to know more. Who was that woman that saved Billy from the other cops? What organization is she with? What happens to Billy and his mother after the death of his step father? What disaster lead to the drastic change in society? These are all questions that I would like to see addressed if ever it would be turned into a full length film, which I hope it does.

Officer – Source: Saga Flight Entertainment

Overall, I feel like this film definitely deserved those awards that it has won, and I’d love to have this film adapted as a full length motion picture. I think that the story was simple, yet displayed a world that had been shown in many works of science fiction beforehand. The acting in the film was good, especially Kordysh, as from what I understand this was his first acting role.

The music in the short was really well done, as well as the cinematography which was done by Nate Haban. I loved the futuristic feel of the film, and every single part of the film was relevant to the overall story and world building. Based on other shorts that I’ve seen, I have to say that it told the story that it wanted in the limited amount of time, had great music, the visual aspects of the film were beautiful, and had a good message / warning for the audience to take from the film. I’m giving this short film, a final score of 8/10.

What did you think of the short film? Did you enjoy it? What are your opinions on the genre? Let me know in the comments below!

What movie do you want me to review next?

Thanks for reading,

Alex Martens

Q&A with Director Christopher Carson Emmons

What inspired the style and tone of Survivor? What nobody ever tells you about the phrase “ignorance is bliss” is that it has an expiration date. Ignore any problem long enough, it’ll make itself known to you in a way you can’t ignore. So this is a look at the world we’re hard at work on leaving for our grandchildren.

The theme I tried to zero in on during every decision made from pre-production through post-production was abuse of power. I tried to touch on many abuses of power within the context of the film’s short runtime, chiefly the continued burning of fossil fuels due to special interests we know still drive legislation, and if you watch closely there are three manmade earthquakes as a result of fracking in the film. The film also delves briefly into police brutality, child abuse, mass surveillance, and religious fanaticism. I tried to address these issues while still providing what was hopefully an entertaining narrative.

  Are there any other projects that you are working on that you can talk about? Yes, I have a project called “Roebling’s Bridge” coming out that I’m very excited about. It’s about the family that created the Brooklyn Bridge. And then there’s that mountain of yet to be produced screenplays I’ve written

  I know that Mark Renshaw was the writer for the film, but I’m curious about whose decision it was to not have Billy speak until the the very end? Mark Renshaw, the writer, made the decision to keep the lead character, Billy, mute until the very end of the film, which I absolutely loved. I’m the first to admit some of my earlier work was very talky, as if it would be the last time I could ever have a character speak to an audience so I desperately needed to seize it. Film is a visual medium, so what better way to receive information than through a protagonist who does not speak and we just see what they see? If you look at children who are living through wars or famines, they rarely emote or speak, and their eyes look like those of an elderly person, spare a few wrinkles. Our lead actor, Nick Kordysh, did such wonderful and subtle work in really capturing that.

What message or feeling do you want people to experience after watching the short film? If you listen to the words that the mother sings in the opening of the film, that really sets the stage for what it is about. She sings “The Black Snake comes, comes for the water, for our sons and daughters, the sun sets on the world.” She’s referencing the Lakota prophecy about the Black Snake, which in recent history was linked to the Dakota Access Pipeline.

Also if you listen carefully to the words in the video with the sunrise graphic that takes over the TV set twice in the film, which are “the sky is ablaze from the evils of men, survival’s for naught if not do we rise, to oppose those who oppress the very hope of sunrise,” you get a sense of what’s at stake. This is the chant from a resistance group in this world that is trying to change things around before it is too late. One of the members of this group is shown in the film, she poses as a cop and blows her cover to save the lead character’s life. This group’s chant points to something I think is important, the idea of survival for survival’s sake, vs. survival for a purpose. Consider the idea of a massive power outage in a large city. Do you want to live in a world where the power going out takes away the distractions we think give us meaning and purpose and we all go crazy, or do we want to live in a world where the power goes out and that has no effect on us because the human race shares a common united goal that is clear and Earthbound?

I’d love for us to get off the track we’re on so that this film isn’t anything like our future. When the candidates put forward by any given country’s left and right are both basically Scrooge McDuck with different catch phrases, you’ve punctured the condom on the phallus of inequality and hatred. Issues that literally threaten our species’ existence need to be dealt with immediately in a non partisan way. Or we can keep fracturing into smaller and smaller tribal sub groups as we are now and choose to finally consider the bleak options that remain later, as our major cities are underwater, and the remaining land above ground faces constant quakes and fires. Maybe as the ship sinks, we’ll watch the water rising to our throats, then look one another in the eye, and realize how beautiful we were.

The Survivor Review Released: August 2017 Running Time: 12 minutes  "In a post apocalyptic world where the air is toxic to breathe and oxygen is a precious resource, a young boy embarks on a perilous supply run to obtain water and medicine for his ailing mother.

[dohertywrites-archive]

[MSG:] DIBS ON THE NEW GUY. (heather on njbc chat from hunter's phone)

text:  DIBS ON THE NEW GUY.

Hunter → Motherfuckin’ Gangstas™: Uhhh lol… No?Nate → Motherfuckin’ Gangstas™: AyyyyyCassie → Motherfuckin’ Gangstas™: GET IT HEATHERVienna → Motherfuckin’ Gangstas™: He’s alllll yours, HAstor → Motherfuckin’ Gangstas™: Sorry lol practiceAstor → Motherfuckin’ Gangstas™: Wait, new guy?

[dohertywrites-archive]

👀 Is my muse the type to sleep around? + nate

Nate Renshaw may be a gentleman, a famous hockey player, an amazing best friend and an even more amazing son, but that absolutely doesn’t mean that he cannot sleep around. And he does. It’s not quite the caliber of his friends Hunter Davenport and Scott Vanderbilt, but it’s a lot more than people initially think of. Being famous has its perks, after all, and Nate would be lying if he said that he didn’t take full advantage of it. However, in light of recent events with a darling little thing called Heather (who happens to be Hunter’s little sister), Nate’s taken to abstaining from his — ahem — extracurricular activities in favor of getting cozy with the petite brunette instead.