Filmmaker Statement

For reasons that range from mental health diagnoses to financial shortcomings, our filmmaking team (Ben, Gregory, Adam, and Tyler) struggled to feel at home in the suburbs of Dallas where we grew up, so, we made a film reflecting those feelings -- about how behind every annoyingly immaculate red-brick facade we're all aliens who live next door to other aliens with one thing in common: a desire to be seen as human. The problem is we often don't give those conversations a chance to start. The central relationship in The Jellyfish Man exists to explore that strife. Spencer and Kinkade are neighbors of the same age who live in nearly identical houses, but that’s where their similarities stop. Spencer is a new father; a Type-A yuppie who’s the king of his castle. Kinkade is a sweet, single man who pursues joy no matter how odd that pursuit is to others. This short explores the tragedy of people who see their neighbors as issues before they see them as human.