Last year, I decided to produce Constant Hum, a short film my friend and collaborator Roudi Boroumand co-wrote and wanted to direct. She and I (and a few others) had been talking about it for a few years, and realizing there would never be a “perfect” time, we just nailed down a handful of days when our primary talent would be available and when we could both get away from our respective work responsibilities to shoot principal photography for the 12-page script—which ended up being the weekend and weekdays prior to Thanksgiving.
Spending four days shooting a film that follows an unhoused, disabled person in actual locations where the unhoused and disabled seek shelter truly had me reflecting on how grateful I am for the life I have and the people who make it meaningful—family, friends, collaborators, colleagues, supporters.
I spoke with quite a few folks living on the streets while we were filming, including a veteran temporarily unhoused due to our convoluted VA bureaucracy. They were all thankful for the food and personal items we shared with them, and respectful of the production’s space and the work we were doing.
I’ve been incredibly lucky to have the ability to pursue my passions in the arts over my life and to be in a position to enable the passions of others, and this is in no small part thanks to a strong support system and shared communities I’ve been hashtag-blessed to be a part of over the years.
Speaking of passion projects, you might be wondering, “Pj, you’re already struggling to get Murdered on the Fourth of July finished, why would you distract yourself with another film project?” And while that’s a valid question, there are two things to keep in mind: 1) My role was originally supposed to be just as producer, which still meant a lot of work but mostly in financing and guiding production, not being hands-on involved in the nitty-gritty filmmaking, and 2) this was being prepped simultaneously to an out-of-state interview shoot for Murdered, so progress was happening on both fronts and this kept my extracurricular attention entirely focused on filmmaking.
Of course, as you’d expect with a micro-budget project, the number of hats I wore to make Constant Hum expanded, including line producer, production manager and assistant director. Then, after we wrapped production, I added an unexpected role: editor. Without getting into the weeds, the editor and sound designer we planned to work on the project didn’t pan out, and since I was already intimately familiar with everything we shot—and not wanting to shell out more money we didn’t have—I just rolled up my sleeves and took on those roles, too. Which is why, seven months after principal photography and five months after pickups, I’m still very hands-on involved in the nitty-gritty filmmaking—although, unlike the documentary, Constant Hum has a script, (mostly) completed footage, and a definitive(ish) end point.
As of now, we (Roudi, me, and creative producer Dannzel Escobar) have an assembly edit of the film complete, and will be working over the coming weeks/months to further refine and shape the narrative and get to a version that’s ready for festival submission (with maybe one or two more days of additional shooting in between). In the meantime, we’re still looking for funding to help offset the costs of completing post-production—and would be happy to accept any generous individual contributions as well.