In the summer of 2022, I was invited to coastal Maine with a group of fellow rapscallion creatives. There was a vision: to produce an experimental documentary film following one young woman’s reckoning as she steps off the cliff into adulthood. We would do this on the water, we would do this in the water, and we’d slam it out in a week. It felt like summer camp, and by the end, we were deliriously tired, wildly proud, with new friendships forged in the fire of a collective vision, a deep respect for each other, and a shared joie de vivre.

I was hired on as the team’s holistic producer — I’d be responsible for the films’s audio, yes, but I’d also be responsible for the team’s collective well-being. We’re talking general merrymaking and caretaking: being four steps ahead on the individual + collective health of the crew (bandaids? I got ‘em. Hot meals and eye masks? I’ve got those for you, too). I often dream of a better future of work: a softer, more humane way of operating + creating — and here, I was able to help make this happen, if only for a week’s time.