This understandably has been quite the developing story, and as much as I have done my best to share on LinkedIn and IG, it’s still amazing to see the leaps and bounds this short film has taken. The short I am speaking of is the Misan Harriman-directed and Nicky Bernthram-produced Netflix project The After which I worked on as a storyboard artist.

It seems like only yesterday I was in corporate hell taking a very sneaky lunch and work meeting to discuss the story of “The Driver” (the codename title of the film at the time). Speaking with Nicky, Misan at the time about their goal for the film, it was clear they had a clear vision for what the piece needed to communicate, so much so it betrayed the fact that this was Misan’s directorial debut.

Not to mention the project presented a great avenue to get back to narrative-based storyboarding.

I was pretty elated putting the storyboards for this one together. The main takeaway was my recent return to drawing with action lines and scamping birthed a lot more adventurous and dynamic movement in my frames. All a plus. And after sharing my work with the Neon Film team, it all went into that ‘production quiet’; being a creator who lives in pre-production and in the odd occasional post-production, you learn to move on to the next project quite quickly. What would happen next even after the initial screening I could not have fathomed.

Amongst all the leaps and bounds this film The After has had, with heart-warming reviews since its debut on Netflix, The After has been nominated for Best Live Action Film in the 96th Academy Awards. Yep, The Oscars. Not to mention a NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Short-Form (Live Action and entering countless other festivals and fostering special moments internet-wide. Thought I would share a few of them here:

More as things develop. But other than that most certainly want to take out time to congratulate Misan and the Neon Films team for their recent and continued wins and success.