#007 | HBD, i hope ur nightmares come tru
BACKGROUND
Back in February ‘25, HBD, i hope ur nightmares come tru started out as a 3~5min short film/skit that I was hoping to turn around in a month or two. My eyes were really set on a bigger project, a 15~20 page script about a musician that I’ve written on and off for years. But I was coming off a six-year layoff from producing narrative projects like these, so it felt ill-advised to jump into something with so many variables. I continued writing HBD, through Spring, as it ballooned into a 12-page script that I continuously revised until my producer and I felt ready to move into pre-production.
I like to write down loose ideas that come to mind, whether it’s a shower thought or a potential story I could develop later. As a multiracial fella, I think there’s something funny about people using the “race card” incorrectly —not to mistakenly accuse someone or to cry wolf— but in a way where it’s clear that they don’t really understand the implications of using said card. It’s plenty fair to break it out after someone’s thrown a not-so-friendly insult at you, but what if you get called “racist” after doing a non-racial thing, like opening the door for a stranger, or getting a thoughtful gift for someone important to you?
As a former retail employee myself, I know how valuable excellent customer service is. When you spend 40 hours a week in that kind of environment, you see how appreciative people can be when you take time to help them find the right tennis racket or try on some shoes. But you also get to see the opposite. The cuckoo, the twitchy-eyed, the angry, the nefarious, and the rude ones. It’s enough to make the most patient person you know break. Sometimes that shitty interaction at your retail job could throw you off the rest of the night, even when you get home. You could be preparing a cup of tea, or peacefully cooking lamb pasta when, all a sudden, you hear that screeching voice from earlier complain to you about your job’s public restroom policy, or how a pair of shoes they bought 12 months ago that have the wear-and-tear of a civil war vet should be exchanged for full price.
Sometimes, a scream pillow just won’t cut it. Walking around in your house saying, “Shut the f*ck up!” might not cut it either. If only there were a room dedicated to expelling that negative energy in a more satisfying way…
HBD, is the product of a few of those aforementioned shower thoughts that had come to mind over the previous year or so. First, it was the racism card, the STFU room, then it was the title of the film, something no one would want to hear on their special day, and finally, “born day”. I’m a big fan of using creative lingo in my writing to better capture a character’s personality, and since all words are made up, I feel like there shouldn’t be any rules as to how you want to present the same idea that someone else has presented, right?
SHOUT OUT TO MUSIC
“Birthday” is a boring-ass word. A straight-laced name for such a momentous occasion. In my web series, D|S|A, I deliberately wrote a “Happy Bird Today” scene, y’know, to be edgy n’ shit. For HBD, I opted for “Born Day”. Straight out of Nas’ lingo.
“I woke up early on my born day; I'm twenty, it's a blessin'
The essence of adolescence leaves my body, now I'm fresh and…”
Aside from being the best rapper in history, one of the things God’s Son is so good at is teaching me new ways to say boring-ass words.
Born day, not birthday. Cabbage, not head. Mike, not Michael, Jackson.
My writing process for this film was super influenced by the Experimental/Jazz Fusion scene. Particularly works by the legends Don Cherry and Miles Davis. On the surface, Jazz can be a gentle, calming, sometimes unexciting genre. But I think it’s one of the most powerful genres out there. There’s something for people who just want background music for when they’re writing their research paper at a café. There’s something for the well-dressed cocktail sippers who want to eat steak while watching an intimate set at a dimly lit venue. But there’s also jazz for the out-of-the-box thinkers. For those who rate improvisation over premeditation.
Jazz fusion tosses out the smoothness and comfort that its parent genre and audience are used to, in favor of experimentation and exploration. It takes inspiration from other genres and music from other countries. It’s like the Jeet Kune Do of music. You listen to a Don Cherry track like Degi-Degi, and it takes you on a journey. It’s got the chaos you’d typically associate with psychedelic rock, haunting whispers interwoven with sharp horns and drums, with a 7-minute run time that constantly makes you question whether Don and his crew brilliantly went with the flow while in the studio or actually composed it ahead of time.
ACTUALLY MAKING THIS HAPPEN
As I said earlier, I really thought HBD, was just going to be a few minutes long. Just a short story about two people building an STFU Room in their house. But the more I wrote it, the more the two characters, Vinicius and Kylie, intrigued me. I wanted to flesh them out way more than I could in a mere 5-minute film. I wanted to get a better sense of the characters and their bond/history. The first draft easily hit 14 pages. After 6 additional drafts that largely involved cutting some of the throwaway jokes, I was finally able to get it under 12. Twelve felt like the right number, since we felt this film had major 2-day shoot-energy. (It ended up being a 2.75-day shoot, all things considered)
TODAY
After a successful shoot where we ran a bit over schedule, annihilated tea bags and tortilla chips, and collectively brought this ridiculous idea to life, HBD, is officially in post-pro. I will post sporadic updates here as things change, but otherwise, back to the cutting room (laptop) for now.
- DF
