to be forgotten

Watch the full film (24 min.):

Shane Emery, a recovering addict recently out of prison, searches in vain for the means to erase the incriminating records of his past transgressions. He gets a call from a company that claims it can not only erase his online presence but also make the world at large—books, photographs, even human beings—forget about him and the tragedy he caused. At first Shane is skeptical, but when the company demonstrates its capabilities, he weighs his options and goes all in.
Starring
RYAN KAY

Writer/Director

Director of Photography
DAVID KOSSACK

Production Design
Play teaser
Screenings and Awards
Year Event Status/Award
2017 Slamdance Screenplay Competition Semi-Finalist
2018 SoCal Screenplay Competition Finalist
2019 Philip K. Dick Film Festival Official Selection
2019 Katra Film Series (Sidebar Edition) Runner-Up for Audience Choice Award
2019 Gen Con Film Festival Ovid Award ("most creative story")
2019 Festival of Cinema NYC Nominated for Best Screenplay
2020 New York Cinematograpy Awards (January Edition) Best USA Film
2020 Creation International Film Festival (Winter Session) Best in Show; Best Drama, Short; Best Director, Short;
Best Actor, Short; Best Supporting Actress, Short;
Best Cinematography, Short; Best Editing, Short;
Best Original Score; Best Sound Design, Short
2020 Retro Avant Garde Film Festival NYC Official Selection
2020 Seattle True Independent Film Festival Official Selection
2020 Reykjavík Visions Film Festival Best Sci-Fi Film
2020 The Hague Global Cinema Festival Official Selection
PRODUCTION NOTES (Click on an item to expand.)
  • One Weekend, One Location

    This zero-budget film was shot in an apartment in Upstate New York over the course of a

    single weekend. Actor Katie Bruno called in from Nashville, TN to provide the voice of Becca.

  • Many Voices

    Katie Spallone, who provided the voice of the Woman on the phone, also provided the voice

    for Shane’s voicemail and the voice of the dispatcher on the police officer’s radio in the final

    scene. It’s left up to the audience to decide if there is a connection among those voices in

    the story.

  • Continuity

    Shane’s apartment undergoes a gradual transformation through the course of the film,

    starting cluttered but becoming tidier until it’s virtually empty at the end. In addition, Shane

    starts folding paper cranes and leaving them everywhere. Since the scenes were shot out of

    sequence, production designer (and script supervisor) Abby J. Smith had to be meticulous

    in keeping track of the state of the apartment from scene to scene.

  • Spots of Red

    The color red is used throughout the film to represent warning signs from Shane’s subconscious. Gibson and Smith had fun finding ways to plant dashes of the color in various scenes. It was serendipitous that the kitchen in the apartment happened to feature a stained-glass window with red accents in it.

  • Self-Extinguishing Flames

    In the penultimate scene, a candle Shane lights goes out of its own accord, and then a match he lights does the same. While subtle on the screen, these practical effects were not straightforward to produce. During each take, in addition to worrying about the actor’s performance and the camera’s movements, Gibson had to cross their fingers and hope that the flames would cooperate and die out on cue.

Behind-the-scenes time-lapse

Actor Ryan Kay stays patiently on his mark as the production swirls around him during the filming of the final scene.