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The Ragged Method: Where AI Stops and the Filmmaker Begins

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Part Three of the AI Film Production Chain Series This series began with a problem. Film production does not have an operations layer. The systems that coordinate planning, documentation, scheduling, and continuity are either improvised or absent entirely. That gap creates chaos that gets mistaken for the cost of making art. In Part One, I named the gap. In Part Two, I mapped where AI can fill it, specifically in the operational work that supports filmmaking without touching the creative process. This final post draws the line. And it gives the framework a name. The Ragged Method The Ragged Method is a production system for independent filmmakers who want AI to carry the operational weight of a project without touching the creative work. It is the operational foundation behind every Ragged Films production. It defines how projects are planned, coordinated, documented, and delivered across every phase, from development through festival submission. It uses AI strictly for structured, rep...
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What AI Can Actually Do for Film Production (Without Touching Creativity)

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Part Two of the AI Film Production Chain Series Blogger Labels: AI Film Production Chain, indie filmmaking, production workflow, post-production, film operations In Part One, I described the gap that most independent productions are built on top of. Not a creative gap. An operational one. The absence of systems for planning, coordination, documentation, and visibility that quietly determines whether a project holds together or slowly comes apart. That post was not about AI. It was about naming the problem first. This one is about where AI actually belongs in the solution. Not as a creative tool. Not as a replacement for judgment or taste. As an operations layer that handles the work most filmmakers are already doing badly, not because they lack skill, but because no one ever gave them the infrastructure to do it well. A Necessary Distinction There are two kinds of work on every production. Creative work is the reason the project exists. The writing. The performance. The shot. Th...
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Location: Seattle, WA, USA
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Why Film Production Does Not Have an Operations Layer

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Part One of the AI Film Production Chain series Most films do not fall apart because of bad ideas or weak talent. They fall apart because there is no operational layer holding the work together. This is difficult to see from the inside. Film production has a long tradition of improvisation, heroics, and problem solving under pressure. Chaos is often mistaken for creativity, and exhaustion is worn like a badge of honor. Over time, this becomes normalized. But when you step back and look across multiple productions, a pattern emerges. The same problems repeat. Schedules drift. Information gets lost. Decisions pile up in the wrong places. Teams rebuild the same systems from scratch every time. This is not a people problem. It is a structural one. What an Operations Layer Actually Is In most industries, creative work sits on top of an operational foundation. That foundation does not make creative decisions. It provides clarity, continuity, and coordination so creative people can focu...
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Location: Seattle, WA, USA
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Beneath the Same Sky Finds Its First Festival Home

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What Being Selected by the Everett Film Festival Represents A First Festival Is a Real Threshold Every film has a first moment when it steps out of private space and into public view. For Beneath the Same Sky , that moment will happen this spring at the Everett Film Festival, where the film will screen and where I have been invited to participate as a featured presenter. This is the film’s first official festival selection. It is also my first time bringing a professional short film into a festival environment as a filmmaker. That distinction matters. Not because it marks an endpoint, but because it confirms that the work is ready to be seen, discussed, and carried forward. Why the Everett Film Festival Is the Right Beginning The Everett Film Festival has a long history of elevating stories that explore women’s lives, lived experience, and emotional truth. What began as the Everett Women’s Film Festival in the late 1990s has grown into a respected regional festival with a clear p...
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Location: Seattle, WA, USA
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Why a Teaser Trailer Is Not a Trailer

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  Designing Fear Without Explanation A teaser trailer is often treated like a shorter version of a trailer. That assumption weakens it before it even begins. A trailer explains. A teaser suggests. A trailer gives context. A teaser creates anticipation and then steps back. When filmmakers blur that distinction, they usually reveal too much and gain very little in return. I am currently cutting a teaser for my next short film, Cemetery Hill , and the process has reinforced a lesson I have learned repeatedly over time. A teaser is not a summary of a film. It is its own creative object with a very specific responsibility. That responsibility is not to explain the story. It is to establish tone, restraint, and trust. The Real Job of a Teaser A teaser exists to communicate one thing clearly. This is the emotional experience you are offering. Nothing more. The moment a teaser starts introducing characters, outlining plot, or hinting at mythology, it begins to lose its power. Viewe...
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Location: Seattle, WA, USA
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What Comes After Your First Professional Film Wrap

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Wrapping your first professional film feels like a milestone. The final shot is captured. The crew packs up. The drives are backed up. For a moment, it feels complete. Then things slow down. That quiet period after wrap is something many filmmakers are not prepared for. It is not failure. It is not loss of momentum. It is simply the moment when the work changes shape. This phase determines whether a film becomes a foundation for future work or quietly fades away. Wrap Is Not the Finish Line Production gives filmmakers structure by default. There is a schedule, a call sheet, and a shared goal that keeps everyone moving together. Once production ends, that structure disappears. What remains is responsibility. Suddenly, progress depends on decisions you make without external pressure. Editing, submissions, outreach, and follow through all require intention. Without a plan, even strong films stall here. This is not because the work lacks quality. It is because no one teaches filmma...
Location: Seattle, WA, USA
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Ragged Films and the Case for a Better Film Community

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When people talk about filmmaking, they usually talk about the finished product. The screening. The festival. The moment the lights go down and the story finally belongs to an audience. What gets discussed far less is the community that makes those moments possible. Films do not come from nowhere. They come from people. From spaces that allow creativity to take shape. From systems that make it possible for artists to learn, practice, fail safely, and grow. Without those foundations, even the strongest stories struggle to survive. Ragged Films exists because of community. And Beneath the Same Sky was proof of what happens when that community is supported instead of stretched thin. A First Professional Step That Was Not Taken Alone Beneath the Same Sky was my first fully professional short film. It was not just a personal milestone. It was a collective one. Eighty percent of the film was shot at Harbor Island Studios, a space that represents far more than walls and soundproofing. H...
Location: Seattle, WA, USA
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