40 Comments
User's avatar
Birgitte Rasine's avatar

Loved having you onboard for the Holiday Tour Meg! Too much fun. I don't know what I'll do with myself after it ends. Actually, I do, but that's under wraps for now... :)

Bookmarking this to watch your film as soon as I have a moment. For anyone doubting what Meg says about how much time it takes to make a mere seven minutes of a video, take it from us production veterans. It's a bear. (or a Boss Cat)

Expand full comment
Meg Oolders's avatar

Ooh, can't wait to unwrap what's under wraps! I hope it's you putting your feet up and indulging in some R&R.

Yes, watch when time and space permits. 💜

Expand full comment
David Perlmutter's avatar

Congratulations on the Watty.

Expand full comment
Meg Oolders's avatar

Thank you, David! It's purdy cool. 😎

Expand full comment
Amran Gowani's avatar

Will catch the video this evening when I can properly focus. Remember: you're supposed to be taking a break!

Expand full comment
Meg Oolders's avatar

Um... good at taking breaks I am not. Also, with great break comes great space for creating stuff. I'm not playing social media roulette right now. Does that count? 😉

Expand full comment
Amran Gowani's avatar

Definitely. Social media is bad.

Expand full comment
Anonymom's avatar

A lovely 7 minutes.

Thanks for making me stop and just be.....

Expand full comment
Meg Oolders's avatar

Sure thing, moms.

Expand full comment
Sharron Bassano's avatar

An absolutely delightful film, Meg. A woman trying to fulfill two roles in one evening. So many of us can relate. And, yes, I DO know how many weeks it took to conceive of and produce this piece. Congratulations to you for a very successful product! In the coming year, I would like to see a video of you at your desk, simply reading aloud one of your stories. I know you read them all aloud anyway as you write. We would love to hear how it sounds to you. AND we could learn more about YOU by listening and watching.

Expand full comment
Meg Oolders's avatar

I do have a swanky new office space ... 🤔however still eternally not confident about my speaking voice or the weird stuff my face does when I talk, but we'll see if I can get over myself in the interest of fiction experimentation in 2024. 😉

Thanks for watching, Sharron! This one goes out to a lot of multifaceted moms out there. 💜💜💜

Expand full comment
Rich Watson's avatar

You are a good singer.

Interesting approach to story without it looking like a traditional film--and yet it also has elements of prose reading. And there’s just enough story to allow the viewer to fill in the gaps for oneself.

Clever.

Expand full comment
Meg Oolders's avatar

Thank you, Rich! I'm glad you were able to pull the bigger story from the elements I chose to include in the film. And for sticking around to read the credits. 🙂🎵

Expand full comment
J.E. Petersen's avatar

NAILED IT. Wet eyes and everything.

Expand full comment
Meg Oolders's avatar

Mission accomplished. 😇💜

Expand full comment
Nick Richards's avatar

What a beautiful short fiction experience. Thank you so much for putting in that work!

Expand full comment
Meg Oolders's avatar

You're so welcome, Nick! I'm glad you enjoyed it!

Expand full comment
Justin Deming's avatar

This is beautiful, Meg. I really enjoyed taking in the story through this medium. I love your approach to writing fiction, too. I share the same sentiment!

Expand full comment
Meg Oolders's avatar

Thank you, Justin! Yes, you and I write similarly. I'm always impressed when you incorporate dialogue into your 50-word stories. It's amazing how a brief exchange between two people can communicate so much about their relationship.

Thanks for watching! P.S. Your book should be arriving today!!!

Expand full comment
Tom Pendergast's avatar

Wow, very effective use of the medium to tell the story. There was enough in there that was enigmatic that it kept me interested.

Expand full comment
Meg Oolders's avatar

Glad to know I'm keeping you interested, Tom. 😂

Thanks for reading/watching/listening/commenting. 🥂

Expand full comment
Ben Wakeman's avatar

This was lovely and heartwarming, Meg. Your pacing has never needed animation to be effective, but this dramatization and the music brought it to life in a new way. Happy Holidays!

Expand full comment
Meg Oolders's avatar

Thank you, Ben! 💜Happy Holidays to you and yours!

Expand full comment
Alexander Ipfelkofer's avatar

Great job, Meg. It took a lot of work I am sure and it shows. 👌👌

Expand full comment
Meg Oolders's avatar

Thank you, Alexander! 🥂🥂🥂

Expand full comment
MaKenna Grace's avatar

Love this. I write the same way. I can see it all playing out in my head. When I can, I read it out loud to get a good sense of the emotion behind it.

Expand full comment
Meg Oolders's avatar

Thank you, MaKenna. 💜Yes, I always read my stories aloud! I do it for the emotional connection and to make sure I'm getting the rhythm I want out of my phrasing along the way.

Thank you so much for watching and commenting!!

Expand full comment
Alexx Hart's avatar

Story: all the feels!!! Production: as an artist & instructor who got force-fed overnight into transferring my whole dance life from stage & studio into video by Covid & Dain Bramage...ohhhhhhh yes. I believe it took that long! I have been there. But when it all lines up and you get to push Play in full screen mode for the first time without stopping to make a major correction?! Soooooo satisfying.

This was awesome!! And the fact that it was delivered in just the sound effects and dialogue instead of full screen acting...I dunno. It brought it even closer to home because it brought us into her phone and thus her heart...and then back out of it where it was merry and bright. ✨🥰✨ “Save.” That one word. Bravo!!

Expand full comment
Meg Oolders's avatar

Aww. Thank you, Alexx. 💜💜💜At one point I wondered if this would have been more effective if I could have managed voiceovers for the mom and the kid, but I actually like that its more of a hybrid between film and traditional text. Maybe that'll be my thing that I do that makes me stand out in multimedia land.

Thank you so much for watching and sharing your thoughts. And yes, the finished product is always satisfying to watch. I admit to watching it several times, on various devices, both before and after I published it. 🙂

Expand full comment
Alexx Hart's avatar

Nice. Oh, I think you could totally carve yourself a personalized specialty for this corner of media! It's so much up your alley with everything you said about dropping us in, no massive world building or backstory or anything and yet...my imagination fills in all the gaps. Such a cool gift.

I totally have this one saved so that it can be one of the Christmas Eve stocking stackers! ✨🎄✨🧦🧦🧦🍪🥛

Expand full comment
Mark Starlin's avatar

Beautifully done. I always imagine my stories as films or TV episodes when I write them. That’s the way my brain works.

Expand full comment
Meg Oolders's avatar

Thank you, Mark. Yup, I'm a student of theater and a consumer of sitcoms, romcoms, and tragicoms.🎭🎦 My brain likes to wrap things up in either 90-120 minutes for a novel or 22-48 minutes for a short story. 😂

Expand full comment
Mark Starlin's avatar

I imagine some stories as comics. I also don’t do much world building or descriptions of characters. I like to let the reader use their imagination. In my first novel, I never physically described my main character other than being a young man. Readers learn his character through the story but they can picture him however they like. Probably a bad idea, but I excel at doing things “wrong.” 🤣

Expand full comment
Meg Oolders's avatar

Not wrong! Just different! I find detailed descriptions of how people look distracting UNLESS it's a commentary on the narrator that they need to give us that description or it reveals something important about the character being described. Like a scar or worn clothing or a permanent scowl. Some narrators are prone to judging books by their covers. I like to mess with those characters and teach them a lesson. 😂

Expand full comment