Behind the scenes.

The Forest of Dreams is a fantasy short film created in my senior independent study class. With the guidance of two UW-Madison film instructors, I undertook the massive commitment to write and direct my own short film, a goal I had in place since the start of college. As I was the only one receiving credit for this project, I was in charge of everything. I enlisted many recent Communication Arts grads to help out, and I am so thankful to have had such a willing and talented group of people to work with.

The story follows a young woman as she ventures out of the comforts of her home into an enchanted forest, searching for adventure and purpose. It grapples with themes of love, forgiveness, and finding one's true home. The concept is based on the prodigal son story and largely reflects my own relationship with God as someone who loves me and forgives me. The film is very near to my heart and I hope it can serve as a reminder to viewers to love and take care of those around you.

I wrote the script at the beginning of 2024, and continued to make revisions throughout the summer. Pre-production began in mid-August, and I worked with my co-producers (David Guenthner and James Kovaleski) to fundraise, find locations, and cast actors. I earned a scholarship amounting to $1,500 and we raised around $2,200 - making the film's budget $3,700 (although we went over by about $300.) Production began the last weekend in September and consisted of 4.5 shoot days over two weekends. We had a small crew of about 12; our crew has worked together before, making production much smoother and inherently more fun. Shoot days, while stressful, were invigorating, exciting, and overall a wonderful time. Post-production began mid-October and was a steady flow of work until December 13th. Editing and coloring went relatively smoothly, although the sound designer (Kovaleski) had to do a lot of audio cleanup. I worked with my brother, Cody Dallmann, on VFX, which took up most of the allotted post-production time. While there are always points to be improved upon, I am very happy with the finished film, and am excited to implement my new learning experiences in future projects.

The Forest of Dreams had its world premiere at the Communication Arts Fall 2024 Showcase on December 14th, 2024. I had the honor of emceeing the event; it was a step outside of my comfort zone, but I found I really enjoyed the role.

The film has been submitted to film festivals and will screen at different locations throughout the next year.

Finally, I thank God and my Lord & Savior Jesus Christ, who empowered me to make this film. I also want to thank the Communication Arts Department, my instructors Aaron Greer and Erik Gunneson, my incredible crew, my talented cast, my friends, my family, and, of course, all those who supported the project.