
“Sisyphean, but Ultimately Fortuitous” | James Sweeney, Twinless

Films are made over many days, but some days are more memorable, and important, than others. Imagine yourself in ten years looking back on this production. What day from your film’s development, production or post do you think you’ll view as the most significant and why?
Positive memories become idealized the more we retell them, and the negative ones vice versa—so I am hesitant to single out a most memorable day, because then it becomes canon… but I will answer the prompt! Being a director means making the tough decisions.
My first instinct goes to the worst day, but I’m working on rewiring that part of my brain, so instead I choose the day we wrapped principal photography. The plan: to shoot at a live NHL game in a different state, as scripted. The Kraken vs. Canucks magically landed on our last day of filming—but making it a logistical reality always felt like a pipe dream. Oh, the strings pulled and hurdles cleared. I’m still pinching myself, because the backup plan was to cut the scene. And yet there I was, on a relatively warm Seattle February day, surrounded by thousands of fans, praying for a goal—I didn’t care which team, sorry—so we could capture it on camera. Spoiler: we got the shot.
It ended up a light day—almost a celebration, after a hard-fought schedule. I hitched a ride with Dylan back to Portland, and we reflected on the whole experience. The day punctuated the years-long journey of Twinless: Sisyphean, but ultimately fortuitous.
See all responses to our annual Sundance Question here.