behind the scenes
Oh, hi there!
Independently produced. Minnesota-made.
Minnesota Proud
From the support network to the natural beauty, you really cannot find a better place to film than our home state of Minnesota.
The Script
‘Silly Little Wounds’ is a heartfelt, intimate, and authentic exploration of the way relationships change as we enter middle age, a slow burning slice-of-life piece. The script features intricate and well-developed characters, naturalistic dialogue, and subtly profound themes of life and the different paths we take.
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Writing the script for Silly Little Wounds was a journey that began in 2020, in the throes of the COVID lockdown. I had reached out to a high school friend I was no longer close with to ask how they were faring. We had a wonderful conversation, and marveled at the ways it was easy to fall back into easy conversation after years apart.
Thus began the ‘Untitled High School Project.’ Over the next couple years, the script took a back seat to other projects. Notes were taken, ideas were discussed, and the project found its champion -- the frequent Oxford Comma collaborator, Abigail Blue.
Abigail helped Vanessa find the story’s beats, and write the outline. Once the story had its shape, the urgency to write was high. Another Oxford Comma frequent flier, Laura LaBree, and Vanessa filled out the outline and got the first draft of the script done - 114 pages in just over a month.
Once the first draft, now titled ‘Here We Go,’ was complete, Vanessa - who usually wrote only short films with minimal dialogue - wanted to hear the piece out loud, to see if it was as good as it seemed on paper. She invited some of her actor-friends to do a read through, and while some revisions were needed, Vanessa and her crew fell in love with the script, and decided they wanted to make it into a film.
Casting
As an actor’s director, the first step for Vanessa is always to assemble a stellar cast. Auditions were held in December of 2022, and we saw over 150 people over the course of 3 days (quite a few for such a small production). While this was overwhelming, it gave us the opportunity to appreciate the depth of the talent in our community, and to find the perfect assembly of humans to tell this story.
Crewing Up
Filmmaking is wonderfully, and infamously, a team sport. Especially at the independent level, you need a hardworking, talented group of people who believe in telling the story with all their hearts.
Our crew really came together when we signed Luke Oleen Junk onto the project as our cinematographer. Fresh out of film school, he brought big ideas, technical know-how, and a network of recent graduates looking for an ambitious project to test their skills.
MAKE IT
HAPPEN
"Film is a team sport"
- Vanessa Magowan Horrocks Powers
Production
When we say this movie was made with love, we mean it. Most of our crew wore multiple hats, taking on the challenge of an independent film set in stride. We understood the assignment - pour your heart into this project and the love will shine on screen.
Like any production, we hit snags: COVID scares, scheduling nightmares, and lugging sandbags up the stairs. We persevered through it all because this was a story worth telling.
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This process took many of us from acquaintances to friends. By the end, friends had practically become family. The vibes were right. A certain magic lingered in the air. Many of us have continued working together, building on that foundation of love and encouragement.
THAT'S A WRAP
"We'll fix it in post..."
- Vanessa Magowan Horrocks Powers
Post Production
A movie is made three times: once when it’s written, once when it is filmed, and then again, in post production.
Silly Little Wounds came together in the edit quite quickly. The vision during filming was very clear, and the hardest decisions to make seemed to be which excellent performances moments to highlight.
Our director and DP, Vanessa and Luke, tag-teamed color, and naturally sound for such a dialogue heavy piece was a big challenge, but we had Nick Ducko from Dodgy Audio in Virginia, and Raymond Bell Jr, a beloved collaborator in the Twin Cities, to fight the good fight.
Something that was always going to be SUPER important to the piece was music. In the pre-production process, we teamed up with music supervisor Jenna Enemy to pick our karaoke tracks, and other music that play diegetically throughout the film. When it came time to score the film, we had the opportunity to collaborate with local musical talent Isaiah Dietz.
He had a body of work that lent itself to the film's mood and style, and composed new pieces for the project as well, in collaboration with Xander Condie, Janelle Karlsrud, and Adam Hebeisen. Isaiah was a creative, enthusiastic, and kind collaborator, who worked tirelessly to bring the film’s music to life. We collaborated with Erik Lamp of TreeSpeak studios to record, mix, and master the film’s soundtrack.
To round it all out, we reach out to Eric Richardson, a frequent and favorite musical collaborator to fill in the gaps that remained. He used the vast body of music utilized in the film already to continue themes between the characters, and even craft a few new ones. The musical score for this film was a huge undertaking that truly took a village of hard-working, dedicated, and talented artists. We are so lucky to have had the team we did to elevate this film musically.
After 2 years in post-production, we premiered at the 2025 Twin Cities film festival to a sold out audience, almost literally 2 years after we wrapped filming.
