The Daily Heap
Download the Script

The Daily Heap is a story I wrote at the very last minute on a vacation in Cabo San Lucas. I was in a beautiful city with my talented sister and it just seemed irresponsible to not make a movie.

Nonetheless, I was strapped for ideas. First, I wrote a sad and confusing story about a girl who has a panic attack while thinking about killing her incestuous father. It was a really fun story! After going over the plot points with my sister, and feeling that I wasn't in the mood for something quite so heavy, I somehow happened upon the idea of The Daily Heap.

The story is about a girl named Claudia who ventures down to the beach every morning and, most often, finds a dead body waiting for her. With a work-a-holic mother who relied on Claudia's father to play parent--before he left, that is--Claudia is on her own (unless you count the deceased). With each body, Claudia finds an echo of the nearly departed. For a few hours each day, she feeds a self-imposed obligation to coach them through this hard time with her acerbic and off-putting personality. When she greets a newly dead member of an island cult, however, she's forced to reassess the way she treats others and herself.

The shoot went reasonably well, considering my cousin Rachel (who plays the cult member) has never acted in her life and my sister (who plays Claudia) was sick. Additionally, the lighting I brought didn't work so we had to use lamps and laptop screens. On top of that, try getting decent sound as ocean waves crash beside you. I could go on about the troubles, but you get the idea. All things considered, the shoot went reasonably well. Hopefully I'll get the video up here soon.