Experiencing Interruptions?

Gradually & Then Suddenly

A one-act drama in which a man (The Scientist) passes from life to death, having "walked into the light." During the transition he finds himself with a woman named Destiny. She is lovingly cheerful, there for a last conversation. Destiny might be thought of as some manner of deity, or simply Nature, or the Angel of Death. It is revealed in conversation that the Scientist died in The Event, in which during the fifth year of the Atlantic conveyor current having stopped there was a collapse of the Antarctic “doomsday” glacier. The Scientist died in a massive flood while visiting the Hemingway house at Key West.

Over the course of this conversation we realize that the Scientist's parallel lives are an amalgam of climate denialism. Destiny talks to the Scientist about how he lived these parallel lives as professional climate deniers all while watching climate change play out over his lifetime. The conversation takes on the feel of a series of flashbacks, in which his other Vita Fila (life threads) appear. Throughout these several parallel lives the characters comforted themselves in believing that whatever effects climate change might bring, the consequences would occur long after they were gone. That made it easy for them to rationalize their professional pursuits as climate deniers despite actually accepting that climate change would bring major disruption to life on Earth.

  • Craig Trumbo
    Director
  • Craig Trumbo
    Writer
  • Craig Trumbo
    Producer
  • Mary Beth Eversole
    Key Cast
    "Destiny"
  • Bruce Dunn
    Key Cast
    "The Scientist"
  • Jesse Nyander
    Key Cast
    "The Flack"
  • Brett Darling
    Key Cast
    "The Writer"
  • Michael Robinson
    Key Cast
    "The Senator"
  • Kevin Nolan
    Key Cast
    "The Lobbyist"
  • Craig Trumbo
    Key Cast
    "The Butler"
  • Mary Beth Eversole
    Assistant Director
  • Project Type:
    Short
  • Runtime:
    32 minutes 38 seconds
  • Completion Date:
    May 21, 2024
  • Production Budget:
    2,200 USD
  • Country of Origin:
    United States
  • Country of Filming:
    United States
  • Language:
    English
  • Shooting Format:
    Digital (note 16:9 file)
  • Aspect Ratio:
    2.35 : 1
  • Film Color:
    Color
  • First-time Filmmaker:
    No
  • Student Project:
    No
Director Biography - Craig Trumbo

Craig Trumbo operates VuJa de Industries, located in Fort Collins, Colorado, USA. He writes and produces music videos and films addressing today's pressing social and political issues. Recent projects have included material on climate change, gun violence, and the war against Ukraine. He also composes and plays all musical parts in his films.
Additional works can be seen on his YouTube channel, https://www.youtube.com/c/DrRetch
Regarding his pathway to this point, Trumbo offered some insight.
"It was actually a bit of a segue, beginning to create original music and accompanying videos, and eventually dramatic shorts. After all, the band folded during the pandemic. While my base motivation may have been to simply maintain some creative outlet, one must first have something to say before bringing pen to paper, lens to CCD. My passions for the environment and social justice therein found an outlet. This collided with my professional background in photography and more recent efforts in music and production. And having worked, studied, and taught in journalism for some 25 years left me a hopeless news addict. So, to quote Chrissie Hynde:
"The phone, the TV and the news of the world got in the house like a pigeon from hell"
Stay tuned, more to come . . .

Add Director Biography
Director Statement

Gradually and Then Suddenly is a film about climate denialism. My original motivation was to take a semi-autobiographical approach to tell the story of how climate change has been kicked around over my lifetime, emphasizing what I've always felt was one of the most common barrier to generating enough public concern to cause action: time. "Sure, this is a problem, but it won't affect anything this century."

As I wrote the screenplay, it evolved into a more abstract examination of climate denialism generally, with a focus on the kinds of actors who have actively worked to sow seeds of doubt.