Experiencing Interruptions?

I AM DIRT

This week, Dan (host of the educational series, HOW DO YOU?) answers the question: HOW DO YOU...START A GARDEN?

Dan walks you through the process of picking your soil, seeds, and ultimately caring for your beautiful sprouting garden...

until he accidentally steps on a worm.

  • Jacob Marquez
    Director
  • Jacob Marquez
    Writer
  • Sergio Luna
    Producer
  • Drew Summers
    Key Cast
    "Dan"
  • Project Type:
    Short
  • Genres:
    Comedy, Drama, Experimental
  • Runtime:
    8 minutes 25 seconds
  • Completion Date:
    May 5, 2025
  • Production Budget:
    800 USD
  • Country of Origin:
    United States
  • Country of Filming:
    United States
  • Language:
    English
  • Shooting Format:
    Digital
  • Film Color:
    Color
  • First-time Filmmaker:
    No
  • Student Project:
    Yes - Texas State University
  • Digital Cinema Package:
    Unavailable
Director Biography - Jacob Marquez

I don't actually recall when I first got the inclination to tell a story. I suppose it must have been when, at a very young age, I was gifted a set of clay. I had such a desire to craft little worlds with characters who got along and who fought and who lost and loved. Their stories felt so clear in my mind, so big and alive, but I could never get the clay to mold in the manner I had wished. What I imagined never seemed to match what came out.

I started making films maybe 4 or 5 years ago. In college, I took Film Appreciation and realized I'd much rather take more classes like that than what Engineering had in store for me. So I switched degrees and starting looking at film schools. I didn't know the first thing about film but I knew how to use a camera and I knew how to record sound.

I moved to San Marcos, TX to attend TXST University and experienced a burgeoning Film Program where I made many close friends. I slowly fell into my now current role as an Editor, which I love dearly. In fact, in my time at TXST I got to work as an editor on films which premiered at Tribeca Film Festival, Austin Film Festival, Film Festival at Hollywood Park and all across the globe.

While I appreciate and love every film I have ever worked on, I was always waiting for a very specific type of film to come across my desk. I didn't have any clue what that film was, but there was something in the back of my mind just waiting and waiting. I started to fear that I would never get to edit that film.

So I started trying to make it.

I find filmmaking to be very fun. I don't do it often, but sometimes I feel I've got something to say. I've never been great with words or feelings or ideas so I put my thoughts into imagery, sound and rhythm to fuel my stories. It's fun! But it's really hard! So if I'm going to make a film then it's with the hope that it really means something.

I don't think I've made the film I want to edit. Maybe I never will. But every time I try, I feel like I've gotten a little closer to shaping that clay.

Add Director Biography
Director Statement

Many of the stories I love explore complex, confusing emotions against unexpected or unusual backdrops. I AM DIRT was my way of doing the same; chasing an emotion I couldn’t shake: guilt born out of childhood mistakes.

I often question myself and what it really means to be “Jacob.” Am I only what I did yesterday? What I’ll do tomorrow? Or am I a messy accumulation of choices; some of them stretching back ten years or more? Am I still the kid who made mistakes and didn’t know better? More often than I’d like to admit, that train of thought leaves me spiraling, stuck on the belief that I must be an awful person because of something I said or did when I was five.

I don’t know how to explain it except that I’ve always felt like a bad person. Not because of anything huge or unforgivable, but because of little things I did as a kid that never left me. I said something cruel once. I lied. I hurt someone without meaning to. And in my head, that means I’ve always been that person. I can’t shake it.

Dan’s story grew out of that feeling. He’s stuck with the weight of past actions, with the guilt that comes when you realize you’re not the person you wanted or thought you’d be.

When I showed this film for my thesis screening, someone came up to me and said they felt the same way; that they’d carried the same kind of guilt and self-doubt for years.

She hugged me and said that we weren’t bad people, that we were always getting better. In that moment, I realized carrying these feelings, the guilt, the spirals, the fear that you’ve always been a bad person, doesn’t make us who we are. It’s just part of being human.