Waiting Room

Waiting Room started out as a sketch I had written as a final for a Second City class. Inspired by the likes of Monty Python and other sketch based shows, I had hoped to replicate the experience of the sort of real life characters one might encounter by sitting in a waiting room. After rewatching the underrated Scoresese film, After Hours (1985), I was inspired to expand the script and include more ‘Kafkaesque’ elements to give the film a more unusual atmosphere.

Working with my friends, we developed what would eventually become the final script, albeit with an expanded subplot about a minor character. By the time I was to pitch a thesis project, I used Waiting Room as my starting point. Upon its approval, I gathered various people and started production on April 1st of all days. I was in way over my head for someone who had never directed a production before and we were constantly behind schedule. It was a learning experience to be sure.

After production wrapped, the footage languished for a while as I pushed off the responsibility of editing it. In my mind, it wasn’t perfect and never would be. After some encouragement from friends and members of production, I finally finished it. My friends love my unusual sense of humor and felt that Waiting Room, over all my other projects, was the closest reflection of my personality. As someone who deals with social anxiety and shyness, Waiting Room is a direct reflection of how I feel in public spaces. Sometimes you run across very frightening people while other times you can find very friendly, albeit quirky individuals.

The film is presented in 4:3 and is set in the 80s. When asked why I wanted to even attempt to do a period piece as a student, I told my professor, “. . .because I think the 80s are funny.”