The Scrappy Joy of Independent Filmmaking: John Myrick on Creating 'Impacted'

Before bringing “Impacted to life, what internal or external experiences in your filmmaking journey shaped your unique directorial voice?

Growing up in the 1980s, I was exposed to films at a probably younger age than I should have been — courtesy of HBO, Showtime, and Cinemax. Movies like Conan the Barbarian, Mad Max, The Road Warrior, Star Wars, Superman, Jaws, and Animal House played on a permanent loop in our house. I watched them over and over, completely transfixed. That's when the obsession took hold — I was utterly hooked.

Every filmmaker has a distinct rhythm on set. How did your formal training—or perhaps your hands-on experience—help you develop your personal directing style?

Working in independent film, preparation is everything. I try to be so thoroughly prepared before we roll that once we're on set I can actually relax — fully present with the actors and the shot list rather than scrambling. You have to walk in knowing exactly what you need, but the real magic happens when you stay open and let things breathe and take shape organically. Over-preparing isn't about rigidity — it's what earns you the freedom to be spontaneous.

If you could pinpoint one cinematic masterpiece or a specific director whose work unconsciously in fluenced the visual or thematic tone of "Impacted", who or whal would it be?

Christopher Guest, without question. His mockumentary-style films are extraordinary — there's nobody better at that form. I'm also a big fan of one of his lesser-known works, The Big Picture, starring Kevin Bacon as a hotshot film school graduate who finds himself on the outside of Hollywood. By stripping everything back and returning to his roots — making films simply for the love of it — he finds his way back in. It resonates deeply with me. I'm also equally influenced by Sacha Baron Cohen, who I think is a genuine master of performance art. The way he never breaks character, always stays one step ahead, and manages to navigate those scenes with such precision and instinct — that's pure genius. Both of them share this rare ability to make something feel completely unscripted while every beat is rooted in a deep understanding of character. That balance is something I aspire to.

How do you personally describe the core essence of "Impacted"? What is the main emotional or psy- chological takeaway you want the audience to experience?

At its core, Impacted is driven by an underdog spirit — but it was never meant to be cynical. The comedy lives in the effort, in the failures, and in the quiet victories of getting through another episode of local access television. What I really wanted was for the audience to feel like they were in it with these characters, not laughing at them from a safe distance. Underneath all the chaos there's genuine affection — a scrappy joy that comes from trying, from collaborating, and from making things work even when they probably shouldn't. That love of the effort itself, I think, is what makes it resonate.

Can you share the creative process behind choosing this specific title and how it reflects the film's narrative?

Impacted definition = Strongly or directly affected by something, usually in a negative way. I think that it’s a funny title for a TV show and it works on a lot of levels.

Short films require incredible narrative economy. What was the biggest challenge in pacing the story of “Impacted” to ensure every second resonated with the viewer?

Going in, I knew the film had a specific structural advantage, a host introducing that week's featured film gave me two distinct worlds to work with. The in-studio segments were fairly contained and I could shoot those quickly and efficiently. For the film-withinthe-film, The Sanchez Film, I actually shot that myself with the help of my wife. She operated a fishing pole with monofilament line to pull off the rocket shots of "Spurtnik," and also worked the rat puppet behind the rocks. Because those sequences were so carefully pre-planned, we were able to shoot the entire Sanchez Film in a single day.

Can you walk us through a specific scene in "Impacted" that was particularly difficult to capture, and explain how you overcame that hurdle?

One scene that required some real ingenuity was the moment where the rat throws a vodka bottle at Diego Sanchez — which was actually me shooting my own POV. The gag required the bottle to appear to stick directly into my thigh. My solution was pretty lo-fi: I built a small cardboard thigh pad, glued a mini vodka bottle to it, and threaded it through my pants so it looked embedded. As my wife tossed the bottle toward camera, I did a quick whip pan at just the right moment to sell the impact. It took several takes to nail the timing, and a well-placed sound effect in post really brought it home. It's exactly the kind of scrappy, inventive problem-solving that independent filmmaking demands — and honestly, those are the moments I love most.

Film is a collaborative medium. How did you work with your Cinematographer to establish the visual palette, lighting, and camera movements for "Impacted"?

On this one, I wore the cinematographer hat myself — which actually made perfect sense given the material. Since Impacted is set within the world of a low-budget local access TV show, I deliberately leaned into that aesthetic rather than fighting it. I had no interest in making things look slick or polished — that would have been completely wrong for the world we were building. The poster art, the set dressing, the production design — all of it reflects that intentionally lo-fi sensibility. For the film-within-the-film, The Sanchez Film, I went even further, shooting in a grainy black-and-white Super 16mm-style look that felt like unearthed old footage. That creepy, weathered visual texture turns out to be a perfect fit for a story about a crashed space rocket on a deserted beach. The limitations became the aesthetic — and that's a philosophy I really believe in. Work with what you have, lean into it fully, and it stops feeling like a constraint and starts feeling like a choice.

Keeping a short film production on time and within budget is always a tightrope walk. What strate gic steps did you Lake during pre-production to ensure the shool for "Impacted" ran smoothly?

Over-prepare and over-plan — that's the only real strategy when you're working with limited time and limited resources. In independent film you have an incredibly small window to get everything shot and completed, so wasting time on set simply isn't an option. Every decision that can be made in pre-production should be made in preproduction. The more problems you solve before the camera rolls, the more present and creative you can be once it does. Production is not the time to be figuring things out — that's what pre-production is for. When you walk onto set having done that work, everything runs smoother, the crew feels it, the actors feel it, and the whole shoot has a confidence and momentum that you just can't manufacture any other way.

IF you were handed a feature-film budget tomorrow to expand the world or concept of "Impacted", What elements would you explore more deeply?

With a feature budget I'd really dig into the mythology surrounding The Sanchez Film and its legend within the community. I'd want to make a proper meal of it — interviewing locals, layering in archival news articles, black-and-white photographs, eyewitness testimony. The central mystery would deepen: Was it real? Was there a conspiracy? Was there truly a rogue Russian rat terrorizing a small California beach community? There's so much rich, absurd territory to mine there. I could see it working beautifully as a twopart special — giving the story room to breathe and build. And then there's the thread I find most compelling of all: what exactly happened to the cameraman, Diego Sanchez? That's a story unto itself. A man behind the lens who captured something extraordinary and then seemingly vanished — that's a whole other film waiting to be made.

Now that “Impacted” is completed, what is the most valuable lesson you learned from this specific project that you will carry onto your next sel?

If you think something is funny, try it. You can always cut it later — but you can't go back and shoot what you talked yourself out of. Trust that instinct. And always do one more take just for fun. Some of my favorite moments on set came from that last take where everyone relaxes, the pressure is off, and something completely unexpected and magical happens. Independent filmmaking is hard work, but it should also be joyful. Never lose sight of that. If you're not having fun making it, that energy finds its way onto the screen.

What are your immediate plans for the future? Are there any new genres, themes, or scripts you are currently developing that you can tease for us?

This fall I'm looking forward to taking Impacted out to the festival circuit and really soaking in that experience — connecting with other filmmakers, meeting audiences, and hopefully making people chuckle along the way. That's ultimately what it's all about. Beyond that I'm keeping a few things close to the vest for now, but let's just say the world of local access television has a lot more stories left to tell.

As an indie filmmaker navigating today's cinema landscape, What advice would you give to aspiring directors who are trying lo get their first short film funded and produced?

Be relentless. Whether it's a comedy, a love story, or a thriller — if you love the story, go make it. Nobody is going to do it for you. If the concept feels too big or too complicated, boil it down to something shootable. If that means making a short film, make a short film. There's no shame in that — some of the most powerful storytelling happens in a short format. Don't get paralyzed by the outcome or obsess over what happens after. Just go express yourself and tell your story. The act of making it, of seeing it through from idea to screen, is its own reward — and every film you finish makes the next one better. Start. Finish. Repeat.