Making time.

Harlan Drudge, a promising young banker from the city, is good at his job: always organized, on time, and strictly focused. He's skilled at making money, but terrible at making friends.

Harlan's worldview is shaken when his job responsibilities clash with stark reality. Bearing the news of imminent foreclosure on several farming families struggling to make ends meet, the banker must make a judgment call that could ruin Joseph Retter, an old friend and client of Harlan's late father.

    

With only one day to save the farm, Retter must somehow make Harlan see things through the farmers' eyes, repairing a lifetime of strife in one frantically chaotic morning that Harlan will not soon forget.

The Filmmaker's Inspiration: A Look Back

"Time Lapse" was written as a means of conquering my own personal demon; I fear what I cannot control.

When I was a child, time meant nothing to me. Days and weeks passed by. I flew through life, one year fading into the next, without a second thought. I remember receiving a new fishing pole for my birthday. I was eager to test it, and my grandfather, an avid fisherman, took me down to a small lake. As I stood on the rocky shoreline, looking out over the calm, blue water, I felt I had never been so at peace with the world. The fish didn't bite at all that day, and the air was unusually crisp for a mid-July afternoon, but it didn't matter; what mattered was the moment spent with my grandfather trying something I had never done before, whether my efforts were fruitful or not. I savored the experience, not the passage of invested hours. I thought I had discovered what life was all about and what was truly important. I looked up at my grandfather and smiled.

Looking back, I miss being a child; free to explore, free to question, free to fail without consequence - the pure innocence and naivete of it all. Living moment by moment, with no thought as to what was or soon would be, I felt everything seemed so simple and sweet. Could life stay like this forever? Could the timeless beauty of life be enough to sustain?

        

Now that I'm an adult, time is of the essence. Deadlines and schedules rule the day as work becomes more and more synonymous with life. I find myself constantly obsessing over the future. By the time I'm thirty, I should have already made some mark on the world - and if I haven't? Well, I'd just have to work twice as hard, twice as fast. Taking life as it comes isn't enough anymore; I must be ready for what's coming. I need to plan ahead and make an appointment with destiny because it's not going to track me down and make one with me.

I find myself realizing that there is no real separation between childhood and adulthood. Why not fully appreciate life's experiences while keeping an eye on the path ahead? Even while being a responsible adult, I can still take things one day at a time.

These were the thoughts that inspired my short film "Time Lapse." It was an uplifting undertaking creating this work with a hardworking, passionate cast and crew, and now I hope to share the fruits of our efforts with all of you.

Sean Ripley
Writer/Producer/Director