that could be done for little to no money. Artistically we chose it because of the tension and suspense we’d be able to create with the story. Woven throughout the direction and the writing is the theme of parenthood. It explores the idea of being too coddled versus being neglected. The two sisters are left alone without parental supervision and end up being put in a dangerous situation. The monster on the other hand refuses to leave the comfort of the well, choosing to remain at his mother’s side. There is a lot of yonic imagery used in the film to emphasize that point. The well is the monster’s womb. He lies deep inside where he feels safe until somebody invades that space by entering the shed, forcing him to rise from the well (birth). At one point Cat tries to cut the rope that the monster uses to keep himself safe (the umbilical crowd). We never had any intention of showing the monster. Not just because it wasn’t in the budget but because the unknown is always scarier. Let the audience’s imagination run wild. If you let them fill in the blanks it will be filled by their own fears; their own nightmares. It will end up being their personal monster. What’s more frightening than that?

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We were the entire crew during production with Herb running the sound and Joe doing the cinematography. We enlisted Travis Lemmons to score the film because he was somebody we went to high school with and knew he was more than capable of handling the job. We cast Grace Soriano through a local community theatre and she was eager to work on the film with us. Melissa Malone answered a casting notice we posted after our original actress backed out due to a scheduling conflict. We couldn’t have been happier with our actresses and we developed strong relationships with both of them, becoming friends and colleagues. We have sustained a great working relationship with them, having worked with at least one of them on every one of our productions. If we had not chosen Melissa and Grace our careers may have taken an entirely different path but luckily they came into our lives and we’ve been able to create beautiful art consistently because of them. Keep It in the Dark showed us the importance of preparation and relationships. It also confirmed that we could make films on our own.