Originally, I wanted to make a short horror film about an arsonist. When I tried to capture uninhabited landscapes of wildfires, people would wander into frame to take their own photos, selfies and videos. What I saw in real life was more horrifying than my horror movie idea. Wildfires and drought pose a serious threat to life as we know it in California, but it is not too late to salvage the future. Human ingenuity is remarkable and there are many people fighting to create a sustainable world. We just live in an era where it’s easy to passively stare at catastrophe on a screen and feel discouraged, or even worse, entertained.

Quinn Else is an award-winning filmmaker who tells odd yet human stories inspired by real people and places. His narrative and documentary films have screened at internationally renowned film festivals, including Clermont-Ferrand, AFI Fest, Hot Docs, and Fantastic Fest. He's won a Young Director Award and Student Emmy. Online, he's received Vimeo Staff Picks and been featured on Hulu, Short of the Week, and NoBudge and BOOOOOOOM TV. He lives in Los Angeles.