Whether by some cosmic grace or odd coincidence, I somehow managed to make it nearly forty years without losing someone near and dear to me. That all changed this past year when I lost my grandfather, the person to whom I looked up to most, and then my best friend about six months later. One can only avoid one of life’s most painful inevitabilities for so long. Most of my thoughts since have been grappling with the ephermal nature of our existence, and the traces we leave behind, like footprints in the sand. A few months after my grandfather passed, I was combing through old voicemails in my trash folder on my iPhone. When I realized how far the backlog went, I was surprised to find a bunch from him. The moment I heard his voice for the first time since his passing was profound. Emotions bubbled up from the depths of me and catalyzed a rush of vivid sense memory. While the content of most of the messages was trivial or mundane, the actual aural experience of his voice was such a gift. I felt so fortunate to have stumbled upon these priceless artifacts. memories. This experience was the genesis of this spot. I wanted to capture that feeling of listening to a voice, a digital time capsule that when opened can stir up powerful, universal emotions from down deep.

Steven Tralongo is a writer/director striving to express his cinematic visions through romantic realism, punctuated by an unforeseen twist. Steven’s work has garnered recognition from SHOOT Magazine / SHOOTonline when he was chosen to be part of their 2022 New Directors Showcase, as well as earning special commendation at the 2023 Porsche Awards. His work has also been shortlisted at Young Director Awards and Berlin Commercial. He was featured as the director of the month for shots creative’s July 2023 installment of “shots Unsigned”. Steven has short comedy script on the Coverfly Red List he is currently working to bring to the screen. Steven is a graduate of the University of Colorado's School of Journalism and the University of Southern California's School of Cinematic Arts. He lives in Southern California with his wife and their two young children.