October 19, 2025 • 38 mins
Feeling stuck waiting for your next acting opportunity?
Then this episode is for you. I’m walking you step-by-step through how producing your own short film can help you book more meaningful work and finally take control of your career path. We’ll talk about how to find a story that speaks to your strengths, build a small but mighty team, and film scenes that make your reel stand out.
I’ll also share what I learned while creating my first short, Ride the Wave—the messy, beautiful process of turning an idea into something real. From writing and pre-production to filming in the ocean (and trusting the process when things got wild), you’ll learn what it really takes to create momentum as an actor.
By the end, you’ll see how mindset, preparation, and community can transform your career—and why your next big booking might just start with your own script.
The Magical Team:
CAST:
- Darcy - Meg Salisbury
- Diojee - My Pupper
- Linda - Jenny Anastasoff
CREW:
- Producers - Hailey Moore, Meg Salisbury
- Director of Photography - Anthony Matos
- 1st Assistant Camera - Jeshua Soucy
- Gaffer/Programmer - Daniele Amandolini
- Swing G&E - Luis Valmadrid
- Script Supervisor - Hailey Moore
- Sound Recordist - Griffin Cardale
- Music - Gabe Hirst
- Sound Design + PA - Gilon Backlund
2025 could be the year everything shifts for you—and I want to be right there with you on the journey.
Follow along for the real behind-the-scenes of acting, modeling, and mindset growth—you’ll see the wins, the lessons, and what it really takes to build a creative career.
📸 Instagram: @megsalisburycreative
🎬 TikTok: @megsalisburycreative
🌐 Blog + FREE Resources
Mindset Coaching for Actors: Subconscious reprogramming + nevous system regulation is fastest, easiest way to book more meaningful acting work. If you’re tired of holding youself back and want support to show up with confidence, clarity, and ease—I’d love to work with you. Apply for 1:1 coaching here
The Glow Up Newsletter: Want the best tips and takeaways to help you book more work and thrive in your career? Sign up here and start glowing up month by month.
You don’t have to figure this out alone. Subscribe, leave a review, and share this with another dreamer—because your next big break might be closer than you think.
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
SPEAKER_02 (00:00):
I wanted to put Darcy in this situation where
she was like fighting for herlife in the ocean.
And I wanted to use thismetaphor of the ocean being her
grief, since we're talkingliterally about riding the wave,
but metaphorically we weretalking about riding the wave of
grief as it comes and goes.
SPEAKER_01 (00:20):
And that sounds awesome, but logistically it's a
little bit hard.
SPEAKER_02 (00:25):
This was honestly what I was most nervous about
was like fake drowning.
I was worried about it lookingauthentic and real, but also not
dying, but acting like it's agood idea.
(00:54):
I'm Meg, actress, model, andyour behind the scenes bestie
when it comes to chasing dreamsand building something big.
After years of navigating theups, the downs, and the wild
in-betweens of the entertainmentworld, I'm fully stepping into
(01:14):
this next level chapter.
And this podcast is yourbackstage pass to all the real
stuff.
Auditions, photo shoots, mindsetshifts, script prepped, career
curveballs, you name it, I'msharing it all.
The highs and the hard lessonsin real time.
If you're ready to go all in onyour glow-up, take some brave
(01:38):
steps and see what it reallylooks like to glow up in this
industry.
Grab your favorite drink, getcozy, and let's dive in
together.
Hello there, friend.
Today is gonna be a really savvyepisode for you.
And that is because we are goingto talk about creating your own
short in order to help liven upyour reel or add some more
(02:03):
character to your reel.
I know I've discussed beforethat we've been on here that
we're starting pre-production ona short film.
And at this point, we've gonethrough the entire process, and
I just wanted to give you aquick little recap of all the
important parts of this tocomplete.
If you are on your own glow-upand you're wanting to create
your own short film and you'rewanting to build a team so that
(02:25):
you can update your reel or justhave some work out there to
showcase who you are and whatyou do.
This is gonna be a great episodefor you because I'm gonna break
down all the steps from startingto filming so that you have a
clear idea of what needs to beaccomplished and you can glow up
in your own reel in your ownscene.
So let's just get right into it.
I would say the first step hereis to acquire or create your own
(02:50):
script.
And here are some of youroptions.
You could hire a freelancer towrite a script with a character
in mind.
Say you're missing a certaintype of character in your reel,
and you want to have a varietyin your reel, you could hire a
freelance writer to help youwrite your scene.
You could write your own scene,you could hire a friend to do
your scene, or you could I Idon't like highly recommend
(03:14):
this, but you could use AI orChatGBT to write your scene.
But typically, anytime I've hadChatGBT try to script things for
me, it it's just a little funkyand a little weird, but it is
out there and you it issomething that you can do and
it's an option.
So I wanted to present it.
Once you've had your first draftof your script done, the short
film that we just completed,there were five total drafts for
(03:36):
me.
And this is gonna range scriptto script, but I always like to
start when I'm when I have ascript, when I have a script
idea, is to do my first draftand then I send it to four or
five people that I really trustfor their feedback, and I get
feedback and I say, What'smissing?
Help me, what what do I need tochange to make this work?
Does this work?
Is this clear?
(03:57):
And somebody who's got anoutside view can look at it and
help me make sure that the ideasthat I'm trying to get across
are very clear and the characterthat I'm trying to get across is
very clear.
And so I said sent it out for myfirst round of feedback and got
some great feedback back, whichwas awesome because I the things
that I heard back from peoplewere things that I already kind
(04:19):
of in my mind was thinking maybethis doesn't work.
So I got my first round offeedback, did a second draft,
sent the second draft back outfor feedback from the same
people, got notes again, then wewere at our third draft.
And our third draft is what westarted planning our shoot
around because we knew that thescript wasn't gonna shift and it
(04:40):
wasn't gonna change too muchfrom that third draft.
And so the next thing we did waswe had a production meeting
where I got together with acouple of my friends who are
also in the film industry.
We talked about what we wouldneed for a team, we talked about
who was gonna takeresponsibility for what, we
talked about where the money wasgonna come from for the short,
and then some of like the keyimportant like location details.
(05:03):
Did we have ideas?
Were their places that wespecifically had in mind for the
shoot?
And so we kind of started thatearly process of pre-production
meetings.
Then we, as we separated, Iactually did my fourth and fifth
drafts together.
I guess I technically had sixdrafts of this, but I did four
(05:23):
and five drafts.
One we got rid of a key player,and the other I kept the key
player, and I said, What do youlike better?
Because I felt like this keyplayer was distracting from the
story and not adding to thestory.
So we talked about what theoptions were.
After discussing with everybodythat ended up being part of
their final team, or some of thekey players of our final team,
(05:47):
we took those two scripts andmorphed them into one with our
sixth draft and our lockedshooting draft.
And once you have a lockedshooting draft, that means your
script is not changing, nothing.
It's gonna stay exactly the wayit is, and we're gonna shoot it
as it as it's stated in thescript.
That was kind of like thescripting, scripting and
drafting process.
(06:07):
Then we moved on to Tech Scout.
And Tech Scout is when we go toall of our locations and we kind
of talked through how we weregonna shoot it.
We took production referencestills so that we kind of were
prepared uh for what we weregonna shoot that day.
So we talked about the shots,how we were gonna film them and
(06:27):
execute them, and then took areference still so that on the
day we knew exactly what we wereexpecting to do, so that our
schedule didn't get messed up onthe day because we didn't have
because we hadn't planned aheadof time.
I hope that makes sense.
That was kind of our Tech Scoutday.
From that Tech Scout day, wefinalized the rest of our crew,
(06:48):
finalized the small details andthe schedule, when were we gonna
have lunch, what was the correctorder to shoot our scenes in to
be the most efficient, and anyother miscellaneous small things
that we might have needed torent or purchase to make the day
complete.
Because this was a five-pagescript and we shot it all in one
(07:08):
day.
So we wanted to make sureeverything was set because there
was no wiggle room for us not toachieve everything we needed to
do in that one day.
So once our text goes complete,we'd finalized our script, we
were like officially in pre-pro,probably I would like to say a
week.
Uh I had about a week to do areally good like pre-production
(07:30):
timeline.
This whole process, in caseyou're wondering, took about a
month from beginning to end,including drafting all of my
script, which is really short,honestly, and I would have loved
to have more time, but we hadset a deadline and a target
date, and so we just pushed tomake sure that target date
(07:52):
happened.
If you were gonna do thisyourself, I would say give
yourself uh more than a month tocomplete all these processes,
depending on your schedule.
My schedule was a little monkyand hard.
So I was out of town for two ofthose weeks, and so it was
really kind of hard to completetasks, and maybe a month would
have been enough if I wasn't outof town for two of the of the
(08:12):
four weeks.
So now we have finished our textcut, we're in pre-pro, our
script is finalized.
The next things that I did andwe did as a team was we shopped
for all the props, all the setdress, anything we needed to
rent, all of those things gotcompleted in that week.
And then one of the locations weshot was my house.
(08:34):
So I knew what kind of needed tohappen in that week.
So we moved furniture around tomake it conducive to what we
were planning on completing onour shoot day and what we had
discussed in from our TechScout.
We moved all the furniturearound that needed to be moved
and kind of like prepped thespace and got rid of most of my
personal things and stuff thatdidn't need to be cluttering up
(08:56):
the space of the frame.
From there, I think honestlyfinished doing all of the prep
the night before, which felt solast minute to me and so kind of
like scary.
And I mean, we finalized ourwardrobe literally like less
than probably 12 hours before wewere gonna start shooting.
All of those last minute detailskind of came together.
(09:19):
And then on August 16th, I shotmy first short film that I have
written and starred in, whichfeels indescribable.
I I shot the first thing that Iwrote, something that was an
idea in my head came to fruitionin reality just a couple days
(09:40):
ago, which is just mind-blowing.
It kind of makes me want to domore and more and more of these.
And we have a few ideas, we havea few ideas of some stuff that
we're gonna shoot over the nextcouple months.
That's kind of the process frombeginning to end to shoot day,
and I know you want the insidescoop on the script and you want
to sneak peek.
(10:00):
You want to hear about the filmday and all of that process
because you're here for it.
SPEAKER_00 (10:06):
We just wrapped our short film Ride the Wave.
SPEAKER_02 (10:12):
You heard it here.
We finished filming Ride theWave.
I think I want to read you thescript first.
So I think this is how I want todo it.
I think I want to read you myscript first, and then we'll
recap how the day went so thatyou can kind of reference how we
shot the day out based on thescript that you've already heard
(10:36):
versus hearing my recap beforeyou even know what's happening
with the script.
Let's start by reading thescript.
Ride the wave by MeganSalisbury.
Scene one, exterior houseestablishing shot.
It's a cool spring morning, butnot a cloud in the sky.
Scene two, the interior bedroom,late morning.
(11:00):
The room is dim, but draped inearly spring light.
Unwashed mugs, grief books, anda dog-eared photo of Darcy and
her mother clutter thenightstand.
The room has been clearly livedin.
Darcy, late twenties, liescurled up under a heavy
comforter, staring at the photoof her mom.
(11:22):
Her dog, DOG, rests at her feet.
Darcy's voiceover.
As a grief therapist, I'vealways been fascinated by how
grief moves and waves.
One minute you're okay, thensuddenly it crashes over you.
It pulls you under, it stealsyour breath, spits you back out
(11:44):
gasping.
If it doesn't swallow you wholefirst, it's unpredictable.
Powerful nearly impossible tocontrol.
Darcy gently rubs her thumbsover the frayed spot on the
comforter.
Scene three.
Darcy struggles in the deepocean, fighting for air.
(12:07):
Waves overpower her.
She swims desperately, barelykeeping her head above water.
Darcy's voiceover.
I advise my clients to breathethrough it.
Move with it.
Ride the wave.
Maybe I'm a hypocrite.
Scene four.
Interior bedroom, late morning.
Darcy sits up slowly at the edgeof her bed, her eyes glassy with
(12:32):
tears that she refuses to shed.
She decides instead to stuff itdown.
Lighting a roach from the nightbefore, she takes a deep inhale,
exhaling slowly as she collapsesback onto the bed.
Eyes fixed on the ceiling.
DOG lets out a low, annoyedhuff.
(12:53):
Darcy glances back at him.
Darcy to DOG.
What would you tell me to do,huh?
And don't say go for a walk.
DOG's head perks up inexcitement.
Darcy to DOG.
Okay, we'll go for a walk, butjust to the mailbox and back.
You got it, mister?
DOG jumps off the bed and headsfor the door faster than
(13:13):
lightning.
Darcy sighs softly.
Gives a faint smile and followshim.
Scene five Exterior MailboxMinutes later.
Darcy, but still in her pajamasand slippers, trudges down the
driveway behind DOG.
She looks exhausted, haunted.
Her own words echo in her mind.
(13:36):
Darcy, VO from a past session.
It's normal to avoid griefentirely.
We call them distractionbehaviors.
Uh watching TV, doom scrolling,drinking, drugs.
But distractions only prolongthe pain.
They never get to the root ofwhat's really keeping us stuck.
(13:59):
She opens the mailbox out ofhabit, bills, the junk, then an
unexpected envelope.
It's old, yellowed, handwritten.
She turns it over.
Her name.
Her mom's handwriting.
Postmarked six months ago.
Darcy's breath catches.
(14:19):
She quickly stuffs the letterinto her pocket, heart racing,
and rushes back towards thehouse, DOG trotting alongside
her.
Scene six.
Minutes later.
Darcy sits at the table staringat the letter.
She looks curious as if she'safraid to open it.
Curiosity takes over and sheunfolds the letter.
(14:42):
The voiceover plays over herreading.
Linda, Vio.
My sweet girl.
You looked so radiant on yourwedding day.
I couldn't stop staring at you.
Wondering how I got so lucky tobe your mom.
Tears stream silently downDarcy's face.
(15:02):
I hope you never doubt how proudI am of you.
You're strong and kind and sofull of light even when you
forget it.
Never stop being who you are.
Scene seven Exterior OceanEvening.
A bird's eye view of rough oceanwaters.
(15:23):
Darcy is nowhere in sight.
Waves churn violently.
Linda voiceover continued.
That's more than enough.
And when life brings you itstrials, just remember to ride
the wave.
Darcy breaks the surface,gasping, finally getting air,
scanning the water.
The waves will always bring youback to shore.
(15:48):
Scene eight.
Darcy is still reading.
Linda, voiceover.
I know you think it's cheesywhen I say stuff like that.
But I'm your mother, and if Idon't say stuff like this,
they'll revoke my mom license.
Darcy laughs softly through hertears.
I love you, darling.
Mom.
(16:09):
Darcy presses the letter to herheart.
Darcy.
SPEAKER_01 (16:13):
I'm trying, Mom.
I swear I'm trying to ride thewave.
SPEAKER_02 (16:20):
Scene 9.
Exterior Beach.
One week later.
Darcy sits on the beach, gazingcalmly out at the ocean.
A peaceful smile forms on herlips.
Darcy voiceover.
Maybe the most important lessonthat my mom ever taught me was
that I don't have to fixeveryone.
(16:40):
Or even myself all the time.
I used to think that I had tohave all the answers to be
strong enough for everyone else.
But she showed me that realstrength, real bravery is just
being in the moment.
Sitting with the pain andtrusting it'll pass.
(17:01):
Scene 10, Exterior Ocean,evening.
Darcy floats serenely on herback, eyes closed, letting the
ocean hold her.
Perfectly at peace with thewaves.
Darcy voiceover.
She called it riding the wave.
Linda voiceover.
The waves will always bring youback to shore.
(17:24):
Fade out and cut to credits.
Okay.
That was my script, y'all.
That was my script.
I wrote that script.
I wrote it.
Okay, that was my script.
That was it.
There we go.
Let's talk a little bit aboutthe inspiration for this script
too.
Because this started with ascript about a girl and her dog,
(17:46):
and it was like a romanticcomedy, and it was funny, and it
was just supposed to besomething short.
It didn't have much of an arc.
And it kind of transformed intothis script that was a like a
little deeper and about grief.
And I wanted to use thismetaphor of the ocean being her
grief since we're talkingliterally about riding the wave,
(18:07):
but metaphorically we weretalking about riding the wave of
grief as it comes and goes.
I wanted to put Darcy in thissituation where she was like
fighting for her life in theocean.
SPEAKER_01 (18:18):
And that sounds awesome, but logistically is a
little bit hard.
SPEAKER_02 (18:23):
So that was kind of my inspiration, this metaphor of
what she's going throughemotionally, and then how she's
kind of fighting the wave asshe's avoiding the grief instead
of riding the wave and kind offiguring out through the grief
and sitting with her feelingsand letting it hold her.
And you know, I'm passionateabout mental health, so I'm not
(18:43):
surprised that this is somethingthat came out of me and out of
my psyche because I always lovethis idea of like working
through our emotions and howdoes that feed our life.
So that was a little bit of likemy motivation behind the script.
Now let's talk about the filmingday and how we broke this down.
(19:04):
As you know, we usually shootfilms out of order, and that is
due to a ton of differentthings.
So we started our shoot outsideand we knocked out all the
exterior scenes, and we used ourneighbor's house, one of my
neighbor's houses is theexterior scene.
So shout out, thank you so much,Jared, for letting us use your
house.
We shot our opening shot of ourhouse, our exterior opening
(19:26):
shot, and then we also shotDarcy going to the mailbox and
opening it with the OG andfinding the letter.
That was our first shot of theday, and this is how we were
doing after our first shot ofthe day.
Enjoy these clips.
Robbie, we just finished ourfirst shot of the day.
How do you feel?
SPEAKER_00 (19:44):
Beautiful first shot.
We're ready to go.
SPEAKER_02 (19:46):
We just finished shooting scene one.
How do you feel?
Feel pretty good.
SPEAKER_01 (19:49):
Light looks nice.
Got a great crew working today,great talent.
SPEAKER_02 (19:54):
And then once we had completed our outdoor scenes, we
moved inside and we organizedour day shooting from bottom of
the house to top.
So we shot our uh dining roomscene where she's reading the
letter first, and then later wemoved upstairs to the bedroom
where she's lying in the bed andkind of having these moments of
(20:14):
avoiding the emotion.
So we started downstairs, anddownstairs was the big scene
emotionally, because this is thescene where she's crying and
she's getting she's reading theletter for the first time, and
we had probably about fivedifferent shots, five different
setups that we wanted to do.
And so I'd spoke with mydirector, Robbie Moore, who was
(20:38):
amazing, and he had kind oftalked to me about how do you
want me, how can I help you withthis crying scene, and how can
we support each other in thesemoments so that we can get the
best performance, not only foryour shoot, but so that we can
have continue to have a greatcultivate a great relationship.
And Robbie, if you're listening,I'm just gonna say one word, and
(21:00):
that one word is toaster.
Bam.
But we talked about what was thebest way to support each other
in that moment.
For me, I like to I have aplaylist for several different
emotions, and I use thisplaylist both for modeling and
for acting.
But if I'm trying to like accessa certain emotion, I have a
playlist where I can pop in myearbuds.
I found kind of like my one ortwo songs that really hit me.
(21:23):
My playlist is longer than that,but there are a couple, couple
songs that just really hit mefor in terms of sadness.
And so I listened to thosesongs, took a few minutes.
I also really, really like touse a tear stick.
And if you're an actor outthere, you don't know what a
tear stick is, it looks like alittle tube of lipstick, but it
(21:44):
essentially is an eye irritantand it makes your eyes like kind
of well up with tears and helpsbring the tears more naturally.
So you're not sitting there liketrying to like drudge up some
terrible memory from the past inorder to get some tears out.
And all you do is you just liketake a little little tiny bit of
it and you rub it under youreye, and it has directions to
(22:04):
tell you how close and or howfar to put it away from your
eye.
You can kind of gauge how muchyou put on once you've used a
couple times, how much to put onto get whatever effect you want.
So if you want tons of tearsstreaming, you put on a little
bit more.
And if you want just like a wellup in the eye, but you don't
want any tears to fall, youmight just put a tiny bit.
(22:26):
It's such a useful tool so thatyou don't have to have any sort
of like crazy mental healthbattle in your head, or you
don't have to sit on shittyemotions in order to have a good
performance.
That's what I like to rely on,as well as, you know, I I do
like to connect it to my life,have some memories that bring me
(22:46):
to that place.
But for this scene, my hair wasdown, and so I took advantage of
having my AirPod in my ear witha song playing that I know
emotes tears for me.
I used my tear stick as mybackup method so that I always
know I don't have to sit thereand be worried about if it's
gonna happen or not.
I know it's gonna happen.
I just read this letter.
(23:07):
I read it a couple times to getthis like really great
performance.
And the awesome thing, too,about how we planned to shoot
this scene was we shoteverything that wasn't super
emotional first and then shotthe emotional stuff last so that
I didn't have to keep dredgingit up from five different angles
and five different shots.
So that's kind of how we workedthrough those moments.
(23:30):
From there, we started settingup for our next scene upstairs
in the bedroom, scrappedeverything, and during that, my
lovely, amazing, wonderful,awesome husband cooked us lunch,
which was so great.
Shout out to Nicholas.
I appreciate you.
You're the best partner in theworld.
Thank you so much for all yourhelp.
(23:50):
I know, I know it was hard.
I appreciate it.
So we went upstairs while he wascooking so that he could have
kind of run of the space to dowhat he needed to.
We actually were able to, weweren't planning on shooting
anything until after lunch, butwe were done setting up early.
So we shot out a few scenes withthe OG, my lovely, amazing,
(24:11):
goofy puppy boy.
I love this boy so much.
He is so incredible.
Kudos to myself that we did sucha good job training him when he
was a puppy that he could be aset dog if I was on set with
him, like easily.
And I kind of wrote this scriptto do what I knew he was capable
(24:33):
of too.
So I I didn't write anything inhere that I thought he was
incapable of completing as well.
My lovely, wonderful puppy doggot his uh he got his key takes
done while we were waiting forlunch to be complete.
He did such a great job.
Oh my god, I was so proud ofhim.
He did such a great job.
(24:56):
And he got a lot of treats fordoing such a great job, but
everybody was actually prettyimpressed with how well he was
on set and how great of aconsistent behavior you could
get him to do.
He was he was very good.
So I was very I was a proud dogmom.
Such a proud dog mom of my puppyboy that day.
(25:16):
So then we shot those bedroomscenes where she's kind of
laying in the bed where she'slighting the roach and kind of
having this moment of emotionand stuffing it back down.
This room was starting to getvery hot because it was a very
hot summer day that we shotthis.
We worked as quickly andefficiently as we could in this
room, and it's it was so greatto have such a wonderful team to
(25:41):
help facilitate the making ofthis.
I you can never say enough aboutbeing surrounded by a wonderful
team because this is really ateam sport.
I just am always so grateful forthe wonderful people around me
that helped make this filmhappen.
And so we wrapped out upstairs,and then it was time to wrap up
our loaf our from our firstlocation, my home, and go to the
(26:05):
beach.
We this was honestly what I wasmost nervous about was like fake
drowning.
I was worried about it lookingauthentic and real, but also not
dying.
We went to the beach.
Heads up if you are trying tomake your own short film, you
might need a permit.
(26:26):
So always make sure you gothrough the correct forms to
make sure you have a permit ifyou need a permit in a public
place.
But in this situation, we didn'tneed a permit, which was great.
We showed up to the filminglocation and the last scene,
which was a scene on the beachthat we needed to shoot that
ending scene where she's kind ofsitting out and enjoying the
(26:46):
waves and and kind of feeling atpeace with herself and her mom.
And we shot, you know, some uhother supplemental stuff, her
walking on the beach and somelike fun, cool.
I did some running on the beach,which was fun and playing in the
waves, and it really felt like alittle kid again, which was
really just fun and wonderful.
(27:08):
And then we moved into thewater.
And let me tell you, it is hardto put on a wetsuit.
How the fudge do people put onwetsuits?
I'm serious.
Oh my god, I've never put one onbefore, but I wanted a wetsuit
because I've been in so manysituations where I've been cold
(27:28):
while I'm acting, and I justhate it because I feel like it
distracts me from the work andthe actual acting.
And so I had rented wetsuits formyself, and honestly, anybody
who um wanted or felt like theyneeded it, a couple other people
opted into a wetsuit.
I was so tired just putting iton.
(27:50):
Like so tired.
I this sounds so silly, but itwas like you gotta keep pulling
it up in different spots, andthen it's like tight, which it
should be, but yeah, it was sohard to get on.
Oh my god.
Okay, enough about wetsuits,Megan.
Enough about wetsuits, but okay,one more thing about wetsuits.
The water, you could not feel itat all.
(28:11):
So I was impressed.
I was impressed by the level ofwetsuit amazingness, but also
unimpressed by how hard it wasto get on.
We had the wetsuits on.
And then because we were playingthis metaphorical like world
where she's in the water, wherethis is not actually real, she's
not actually going out in thewater.
It's like a metaphor for how heremotions were.
(28:32):
We dressed her in the sameclothing that she was in for the
bedroom scenes and for thescenes throughout the day.
So she was like in pajamas andsocks and like a cardigan.
And so I had like a bathingsuit, wetsuit, regular human
clothes into the ocean.
(28:52):
It was I was felt so heavy outthere with like all these
clothes on and wetsuits and justso bulky and crazy.
And so we walked in to aboutprobably uh chest height for
water for camera purposes andfor our purposes, and just kind
of went with the hardest stufffirst, which was like her
actually looking like she'sdrowning, and then moved to what
(29:14):
was easier, which was Darcy kindof like floating and and being
able to ride the wave.
It was hard, y'all.
I'm not gonna lie.
It was hard to to film because Icouldn't really tell what I was
doing.
But that's when you rely on youramazing director to help you
make sure you're doing thecorrect things and making sure
(29:37):
you're getting across what yourscript says.
I am so thankful for Robbie forhelping me get that fear out
within the script.
And then I also want to saythank you so much to our amazing
DP, Anthony Mantos, who figuredout how to rig a camera for
water and then honestly was justlike a fish swimming around in
(29:58):
the ocean with like a wholeHolding a camera next to me and
like literally fighting waveswith me.
Thank you so much for being suchan incredible friend, but also
such an incredible filmmaker tolike want and take chances and
want to like be in the thick ofit and want to try something new
and want to use new gear andwant to be adventurous within
your craft.
(30:19):
Thank you so much for being suchan amazing artist.
It was so much fun hanging outwith everybody in the water and
almost dying, but not really,but acting like it.
So we shot until we couldn'tshoot anymore because they were
closing the beach.
When we got back to the parkinglot carrying the most sandy
(30:40):
wetsuits and the most sandyclothes with our very limited
amount of towels, we got back tothe parking lot and we recorded
this.
SPEAKER_00 (30:50):
We just wrapped our short film right away!
SPEAKER_02 (30:57):
Once we had wrapped our short film, we had picture
wrapped it.
We went back to my house and weoffloaded all the footage,
completed like those last fewfinal steps for the day.
Planned for our next short film.
Planned a date for it.
So I can't tell you much.
I'm not gonna tell you much yetbecause I'm still drafting, I'm
still writing, but this scriptis gonna be a dark comedy, and I
(31:20):
am here for it because I have nodark comedy in my in my
wheelhouse, and I'm excited tohave a new style of acting as
well.
That was Ride the Wave.
It was such a cool experience.
Uh I I'm kind of like hooked onit a little bit and just want to
keep creating more and more andmore.
And not now, but I think in thefuture that we can expect a
(31:43):
feature where we would crowdfundand create something full-length
movie, which I'm very excitedabout.
But I want to get a couple moreshorts under my belt and start
getting ideas for a feature.
But I'm excited to say that thatis definitely something that is
in the back of my mind spinningfor the future.
(32:03):
You know, your girl's got somany things going on, so we're
gonna make it happen, but itthis might be a 20 end of 2026
project, I would think.
But with all of that being said,the last thing that I have to
say to you guys today is that mywebsite, it's very close to
being done.
It's so close.
(32:25):
I just had my brand workshop andoh my god, guys, the colors that
she picked, the branding thatshe created for me, so
beautiful, so gorgeous, soexcited to showcase it.
Of course, I think by my nextepisode it'll be up and running,
so of course we will share it inthe show notes below.
(32:46):
But I hope you enjoyed hearingabout this short film that we
created.
And I say we because it reallytakes a team.
And before we go, I gotta give ashout out to all the amazing
positions that we had, all thisteam that helped me create this
short.
And I want to give thisshout-out so that you know how
(33:06):
many people it took to make thisthing a reality, and also
because these are all peoplethat you can network with to
create your own project.
And everybody was so amazing.
Thank you to Jenny, who is goingto do the VO for Linda, my mom.
You're the best.
We have yet to film our VO, butI know it's going to be amazing.
Thank you so much.
You're always my mom in shortfilms.
(33:28):
You're the best, Jenny.
Thank you so much.
Thank you to Haley Moore forproducing this and for helping
me get all of these things puttogether and for going above and
beyond, not just producing,helping me set my wardrobe,
helping me production design,helping me do all of those extra
tasks that I needed assistancewith because I couldn't do it on
(33:48):
my own.
And Haley also scriptsupervised, which was a huge
help.
I love having a scriptsupervisor.
They really help make sureeverything is clear to the
editing team.
Thank you for helping theediting team complete this.
Thank you, thank you, thank youto Anthony Matos for just being
you and for creating thesebeautiful cinematic shots and
(34:14):
and just for being such a greatteammate and for helping me
create something beautiful andthat really showcases the script
that I wrote.
Thank you, Jeshua, for being ourAC, helping pull focus, making
sure I'm sharp in the frame, andassisting with anything we
needed camera.
I appreciate your help so much.
(34:35):
I hope you enjoyed yourhamburger.
Inside joke, sorry y'all.
Thank you for helping make thisproject happen.
Thank you to Danielle, who wasour gaffer.
Dude, you're the best.
You're so awesome.
Your attention to detail isamazing.
It really, really helps when youhave somebody who's passionate.
(34:56):
Like I've said, every singleperson on this team was
passionate.
But Danielle, you just bring alittle something a little extra,
which is so special to me in myheart.
Thank you so much, Danielle.
Thank you to Louise, who was ourswing and helping support our
genie team and helping supportDanielle.
Thank you for setting up allthose stands and putting them
(35:17):
together and wrapping out andworking hard.
Thank you so much.
I hope you enjoyed all of theWelches.
Louise ate an entire box ofWelches with No Shame.
And next shoot, we will have twoboxes of Welches for you,
Louise, and just for you.
Thank you to Griffin Cardale forrecording sound for us for the
day.
(35:37):
You are an essential part of theteam, and I appreciate you
capturing all these tiny littlemoments to help make this
project stand out.
Thank you so much, Griffin.
Thank you so much, Gabe Hurst,for doing our music.
It's such an essential part tostorytelling of a film.
And also a big thank you toGillian Backlund for being our
(36:00):
PA for the day.
Not only being our PA for theday, capturing amazing BTS,
helping out whenever he could,capturing some social media, as
well as he's doing the sounddesign for this.
So it was so great to have yoube here for the making of the
film.
Thank you so much.
You are such an essential partof this team.
(36:22):
And lastly, I've alreadymentioned it, but thank you to
Robbie Moore for being not justa producer, but a director, and
also for editing this project.
I know it's going to be awesome.
I love the vision you have.
You are such a great director towork with because you give such
good feedback and you reallymake an actor feel seen and
(36:42):
heard as well as push them to bethe best actor they possibly can
be.
Thank you so much for all yourhard work on this.
I can't wait to do another onetogether.
Overall, the team really makesthe project.
We couldn't have made such agreat product without all of
these amazing crew members andall these amazing positions.
(37:03):
So thank you so much for comingout here working hard for the
day.
I just I can't say thank youenough for helping bring one of
my first short films tofruition.
Thank you so much, everybody.
And with that, I hoped hearingthe process of this was helpful
for you.
If you need me to break it downany smaller, or you want any
(37:26):
forms, or you want any of thepre-production style things in
documents, I'm happy to sharethat with you.
You just let me know down in thecomments.
Thank you so much for tuning in.
I hope this helps you in yourown glow up.
Hope it gives you a good ideaand shows you that it's doable
to do something like this with awonderful, awesome team of
(37:49):
people that you've networkedwith.
Everybody here, everybody onthis crew, everybody on this
amazing team's links will be inthe show notes.
So if you want to follow me, youwant to check them out, you want
to see what they're doing on theside, head over to the show
notes so you can check them outon social media.
And that's it for today'sepisode of the Glow Up Year.
Thanks for hanging out with me.
I'm seriously so excited to haveyou along for the ride.
(38:12):
And we're only just gettingstarted because the best is yet
to come.
If you felt fired up or inspiredtoday, hit that subscribe
button, leave a quick review,and pass this episode along to a
fellow dreamer in your circle.
You want more BTS or pep talksor updates?
Come find me over on social atMegSalisburyOfficial.
(38:34):
I'll be sharing more of myjourney there.
Links are in the show notes.
And remember, your glow up isunfolding one bold move at a
time.
Keep showing up, keep dreamingbigger, and we'll catch you on
the next one.
I wanted to put Darcy in this situation where
she was like fighting for herlife in the ocean.
And I wanted to use thismetaphor of the ocean being her
grief, since we're talkingliterally about riding the wave,
but metaphorically we weretalking about riding the wave of
grief as it comes and goes.
SPEAKER_01 (00:20):
And that sounds awesome, but logistically it's a
little bit hard.
SPEAKER_02 (00:25):
This was honestly what I was most nervous about
was like fake drowning.
I was worried about it lookingauthentic and real, but also not
dying, but acting like it's agood idea.
(00:54):
I'm Meg, actress, model, andyour behind the scenes bestie
when it comes to chasing dreamsand building something big.
After years of navigating theups, the downs, and the wild
in-betweens of the entertainmentworld, I'm fully stepping into
(01:14):
this next level chapter.
And this podcast is yourbackstage pass to all the real
stuff.
Auditions, photo shoots, mindsetshifts, script prepped, career
curveballs, you name it, I'msharing it all.
The highs and the hard lessonsin real time.
If you're ready to go all in onyour glow-up, take some brave
(01:38):
steps and see what it reallylooks like to glow up in this
industry.
Grab your favorite drink, getcozy, and let's dive in
together.
Hello there, friend.
Today is gonna be a really savvyepisode for you.
And that is because we are goingto talk about creating your own
short in order to help liven upyour reel or add some more
(02:03):
character to your reel.
I know I've discussed beforethat we've been on here that
we're starting pre-production ona short film.
And at this point, we've gonethrough the entire process, and
I just wanted to give you aquick little recap of all the
important parts of this tocomplete.
If you are on your own glow-upand you're wanting to create
your own short film and you'rewanting to build a team so that
(02:25):
you can update your reel or justhave some work out there to
showcase who you are and whatyou do.
This is gonna be a great episodefor you because I'm gonna break
down all the steps from startingto filming so that you have a
clear idea of what needs to beaccomplished and you can glow up
in your own reel in your ownscene.
So let's just get right into it.
I would say the first step hereis to acquire or create your own
(02:50):
script.
And here are some of youroptions.
You could hire a freelancer towrite a script with a character
in mind.
Say you're missing a certaintype of character in your reel,
and you want to have a varietyin your reel, you could hire a
freelance writer to help youwrite your scene.
You could write your own scene,you could hire a friend to do
your scene, or you could I Idon't like highly recommend
(03:14):
this, but you could use AI orChatGBT to write your scene.
But typically, anytime I've hadChatGBT try to script things for
me, it it's just a little funkyand a little weird, but it is
out there and you it issomething that you can do and
it's an option.
So I wanted to present it.
Once you've had your first draftof your script done, the short
film that we just completed,there were five total drafts for
(03:36):
me.
And this is gonna range scriptto script, but I always like to
start when I'm when I have ascript, when I have a script
idea, is to do my first draftand then I send it to four or
five people that I really trustfor their feedback, and I get
feedback and I say, What'smissing?
Help me, what what do I need tochange to make this work?
Does this work?
Is this clear?
(03:57):
And somebody who's got anoutside view can look at it and
help me make sure that the ideasthat I'm trying to get across
are very clear and the characterthat I'm trying to get across is
very clear.
And so I said sent it out for myfirst round of feedback and got
some great feedback back, whichwas awesome because I the things
that I heard back from peoplewere things that I already kind
(04:19):
of in my mind was thinking maybethis doesn't work.
So I got my first round offeedback, did a second draft,
sent the second draft back outfor feedback from the same
people, got notes again, then wewere at our third draft.
And our third draft is what westarted planning our shoot
around because we knew that thescript wasn't gonna shift and it
(04:40):
wasn't gonna change too muchfrom that third draft.
And so the next thing we did waswe had a production meeting
where I got together with acouple of my friends who are
also in the film industry.
We talked about what we wouldneed for a team, we talked about
who was gonna takeresponsibility for what, we
talked about where the money wasgonna come from for the short,
and then some of like the keyimportant like location details.
(05:03):
Did we have ideas?
Were their places that wespecifically had in mind for the
shoot?
And so we kind of started thatearly process of pre-production
meetings.
Then we, as we separated, Iactually did my fourth and fifth
drafts together.
I guess I technically had sixdrafts of this, but I did four
(05:23):
and five drafts.
One we got rid of a key player,and the other I kept the key
player, and I said, What do youlike better?
Because I felt like this keyplayer was distracting from the
story and not adding to thestory.
So we talked about what theoptions were.
After discussing with everybodythat ended up being part of
their final team, or some of thekey players of our final team,
(05:47):
we took those two scripts andmorphed them into one with our
sixth draft and our lockedshooting draft.
And once you have a lockedshooting draft, that means your
script is not changing, nothing.
It's gonna stay exactly the wayit is, and we're gonna shoot it
as it as it's stated in thescript.
That was kind of like thescripting, scripting and
drafting process.
(06:07):
Then we moved on to Tech Scout.
And Tech Scout is when we go toall of our locations and we kind
of talked through how we weregonna shoot it.
We took production referencestills so that we kind of were
prepared uh for what we weregonna shoot that day.
So we talked about the shots,how we were gonna film them and
(06:27):
execute them, and then took areference still so that on the
day we knew exactly what we wereexpecting to do, so that our
schedule didn't get messed up onthe day because we didn't have
because we hadn't planned aheadof time.
I hope that makes sense.
That was kind of our Tech Scoutday.
From that Tech Scout day, wefinalized the rest of our crew,
(06:48):
finalized the small details andthe schedule, when were we gonna
have lunch, what was the correctorder to shoot our scenes in to
be the most efficient, and anyother miscellaneous small things
that we might have needed torent or purchase to make the day
complete.
Because this was a five-pagescript and we shot it all in one
(07:08):
day.
So we wanted to make sureeverything was set because there
was no wiggle room for us not toachieve everything we needed to
do in that one day.
So once our text goes complete,we'd finalized our script, we
were like officially in pre-pro,probably I would like to say a
week.
Uh I had about a week to do areally good like pre-production
(07:30):
timeline.
This whole process, in caseyou're wondering, took about a
month from beginning to end,including drafting all of my
script, which is really short,honestly, and I would have loved
to have more time, but we hadset a deadline and a target
date, and so we just pushed tomake sure that target date
(07:52):
happened.
If you were gonna do thisyourself, I would say give
yourself uh more than a month tocomplete all these processes,
depending on your schedule.
My schedule was a little monkyand hard.
So I was out of town for two ofthose weeks, and so it was
really kind of hard to completetasks, and maybe a month would
have been enough if I wasn't outof town for two of the of the
(08:12):
four weeks.
So now we have finished our textcut, we're in pre-pro, our
script is finalized.
The next things that I did andwe did as a team was we shopped
for all the props, all the setdress, anything we needed to
rent, all of those things gotcompleted in that week.
And then one of the locations weshot was my house.
(08:34):
So I knew what kind of needed tohappen in that week.
So we moved furniture around tomake it conducive to what we
were planning on completing onour shoot day and what we had
discussed in from our TechScout.
We moved all the furniturearound that needed to be moved
and kind of like prepped thespace and got rid of most of my
personal things and stuff thatdidn't need to be cluttering up
(08:56):
the space of the frame.
From there, I think honestlyfinished doing all of the prep
the night before, which felt solast minute to me and so kind of
like scary.
And I mean, we finalized ourwardrobe literally like less
than probably 12 hours before wewere gonna start shooting.
All of those last minute detailskind of came together.
(09:19):
And then on August 16th, I shotmy first short film that I have
written and starred in, whichfeels indescribable.
I I shot the first thing that Iwrote, something that was an
idea in my head came to fruitionin reality just a couple days
(09:40):
ago, which is just mind-blowing.
It kind of makes me want to domore and more and more of these.
And we have a few ideas, we havea few ideas of some stuff that
we're gonna shoot over the nextcouple months.
That's kind of the process frombeginning to end to shoot day,
and I know you want the insidescoop on the script and you want
to sneak peek.
(10:00):
You want to hear about the filmday and all of that process
because you're here for it.
SPEAKER_00 (10:06):
We just wrapped our short film Ride the Wave.
SPEAKER_02 (10:12):
You heard it here.
We finished filming Ride theWave.
I think I want to read you thescript first.
So I think this is how I want todo it.
I think I want to read you myscript first, and then we'll
recap how the day went so thatyou can kind of reference how we
shot the day out based on thescript that you've already heard
(10:36):
versus hearing my recap beforeyou even know what's happening
with the script.
Let's start by reading thescript.
Ride the wave by MeganSalisbury.
Scene one, exterior houseestablishing shot.
It's a cool spring morning, butnot a cloud in the sky.
Scene two, the interior bedroom,late morning.
(11:00):
The room is dim, but draped inearly spring light.
Unwashed mugs, grief books, anda dog-eared photo of Darcy and
her mother clutter thenightstand.
The room has been clearly livedin.
Darcy, late twenties, liescurled up under a heavy
comforter, staring at the photoof her mom.
(11:22):
Her dog, DOG, rests at her feet.
Darcy's voiceover.
As a grief therapist, I'vealways been fascinated by how
grief moves and waves.
One minute you're okay, thensuddenly it crashes over you.
It pulls you under, it stealsyour breath, spits you back out
(11:44):
gasping.
If it doesn't swallow you wholefirst, it's unpredictable.
Powerful nearly impossible tocontrol.
Darcy gently rubs her thumbsover the frayed spot on the
comforter.
Scene three.
Darcy struggles in the deepocean, fighting for air.
(12:07):
Waves overpower her.
She swims desperately, barelykeeping her head above water.
Darcy's voiceover.
I advise my clients to breathethrough it.
Move with it.
Ride the wave.
Maybe I'm a hypocrite.
Scene four.
Interior bedroom, late morning.
Darcy sits up slowly at the edgeof her bed, her eyes glassy with
(12:32):
tears that she refuses to shed.
She decides instead to stuff itdown.
Lighting a roach from the nightbefore, she takes a deep inhale,
exhaling slowly as she collapsesback onto the bed.
Eyes fixed on the ceiling.
DOG lets out a low, annoyedhuff.
(12:53):
Darcy glances back at him.
Darcy to DOG.
What would you tell me to do,huh?
And don't say go for a walk.
DOG's head perks up inexcitement.
Darcy to DOG.
Okay, we'll go for a walk, butjust to the mailbox and back.
You got it, mister?
DOG jumps off the bed and headsfor the door faster than
(13:13):
lightning.
Darcy sighs softly.
Gives a faint smile and followshim.
Scene five Exterior MailboxMinutes later.
Darcy, but still in her pajamasand slippers, trudges down the
driveway behind DOG.
She looks exhausted, haunted.
Her own words echo in her mind.
(13:36):
Darcy, VO from a past session.
It's normal to avoid griefentirely.
We call them distractionbehaviors.
Uh watching TV, doom scrolling,drinking, drugs.
But distractions only prolongthe pain.
They never get to the root ofwhat's really keeping us stuck.
(13:59):
She opens the mailbox out ofhabit, bills, the junk, then an
unexpected envelope.
It's old, yellowed, handwritten.
She turns it over.
Her name.
Her mom's handwriting.
Postmarked six months ago.
Darcy's breath catches.
(14:19):
She quickly stuffs the letterinto her pocket, heart racing,
and rushes back towards thehouse, DOG trotting alongside
her.
Scene six.
Minutes later.
Darcy sits at the table staringat the letter.
She looks curious as if she'safraid to open it.
Curiosity takes over and sheunfolds the letter.
(14:42):
The voiceover plays over herreading.
Linda, Vio.
My sweet girl.
You looked so radiant on yourwedding day.
I couldn't stop staring at you.
Wondering how I got so lucky tobe your mom.
Tears stream silently downDarcy's face.
(15:02):
I hope you never doubt how proudI am of you.
You're strong and kind and sofull of light even when you
forget it.
Never stop being who you are.
Scene seven Exterior OceanEvening.
A bird's eye view of rough oceanwaters.
(15:23):
Darcy is nowhere in sight.
Waves churn violently.
Linda voiceover continued.
That's more than enough.
And when life brings you itstrials, just remember to ride
the wave.
Darcy breaks the surface,gasping, finally getting air,
scanning the water.
The waves will always bring youback to shore.
(15:48):
Scene eight.
Darcy is still reading.
Linda, voiceover.
I know you think it's cheesywhen I say stuff like that.
But I'm your mother, and if Idon't say stuff like this,
they'll revoke my mom license.
Darcy laughs softly through hertears.
I love you, darling.
Mom.
(16:09):
Darcy presses the letter to herheart.
Darcy.
SPEAKER_01 (16:13):
I'm trying, Mom.
I swear I'm trying to ride thewave.
SPEAKER_02 (16:20):
Scene 9.
Exterior Beach.
One week later.
Darcy sits on the beach, gazingcalmly out at the ocean.
A peaceful smile forms on herlips.
Darcy voiceover.
Maybe the most important lessonthat my mom ever taught me was
that I don't have to fixeveryone.
(16:40):
Or even myself all the time.
I used to think that I had tohave all the answers to be
strong enough for everyone else.
But she showed me that realstrength, real bravery is just
being in the moment.
Sitting with the pain andtrusting it'll pass.
(17:01):
Scene 10, Exterior Ocean,evening.
Darcy floats serenely on herback, eyes closed, letting the
ocean hold her.
Perfectly at peace with thewaves.
Darcy voiceover.
She called it riding the wave.
Linda voiceover.
The waves will always bring youback to shore.
(17:24):
Fade out and cut to credits.
Okay.
That was my script, y'all.
That was my script.
I wrote that script.
I wrote it.
Okay, that was my script.
That was it.
There we go.
Let's talk a little bit aboutthe inspiration for this script
too.
Because this started with ascript about a girl and her dog,
(17:46):
and it was like a romanticcomedy, and it was funny, and it
was just supposed to besomething short.
It didn't have much of an arc.
And it kind of transformed intothis script that was a like a
little deeper and about grief.
And I wanted to use thismetaphor of the ocean being her
grief since we're talkingliterally about riding the wave,
(18:07):
but metaphorically we weretalking about riding the wave of
grief as it comes and goes.
I wanted to put Darcy in thissituation where she was like
fighting for her life in theocean.
SPEAKER_01 (18:18):
And that sounds awesome, but logistically is a
little bit hard.
SPEAKER_02 (18:23):
So that was kind of my inspiration, this metaphor of
what she's going throughemotionally, and then how she's
kind of fighting the wave asshe's avoiding the grief instead
of riding the wave and kind offiguring out through the grief
and sitting with her feelingsand letting it hold her.
And you know, I'm passionateabout mental health, so I'm not
(18:43):
surprised that this is somethingthat came out of me and out of
my psyche because I always lovethis idea of like working
through our emotions and howdoes that feed our life.
So that was a little bit of likemy motivation behind the script.
Now let's talk about the filmingday and how we broke this down.
(19:04):
As you know, we usually shootfilms out of order, and that is
due to a ton of differentthings.
So we started our shoot outsideand we knocked out all the
exterior scenes, and we used ourneighbor's house, one of my
neighbor's houses is theexterior scene.
So shout out, thank you so much,Jared, for letting us use your
house.
We shot our opening shot of ourhouse, our exterior opening
(19:26):
shot, and then we also shotDarcy going to the mailbox and
opening it with the OG andfinding the letter.
That was our first shot of theday, and this is how we were
doing after our first shot ofthe day.
Enjoy these clips.
Robbie, we just finished ourfirst shot of the day.
How do you feel?
SPEAKER_00 (19:44):
Beautiful first shot.
We're ready to go.
SPEAKER_02 (19:46):
We just finished shooting scene one.
How do you feel?
Feel pretty good.
SPEAKER_01 (19:49):
Light looks nice.
Got a great crew working today,great talent.
SPEAKER_02 (19:54):
And then once we had completed our outdoor scenes, we
moved inside and we organizedour day shooting from bottom of
the house to top.
So we shot our uh dining roomscene where she's reading the
letter first, and then later wemoved upstairs to the bedroom
where she's lying in the bed andkind of having these moments of
(20:14):
avoiding the emotion.
So we started downstairs, anddownstairs was the big scene
emotionally, because this is thescene where she's crying and
she's getting she's reading theletter for the first time, and
we had probably about fivedifferent shots, five different
setups that we wanted to do.
And so I'd spoke with mydirector, Robbie Moore, who was
(20:38):
amazing, and he had kind oftalked to me about how do you
want me, how can I help you withthis crying scene, and how can
we support each other in thesemoments so that we can get the
best performance, not only foryour shoot, but so that we can
have continue to have a greatcultivate a great relationship.
And Robbie, if you're listening,I'm just gonna say one word, and
(21:00):
that one word is toaster.
Bam.
But we talked about what was thebest way to support each other
in that moment.
For me, I like to I have aplaylist for several different
emotions, and I use thisplaylist both for modeling and
for acting.
But if I'm trying to like accessa certain emotion, I have a
playlist where I can pop in myearbuds.
I found kind of like my one ortwo songs that really hit me.
(21:23):
My playlist is longer than that,but there are a couple, couple
songs that just really hit mefor in terms of sadness.
And so I listened to thosesongs, took a few minutes.
I also really, really like touse a tear stick.
And if you're an actor outthere, you don't know what a
tear stick is, it looks like alittle tube of lipstick, but it
(21:44):
essentially is an eye irritantand it makes your eyes like kind
of well up with tears and helpsbring the tears more naturally.
So you're not sitting there liketrying to like drudge up some
terrible memory from the past inorder to get some tears out.
And all you do is you just liketake a little little tiny bit of
it and you rub it under youreye, and it has directions to
(22:04):
tell you how close and or howfar to put it away from your
eye.
You can kind of gauge how muchyou put on once you've used a
couple times, how much to put onto get whatever effect you want.
So if you want tons of tearsstreaming, you put on a little
bit more.
And if you want just like a wellup in the eye, but you don't
want any tears to fall, youmight just put a tiny bit.
(22:26):
It's such a useful tool so thatyou don't have to have any sort
of like crazy mental healthbattle in your head, or you
don't have to sit on shittyemotions in order to have a good
performance.
That's what I like to rely on,as well as, you know, I I do
like to connect it to my life,have some memories that bring me
(22:46):
to that place.
But for this scene, my hair wasdown, and so I took advantage of
having my AirPod in my ear witha song playing that I know
emotes tears for me.
I used my tear stick as mybackup method so that I always
know I don't have to sit thereand be worried about if it's
gonna happen or not.
I know it's gonna happen.
I just read this letter.
(23:07):
I read it a couple times to getthis like really great
performance.
And the awesome thing, too,about how we planned to shoot
this scene was we shoteverything that wasn't super
emotional first and then shotthe emotional stuff last so that
I didn't have to keep dredgingit up from five different angles
and five different shots.
So that's kind of how we workedthrough those moments.
(23:30):
From there, we started settingup for our next scene upstairs
in the bedroom, scrappedeverything, and during that, my
lovely, amazing, wonderful,awesome husband cooked us lunch,
which was so great.
Shout out to Nicholas.
I appreciate you.
You're the best partner in theworld.
Thank you so much for all yourhelp.
(23:50):
I know, I know it was hard.
I appreciate it.
So we went upstairs while he wascooking so that he could have
kind of run of the space to dowhat he needed to.
We actually were able to, weweren't planning on shooting
anything until after lunch, butwe were done setting up early.
So we shot out a few scenes withthe OG, my lovely, amazing,
(24:11):
goofy puppy boy.
I love this boy so much.
He is so incredible.
Kudos to myself that we did sucha good job training him when he
was a puppy that he could be aset dog if I was on set with
him, like easily.
And I kind of wrote this scriptto do what I knew he was capable
(24:33):
of too.
So I I didn't write anything inhere that I thought he was
incapable of completing as well.
My lovely, wonderful puppy doggot his uh he got his key takes
done while we were waiting forlunch to be complete.
He did such a great job.
Oh my god, I was so proud ofhim.
He did such a great job.
(24:56):
And he got a lot of treats fordoing such a great job, but
everybody was actually prettyimpressed with how well he was
on set and how great of aconsistent behavior you could
get him to do.
He was he was very good.
So I was very I was a proud dogmom.
Such a proud dog mom of my puppyboy that day.
(25:16):
So then we shot those bedroomscenes where she's kind of
laying in the bed where she'slighting the roach and kind of
having this moment of emotionand stuffing it back down.
This room was starting to getvery hot because it was a very
hot summer day that we shotthis.
We worked as quickly andefficiently as we could in this
room, and it's it was so greatto have such a wonderful team to
(25:41):
help facilitate the making ofthis.
I you can never say enough aboutbeing surrounded by a wonderful
team because this is really ateam sport.
I just am always so grateful forthe wonderful people around me
that helped make this filmhappen.
And so we wrapped out upstairs,and then it was time to wrap up
our loaf our from our firstlocation, my home, and go to the
(26:05):
beach.
We this was honestly what I wasmost nervous about was like fake
drowning.
I was worried about it lookingauthentic and real, but also not
dying.
We went to the beach.
Heads up if you are trying tomake your own short film, you
might need a permit.
(26:26):
So always make sure you gothrough the correct forms to
make sure you have a permit ifyou need a permit in a public
place.
But in this situation, we didn'tneed a permit, which was great.
We showed up to the filminglocation and the last scene,
which was a scene on the beachthat we needed to shoot that
ending scene where she's kind ofsitting out and enjoying the
(26:46):
waves and and kind of feeling atpeace with herself and her mom.
And we shot, you know, some uhother supplemental stuff, her
walking on the beach and somelike fun, cool.
I did some running on the beach,which was fun and playing in the
waves, and it really felt like alittle kid again, which was
really just fun and wonderful.
(27:08):
And then we moved into thewater.
And let me tell you, it is hardto put on a wetsuit.
How the fudge do people put onwetsuits?
I'm serious.
Oh my god, I've never put one onbefore, but I wanted a wetsuit
because I've been in so manysituations where I've been cold
(27:28):
while I'm acting, and I justhate it because I feel like it
distracts me from the work andthe actual acting.
And so I had rented wetsuits formyself, and honestly, anybody
who um wanted or felt like theyneeded it, a couple other people
opted into a wetsuit.
I was so tired just putting iton.
(27:50):
Like so tired.
I this sounds so silly, but itwas like you gotta keep pulling
it up in different spots, andthen it's like tight, which it
should be, but yeah, it was sohard to get on.
Oh my god.
Okay, enough about wetsuits,Megan.
Enough about wetsuits, but okay,one more thing about wetsuits.
The water, you could not feel itat all.
(28:11):
So I was impressed.
I was impressed by the level ofwetsuit amazingness, but also
unimpressed by how hard it wasto get on.
We had the wetsuits on.
And then because we were playingthis metaphorical like world
where she's in the water, wherethis is not actually real, she's
not actually going out in thewater.
It's like a metaphor for how heremotions were.
(28:32):
We dressed her in the sameclothing that she was in for the
bedroom scenes and for thescenes throughout the day.
So she was like in pajamas andsocks and like a cardigan.
And so I had like a bathingsuit, wetsuit, regular human
clothes into the ocean.
(28:52):
It was I was felt so heavy outthere with like all these
clothes on and wetsuits and justso bulky and crazy.
And so we walked in to aboutprobably uh chest height for
water for camera purposes andfor our purposes, and just kind
of went with the hardest stufffirst, which was like her
actually looking like she'sdrowning, and then moved to what
(29:14):
was easier, which was Darcy kindof like floating and and being
able to ride the wave.
It was hard, y'all.
I'm not gonna lie.
It was hard to to film because Icouldn't really tell what I was
doing.
But that's when you rely on youramazing director to help you
make sure you're doing thecorrect things and making sure
(29:37):
you're getting across what yourscript says.
I am so thankful for Robbie forhelping me get that fear out
within the script.
And then I also want to saythank you so much to our amazing
DP, Anthony Mantos, who figuredout how to rig a camera for
water and then honestly was justlike a fish swimming around in
(29:58):
the ocean with like a wholeHolding a camera next to me and
like literally fighting waveswith me.
Thank you so much for being suchan incredible friend, but also
such an incredible filmmaker tolike want and take chances and
want to like be in the thick ofit and want to try something new
and want to use new gear andwant to be adventurous within
your craft.
(30:19):
Thank you so much for being suchan amazing artist.
It was so much fun hanging outwith everybody in the water and
almost dying, but not really,but acting like it.
So we shot until we couldn'tshoot anymore because they were
closing the beach.
When we got back to the parkinglot carrying the most sandy
(30:40):
wetsuits and the most sandyclothes with our very limited
amount of towels, we got back tothe parking lot and we recorded
this.
SPEAKER_00 (30:50):
We just wrapped our short film right away!
SPEAKER_02 (30:57):
Once we had wrapped our short film, we had picture
wrapped it.
We went back to my house and weoffloaded all the footage,
completed like those last fewfinal steps for the day.
Planned for our next short film.
Planned a date for it.
So I can't tell you much.
I'm not gonna tell you much yetbecause I'm still drafting, I'm
still writing, but this scriptis gonna be a dark comedy, and I
(31:20):
am here for it because I have nodark comedy in my in my
wheelhouse, and I'm excited tohave a new style of acting as
well.
That was Ride the Wave.
It was such a cool experience.
Uh I I'm kind of like hooked onit a little bit and just want to
keep creating more and more andmore.
And not now, but I think in thefuture that we can expect a
(31:43):
feature where we would crowdfundand create something full-length
movie, which I'm very excitedabout.
But I want to get a couple moreshorts under my belt and start
getting ideas for a feature.
But I'm excited to say that thatis definitely something that is
in the back of my mind spinningfor the future.
(32:03):
You know, your girl's got somany things going on, so we're
gonna make it happen, but itthis might be a 20 end of 2026
project, I would think.
But with all of that being said,the last thing that I have to
say to you guys today is that mywebsite, it's very close to
being done.
It's so close.
(32:25):
I just had my brand workshop andoh my god, guys, the colors that
she picked, the branding thatshe created for me, so
beautiful, so gorgeous, soexcited to showcase it.
Of course, I think by my nextepisode it'll be up and running,
so of course we will share it inthe show notes below.
(32:46):
But I hope you enjoyed hearingabout this short film that we
created.
And I say we because it reallytakes a team.
And before we go, I gotta give ashout out to all the amazing
positions that we had, all thisteam that helped me create this
short.
And I want to give thisshout-out so that you know how
(33:06):
many people it took to make thisthing a reality, and also
because these are all peoplethat you can network with to
create your own project.
And everybody was so amazing.
Thank you to Jenny, who is goingto do the VO for Linda, my mom.
You're the best.
We have yet to film our VO, butI know it's going to be amazing.
Thank you so much.
You're always my mom in shortfilms.
(33:28):
You're the best, Jenny.
Thank you so much.
Thank you to Haley Moore forproducing this and for helping
me get all of these things puttogether and for going above and
beyond, not just producing,helping me set my wardrobe,
helping me production design,helping me do all of those extra
tasks that I needed assistancewith because I couldn't do it on
(33:48):
my own.
And Haley also scriptsupervised, which was a huge
help.
I love having a scriptsupervisor.
They really help make sureeverything is clear to the
editing team.
Thank you for helping theediting team complete this.
Thank you, thank you, thank youto Anthony Matos for just being
you and for creating thesebeautiful cinematic shots and
(34:14):
and just for being such a greatteammate and for helping me
create something beautiful andthat really showcases the script
that I wrote.
Thank you, Jeshua, for being ourAC, helping pull focus, making
sure I'm sharp in the frame, andassisting with anything we
needed camera.
I appreciate your help so much.
(34:35):
I hope you enjoyed yourhamburger.
Inside joke, sorry y'all.
Thank you for helping make thisproject happen.
Thank you to Danielle, who wasour gaffer.
Dude, you're the best.
You're so awesome.
Your attention to detail isamazing.
It really, really helps when youhave somebody who's passionate.
(34:56):
Like I've said, every singleperson on this team was
passionate.
But Danielle, you just bring alittle something a little extra,
which is so special to me in myheart.
Thank you so much, Danielle.
Thank you to Louise, who was ourswing and helping support our
genie team and helping supportDanielle.
Thank you for setting up allthose stands and putting them
(35:17):
together and wrapping out andworking hard.
Thank you so much.
I hope you enjoyed all of theWelches.
Louise ate an entire box ofWelches with No Shame.
And next shoot, we will have twoboxes of Welches for you,
Louise, and just for you.
Thank you to Griffin Cardale forrecording sound for us for the
day.
(35:37):
You are an essential part of theteam, and I appreciate you
capturing all these tiny littlemoments to help make this
project stand out.
Thank you so much, Griffin.
Thank you so much, Gabe Hurst,for doing our music.
It's such an essential part tostorytelling of a film.
And also a big thank you toGillian Backlund for being our
(36:00):
PA for the day.
Not only being our PA for theday, capturing amazing BTS,
helping out whenever he could,capturing some social media, as
well as he's doing the sounddesign for this.
So it was so great to have yoube here for the making of the
film.
Thank you so much.
You are such an essential partof this team.
(36:22):
And lastly, I've alreadymentioned it, but thank you to
Robbie Moore for being not justa producer, but a director, and
also for editing this project.
I know it's going to be awesome.
I love the vision you have.
You are such a great director towork with because you give such
good feedback and you reallymake an actor feel seen and
(36:42):
heard as well as push them to bethe best actor they possibly can
be.
Thank you so much for all yourhard work on this.
I can't wait to do another onetogether.
Overall, the team really makesthe project.
We couldn't have made such agreat product without all of
these amazing crew members andall these amazing positions.
(37:03):
So thank you so much for comingout here working hard for the
day.
I just I can't say thank youenough for helping bring one of
my first short films tofruition.
Thank you so much, everybody.
And with that, I hoped hearingthe process of this was helpful
for you.
If you need me to break it downany smaller, or you want any
(37:26):
forms, or you want any of thepre-production style things in
documents, I'm happy to sharethat with you.
You just let me know down in thecomments.
Thank you so much for tuning in.
I hope this helps you in yourown glow up.
Hope it gives you a good ideaand shows you that it's doable
to do something like this with awonderful, awesome team of
(37:49):
people that you've networkedwith.
Everybody here, everybody onthis crew, everybody on this
amazing team's links will be inthe show notes.
So if you want to follow me, youwant to check them out, you want
to see what they're doing on theside, head over to the show
notes so you can check them outon social media.
And that's it for today'sepisode of the Glow Up Year.
Thanks for hanging out with me.
I'm seriously so excited to haveyou along for the ride.
(38:12):
And we're only just gettingstarted because the best is yet
to come.
If you felt fired up or inspiredtoday, hit that subscribe
button, leave a quick review,and pass this episode along to a
fellow dreamer in your circle.
You want more BTS or pep talksor updates?
Come find me over on social atMegSalisburyOfficial.
(38:34):
I'll be sharing more of myjourney there.
Links are in the show notes.
And remember, your glow up isunfolding one bold move at a
time.
Keep showing up, keep dreamingbigger, and we'll catch you on
the next one.
Popular Podcasts
Dateline NBC
Current and classic episodes, featuring compelling true-crime mysteries, powerful documentaries and in-depth investigations. Follow now to get the latest episodes of Dateline NBC completely free, or subscribe to Dateline Premium for ad-free listening and exclusive bonus content: DatelinePremium.com
Stuff You Should Know
If you've ever wanted to know about champagne, satanism, the Stonewall Uprising, chaos theory, LSD, El Nino, true crime and Rosa Parks, then look no further. Josh and Chuck have you covered.
The Bobby Bones Show
Listen to 'The Bobby Bones Show' by downloading the daily full replay.