Blackbird | Award Winning Sci-Fi Short Film

A husband and wife debate the idea of uploading her consciousness to an AI after she's impaired in a severe car accident.

Written and Directed by Mike Thompson

Produced by Laury Christensen, Mike Thompson, Thomas Johns, & Sarah East

Director of Photography - Thomas Johns

Music Composed by Tim Miller

Cast

Chris Petty - Matthew Scott
Sarah East - Sarah Scott
Chris Taylor - Sebastian Synthetics Employee
Rebekah Lynn Dow (Voice) - Sebastian Synthetics Rep
Derek Sawyer - Chris
Elise McKenna & Jennifer Sparks - Office Workers

Crew

Adam C. Thomas - First Assistant Director
Tommy Baker - First AC
Russ Allen - Second AC
Sound Mixer - Tim Miller
Andrea Ahl - Production Design & Hair/MakeUp
Marshall Shartzer - Art Director
Kristina Kubrick - Costume Designer/Wardrobe
Janelle Stevens - Key Grip
Alex Lemon - Grip

Post Crew

Edited by Mike Thompson, Thomas Johns, and Austin Sheehan
Derek Sepe, MPSE - Sound Editor
VFX by Christopher Shiner and John Wheeler
Thomas Johns - Colorist
Andrea Acs - Trailer Editor

Gear

Camera - Sony A7sii
Lenses - Rokinon Cine Kit
Lighting - Quasar Science and Aputure
Edited in Premiere Pro
Colored in DaVinci Resolve

[johncraft]

Lost my wife 11 years ago. At the time I would have been content to follow her right then. However I came to understand that other people were depending on me. With the memories I carried of her I was able to continue. Today I still miss her dearly but have learned to live.

[DonFahquidmi]

Two things that I really loved about this movie:

The first is that they managed to tell the whole story in just 16 minutes.

The second is how they did that. They allow the viewer to infer events that were only alluded to. That shows great respect for the viewer's intelligence.

Absolutely brilliant!

[Vegan_botanicals]

very well done, thanks to everyone involved in this production for some good viewing.

[michaelpowell]

Lost my wife 3 years ago. This made me cry. Didn't expect it. You never think about it but with tech screaming into the future I want a cyborg of her. Lost hope and it has not returned.

[Graphicstation]

Wow, great cinematography, and so well written, SCi-Fi is such a challenging genre - kudos, !

[Sigma.Infinity]

The last line "Hello stranger" gave me prickles along my spine. The shock of not knowing which way that was going to go ...

[koriw]

Wow. This gave me the creeps! The ambiguity of Sarah was really intriguing. Who was she? Which one was she? Was she an android in the beginning only to be replaced? Brrr!

This goes into all kinds of dark places of the human psyche. Does the person transfer from a body to a mechanical being or is it that only the memories are sent, in effect, with the original soul dying in the body? Or worse, does the soul become trapped in this immortal construct?

Was the wife's name 'Sarah' indicative of some other work of fiction, or was she the biblical Sarah? In the Bible, Sarah stands in tension with Abraham, the promise that God will make him the founder of a mighty nation through her?

There are so many dark corners to peer behind! I would love to see this fleshed out into a feature film.

How sad that it's only been seen 146k times in two years! You sir, need more exposure!

[ToddHofer]

This was a fantastic short. I could see a movie or series being made from this. Absolutely fantastic. Thanks for sharing!

[ColeMayes]

If only... 💖 The ending had me 😭 my eyes out. Another example of why I've loved this channel for so many years. 🙏

[Freight_Train]

This is one of the few sci-fi shorts I've seen where I got invested in the characters. Very intriguing and well done.

[bhmch]

Four months ago I lost the love of my life. My dream. Everything that I hoped for and wanted and love was in her.
My heart was broken in so many pieces that it was impossible to even see what was left.

At many points I wanted to take my own life because she was gone.

I don’t think it was an accident that this short came into my suggestions because this one film has taught me that it’s OK to move on.

I Love so incredibly hard so this was even more difficult than when my mom passed when I was 23.
At 54, I am unsure if I will ever find love again and I know I won’t find the love that I had with my Kim.

But I now know that I don’t need to replace her. I simply just have to continue.

God bless and thank you. You probably didn’t realize that this film would reach somebody the way that it has but as a writer myself, that’s one of the reasons we do it.

Thank you. ❤️

[danielhanawalt]

At the end when she said hey stranger, looked like she knew she would need some time to adjust after being confined to a hospital bed for a long time. Or perhaps not all of what made her human was transferred. Interesting story and well acted. Overall very good film.

[KutWrite]

Who's to say if the first wife was a real human? This may be v2.0.

I liked it, esp. the iffiness and creepy aspects.

[timjoyce]

Very good. The problem was never going to be technology; it is always an emotional one. So, don't concern yourself with the originality, or otherwise, of the storyline - you nailed the important stuff.

[davidens]

why am I crying .. this was so freaking good ... just wow

[josuaelsabiodelasmontanas]

I can understand you John, muy wife died five years ago. I am agree with your words. Excuse my poor english. Regards from Spain

[emzywillrich]

I can't have anything like that in my house! That's worse than the robots they already have monitoring us.

[MisterG]

This deserves way more views, on one of the bigger short film channels like Omeleto or Dust. Kudos, very well done!

[alikigeorgiou]

Such a lovely story and has left me with a tear in my eye too. Beautifully acted and how the whole story was told - loved it!

[chuckandmax]

Wouldn’t it be wonderful if we could keep our loved ones alive like this, I would certainly want to use it on all of my dogs. Letting go is so hard, this would make it much easier