Terminator: “Why do you cry?”
John Connor: ”You mean people?”
Terminator: ”Yes.”
John Connor: ”I don't know. We just cry. You know, when it hurts.”
Terminator: ”Pain causes it?”
John Connor: ”No, it's when there's nothing wrong with you, but you hurt anyway. You get it?”
Terminator: ”No.”
-Terminator 2: Judgment Day
After twelve good years of commercial filmmaking, we've abandoned our name.... (had to say it).
Actually, we've found it.
Do you know how many 'production companies' are online, promoting their businesses on Facebook, Instagram, and Google, selling e-courses, and fighting for your attention? The answer is holy $#!% a lot, and there's no way I'm digging up those numbers for you because you get it.
But now that everyone's here…
How do you find the people you want to work with?
How can you tell who the right fit is for your company or brand?
How can you recognize your collaborators, your people, if you can’t find us in the vast, expanding sea of digital noise?
It doesn't take a professional to know you gotta 'hook em in seconds’ or they're gone. We realized we needed to convey what we're about immediately, and the name Abandon Films just wasn't cutting it.
The answer was right in front of us all along. We just didn't know it yet.
Since I joined Abandon Films almost three years ago, there was a phrase that would later become a form of 'creative currency' in the office. It began with one of the co-founders, Justin.
We’d come into the office Monday mornings, and if a film worth seeing came out that weekend we would commence giving our feedback:
I would discuss the "genius of the writing and the ROI compared to the film's budget," or how, "in or out of touch Hollywood is with the people," while Justin would share a far more meaningful qualifier.
You see, this odd batch is a team because we all have something in common when it comes to the art we enjoy, and even in our personal creative works. Each of us desires to achieve something special. Justin’s way of experiencing and communicating that feeling is, well, to cry.
We're as likely to cry during heartache and loss as we are when we're extremely fulfilled. The whirlwinds of emotions we experience in these moments are too difficult to put into words and go beyond simply being “happy” or “sad.”
And that's why when CRY cracked down on us like lightning, there was no turning back. We wanted a name that shows our current and future collaborators who we are and what we're about on the spot, and CRY does just that.
But, if you really need a story for the name change, I'll leave you with one of my favorites from the day I first used CRY as an example of a dynamic name that could represent so much about us.
I said, "Justin, you always cry when you love a film. You say you cry for almost ANYTHING you really like. We need to find that word." It felt harsh and judgmental. I’m calling the guy out for his crying! I didn't want to embarrass him or sound cruel in front of our team, but I was struggling to find a solution. Noticing my discomfort, Justin raised me back up when he affirmed, "No, It's true... I cried over a steak last week. It was that good."
Like Justin's steak, CRY, to us, is that good.
So farewell, Abandon Films.
- Codey Wilson, EP
