How do filmmakers protect their creativity after intense shoots and interviews?

After a huge film shoot on Sunday and a big creative day yesterday in Adobe Premiere Pro training, it was great to have planned this day off.

I had a long walk and a quick jump in the ocean, even though it was not the best beach day. But it worked. It is my way of clearing my head and resetting that creativity.

Creativity for me was heavy going, and when we shot the documentary on Sunday, I had all the normal roles of being a director on set, working the camera, helping the crew, directing the cast in our scene with the actors, and making sure the set was flowing. I was also making sure we were getting everything we needed for the final documentary.

But a big part of my day was interviewing all of our awesome Musketeer volunteers about some pretty heavy topics. We talked about their lives, about getting older, about the work they do, and why that work is so important for community and mental health. As the director, asking those questions meant I had to stay in the moment and be fully present with them, making sure the conversation flowed so we could capture the best material for the finished film.

To do that, you have to make yourself extremely vulnerable. Not only is the person you are interviewing vulnerable to the whole filming process, but you are too.

And that does take a toll. That is why I planned a day off. I predicted I would need a creative reset.

It is not easy for me to do that. It is much easier to push on, chase the next goal, and get back to work. My brain is always twirling away, and even today I have to tell it to stop. I am not sure if other creatives experience the same thing, but that is what it feels like for me.

A reset day helps.

And for me, that means coming back to the beach and grounding myself again.

If you’d like to follow my filmmaker journey, from behind‑the‑scenes moments through to festival screenings, subscribe to my YouTube channel, where I’ll be sharing updates, insights, and the creative process as the documentary comes to life.