A 200-square-foot apartment in Brooklyn, New York. A budget of roughly $20,000. And a primary crew of three Northwestern alums.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Beginning in June 2024, Sam Jonas (Communication \u201923) turned his studio apartment into a film set. With a prism lens, purchased for about $40, a single light and sets built by Jonas himself, he and his team shot his first feature film, \u201cThe Rabbit Hole.\u201d<\/p>\n
The self-proclaimed \u201cbroke artist\u201d independently created the film, which is about a neurotic tree-hugger who builds a supercomputer to save the natural world.<\/p>\n
Jonas said he hopes audiences are left feeling entertained, intrigued by fungus and \u201cflabbergasted\u201d that it was filmed in a roughly 200-square-foot apartment with a minimal budget.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The first draft\u00a0<\/p>\n
Though no one in his family had ever been involved with filmmaking, Jonas grew up watching movies. Every Thanksgiving and Christmas, the family watched a few specific films: \u201cPlanes, Trains and Automobiles,\u201d \u201cElf\u201d and \u201cDie Hard.\u201d They also had regular Friday movie nights.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cThere always felt like there was this kind of sacredness around bringing people together,\u201d Jonas said.\u00a0<\/p>\n
But when Jonas first came to Northwestern, he had no idea the University had a film program, he said.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Though he was initially a Medill student, he eventually jumped into the film program as an underclassman.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cI just like never really looked back,\u201d Jonas said.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Jonas quickly established a reputation as a \u201cprolific\u201d filmmaker, according to Xanthe Moon Brown (Communication \u201923). Brown was the colorist for \u201cThe Rabbit Hole,\u201d and she said Jonas was constantly making films on his own and shooting outside of class.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The film\u2019s producer, Nick Schoenbrodt (Communication \u201923), had a similar first impression of Jonas. He said that once Jonas joined the Radio\/Television\/Film program, he started hearing about Jonas and his projects all over campus.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Jonas took advantage of NU\u2019s film program, having made 15 amateur short films and a couple larger-scale short films by the time he graduated, he said.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cIt felt like a sandbox for me to play with my voice, play with my style and really, honestly, get to know people to help me with my films,\u201d Jonas said.\u00a0<\/p>\n
He knew he wanted to make a film soon after graduating. Jonas thought he would move to Chicago following his graduation, he said, so in December 2022 he wrote a draft for a film based in the city.\u00a0<\/p>\n
However, he ultimately moved to Brooklyn, New York and spent about two months rewriting his script, which he called his \u201cvomit draft.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Jonas said he doesn\u2019t begin writing until he has a concept that feels like something only he can write. Then, after the first draft, the script becomes a \u201cliving document.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
Moving beyond student film sets\u00a0<\/p>\n
After graduating alongside Jonas, Schoenbrodt moved back home to New Jersey and found himself sitting alone at home, working and writing.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cI was really bored because I\u2019m from the suburbs and there\u2019s not much to do in the Jersey suburbs when you\u2019re in your 20s,\u201d he said.\u00a0<\/p>\n
So, he posted on his Instagram story, saying he was interested in producing something in New York.\u00a0<\/p>\n
He originally expected someone to respond with a short film or music video project, so when Jonas responded with an idea for a feature film, his first reaction was, \u201cWhat have I gotten myself into?\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Schoenbrodt had never produced something as the sole producer before, since he said he is a writer first and foremost. Still, he decided to give it a try.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cI think it\u2019s fun to branch out and explore all the parts of filmmaking and film production,\u201d Schoenbrodt said.\u00a0<\/p>\n
It didn\u2019t take long until Schoenbrodt was fully on board since Jonas\u2019 project seemed very doable, he said. He already knew Jonas from their time together at NU, and he knew that there would be creative freedom and clever innovation with \u201cThe Rabbit Hole.\u201d<\/p>\n
Other NU alums were also brought onto the project, including sound recordist Nick Kapp (Communication \u201925). Together with Jonas and Schoenbrodt, the three made up the feature\u2019s primary crew.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cSam and I have a pretty storied creative relationship,\u201d Kapp said.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The two first worked together on Jonas\u2019 2023 short \u201cDomestikated,\u201d which Kapp described as one of the most difficult things he\u2019d ever done. He added that Jonas asked him to come back for another film during Jonas\u2019 senior year, which Kapp agreed to.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Jonas said he called Kapp about a year in advance to ask him to be the sound recordist for \u201cThe Rabbit Hole.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cI sort of became his de facto sound mixer,\u201d Kapp said. \u201cI was his first call for a lot of this stuff.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Brown and Ian Mahanpour (Bienen \u201922) had also worked on \u201cDomestikated.\u201d Jonas asked the two to be a part of \u201cThe Rabbit Hole\u201d as colorist and composer, respectively.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Mahanpour recalled that \u201cDomestikated\u201d was both the first Jonas film he worked on and also his favorite film experience at NU.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cHe\u2019s one of the best collaborators I\u2019ve worked with,\u201d Mahanpour said. \u201cHe\u2019s so open to new ideas, yet at the same time, he has a clear vision for his film.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Blending team members, lessons from NU\u00a0<\/p>\n
The crew of \u201cThe Rabbit Hole\u201d carried lessons from NU with them as they worked on the project.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Jonas said the most valuable thing the University gave him was the people he worked with. Every crew member, excluding the actors, was an NU alum, he said. Most of the post-production members were as well.<\/p>\n
Kapp was on about 30 student film sets before \u201cThe Rabbit Hole,\u201d and he said he used a culmination of all of the skills he learned for the project. His role as sound recordist involved a lot of \u201ctap dancing,\u201d he said, as he tried to smoothen all of the sound elements.\u00a0<\/p>\n
He recalled a scene shot in Times Square, standing in the middle of roughly a hundred people. He had his audio equipment in his backpack and no way to control all of the background noise. Later, he had to carefully edit everything together to make it sound like one continuous conversation.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Thanks to NU student film sets, where Kapp was thrown into the independent filmmaking process and quickly learned how to manage with what is given, he was able to do it.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cNorthwestern will get you into scenarios where you can learn. It will get you onto sets where you will meet people who know way more than you do and know way more than your professors do,\u201d he said.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Similar to Kapp, Brown said she was lucky to volunteer herself for every possible opportunity while at NU. She said she messed up a lot along the way, but the University gave her a safe environment to fail in.<\/p>\n
While working on music for \u201cThe Rabbit Hole,\u201d Mahanpour also pulled from his experiences and skills gained at NU.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Although he wasn\u2019t an RTVF major like his counterparts on \u201cThe Rabbit Hole,\u201d Mahanpour said he also worked on many films during his time at NU.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cAll the film stuff I do know, I wouldn\u2019t have been able to do without the Northwestern film and sound community,\u201d he said.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The driving force behind the final product\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
Lessons and experiences from NU may have served \u201cThe Rabbit Hole\u201d well, but Jonas was ultimately \u201cthe driving force in every way,\u201d according to Schoenbrodt.\u00a0<\/p>\n
As producer, Schoenbrodt said he mostly filled in gaps and picked up slack where Jonas needed it. The two had a very collaborative relationship throughout the process, with regular meetings where Schoenbrodt said Jonas would bring a set of problems for the two to solve together.\u00a0<\/p>\n
For Brown, she said she chose to work on this project because she knew it would be high quality. She was motivated because she believes in Jonas\u2019 artistic brand, she said.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Once shooting wrapped, Jonas was left with hours upon hours of editing.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cMaking a film this way gets very lonely,\u201d Jonas said. \u201cYou become your own feedback loop. You get lost in the sauce, real hard, especially when you edit it.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
He described editing as \u201ceating my own throw up\u201d and called it a \u201cgruesome, vicious\u201d process. However, he did seek out feedback from Schoenbrodt throughout the process.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Once he was finally finished with the film, however, he said it felt good. In fact, he said his favorite part of filmmaking is moving on.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cI like to be done,\u201d Jonas said. \u201cDone, in this world, in this industry, is a superpower.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
On the big screen\u00a0<\/p>\n
Once complete, \u201cThe Rabbit Hole\u201d premiered with a screening in New York City at Anthology Film Archives.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The audience was made up of friends, family and even a few stragglers, Schoenbrodt said. It was his first time seeing the film as a finished product.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cSeeing this thing that feels so handmade and personal and that we were in the room for, and then seeing it take that huge position is a really cool feeling, where any of those doubts are just obliterated and it completely stops mattering because you made a movie,\u201d Schoenbrodt said.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cThe Rabbit Hole\u201d was also featured at the Brooklyn Film Festival in June 2025.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Jonas said the festival experience was different than he expected and certainly a little overwhelming. He was one of the youngest filmmakers there, and he had never been to a film festival before.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Now, \u201cThe Rabbit Hole\u201d is available to view on YouTube.<\/p>\n
Jonas said he\u2019s proud he was able to pull off his vision and create a film that was \u201cabout as independent as it gets.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m proud of the amount of work I put in,\u201d he said. \u201cI\u2019m proud that I said I was gonna do something, and I put my mind to it and I went out and I did it.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Others involved with the project also commended Jonas for his work. Brown said she\u2019s impressed with Jonas\u2019 dedication and commitment to his craft.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s only a matter of time before people start catching up and really falling in love with what he\u2019s doing,\u201d Schoenbrodt said.\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A 200-square-foot apartment in Brooklyn, New York. A budget of roughly $20,000. And a primary crew of three…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":160006,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[36],"tags":[98,65954,100,99,9,24,65955,65956,63,65957,14543],"class_list":["post-160005","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-brooklyn","tag-brooklyn","tag-brooklyn-film-festival","tag-brooklyn-headlines","tag-brooklyn-news","tag-new-york","tag-new-york-city","tag-nick-kapp","tag-nick-schoenbrodt","tag-nyc","tag-sam-jonas","tag-the-rabbit-hole"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/160005","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=160005"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/160005\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/160006"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=160005"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=160005"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=160005"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}