Chicago-based writer-director Blake Martin has wrapped production on Alone, Now, the third entry in his self-produced six-shorts-in-six-months slate from his production company FROW Media Group.

The project marks the midpoint of an ambitious creative run for Martin, who has no formal film school training and launched the slate roughly one year into his directing career. Built as a rapid-fire test of range, the six-film effort moves across drama, surrealist comedy and erotic formats, with each short produced back-to-back on an accelerated timeline.

With Alone, Now, Martin enters his most personal territory yet.

“To do six films in six months is insane. I know. I agree,” Martin told us. “But it’s been so rewarding. This isn’t about making an award-winning film this time, or trying to change the game. This is about the work of doing the work — growth, learning, failing, and getting better, film by film.”

Building Momentum Through Word of Mouth

Despite the compressed production schedule, Martin’s shorts have begun gaining traction through word of mouth, with festival programmers and peers taking note of his willingness to move between unconventional narrative structures and dramatic tonal shifts.

Sources close to the slate indicate early festival interest is already circling Alone, Now ahead of a formal submissions push.

Martin has framed the initiative as more than a personal calling card. For him, the slate is also a statement for Chicago’s independent film community, a market he believes is too often overlooked when compared with the coasts.

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The Story Behind Alone, Now

Alone, Now follows Charlie, a man whose ordinary morning slowly unravels into devastating loss. Rather than leaning on exposition, Martin builds the film around silence, restraint, and minimal dialogue.

The story carries additional emotional weight behind the camera. Martin confirmed the film was shot during the week of the 10-year anniversary of his mother’s death.

“This was my most personal story,” Martin said. “It was filmed the week of my mother’s ten-year death anniversary. A lot of people thought it would break me. But filming it was actually the most healing thing I’ve done in the ten years since she’s been gone.”

Casting by Instinct

Martin bypassed the traditional audition process for both lead roles, choosing instead to cast through direct outreach and instinct.

For the role of Charlie, Martin wrote the script and called actor Taijun Waters directly, simply telling him, “I have something for you.” No formal audition followed.

The role asked Waters, who Martin describes as a man of faith, to inhabit a character whose grief turns into open anger at God. Martin said the emotional and spiritual demands of the part required a level of openness that Waters fully embraced.

“There was so much vulnerability that this role required — mentally, spiritually, physically,” Martin said. “I was so moved by his performance.”

Taijun Waters on Becoming Charlie

Waters, in a statement provided alongside the first-look images, described an interior-first approach to the role.

“I aim to always live my characters from my inner thoughts and out. So creating a conducive thought life for Charlie, and thus his motivations, was my primary prep, so my body could serve it truthfully.”

The assignment became more complex because the production ran out of sequence, requiring Waters to tap into Charlie’s deepest emotional lows before filming earlier scenes of joy.

“I just had to be intentional and remember the audience’s journey in every scene, to assure my body communicated a declining crescendo,” Waters said.

One extended sequence, a pivotal set piece shot continuously for roughly three hours, became the production’s most demanding stretch.

“I was definitely emotionally and physically drained,” Waters said, “until lunch.”

Working with Martin for the first time, Waters pointed to the director’s attention to detail as one of the defining qualities of the experience.

“Every detail of a garment or artwork builds toward the ultimate meaning,” he said. “The level of detail he put into every layer of the story, wardrobe, and script was impressive — exactly what I sign up for in the films that I love.”

Shenice Danyel Joins the Cast

Rounding out the cast is Shenice Danyel as Charlie’s cousin, Kiesha.

Martin discovered Danyel during a local Chicago stage production and cast her, like Waters, without a formal audition.

“The moment she stepped on stage, I just knew I wanted to work with her,” Martin said.

In Alone, Now, Kiesha serves as Charlie’s emotional counterweight. She is present and restrained, unable to fix what has been broken but unwilling to leave him alone in it.

A Message About Grief and Community

Asked what he hopes audiences take from the film, Waters pointed to its broader message on grief and connection.

“I hope they understand that they are not alone. Grief does not have an expiration — and that is real. But it does have a community. And loving another well, in community, is essential for the love we all will one day lose to time.”

What Comes Next

Alone, Now is the third of six planned shorts in Martin’s self-produced slate, with a premiere targeted for October 2026. The remaining three entries are currently in development.

Alone, Now was written and directed by Blake Martin and stars Taijun Waters and Shenice Danyel. The film is currently in festival submission.

Photo Credit: Dane Thomas

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