I dumped four people in one day.

Everyone’s had a roster. Maybe you didn’t call it that — maybe you called it “keeping your options open” or “just seeing where things go” or “dating around like any 35-year-old in New York.” But it was a roster. The three to five people in your phone that you were sort of seeing but not really dating but definitely texting but nothing was official.

It was comfortable because it meant you never had to choose. And choosing is the scariest thing in the world because choosing someone means closing every other door. It means saying, out loud, to another human being: I pick you. I like-like-LIKE- you! And that’s terrifying. So you kept the roster. You rotated. You told yourself you were just figuring things out.

But here’s my thesis: you can’t be with your person until you clear it. All of it. Not slowly, not “let things fizzle out,” not ghost someone and hope they get the hint. You have to look every single person on that roster in the eye and say it’s done. Because the person you’re supposed to be with deserves to know that you chose them — not by default, not because everyone else fell away, but because you burned the whole thing down on purpose. For them. That’s the move. That’s the reset.

That’s what this film is about.

Roster Reset is the latest filmette from Romantical Pictures — part of our 12 Movies in 12 Months project, where we’re making one original short filmette every single month for an entire year, funded entirely by our Patreon community.

No studio. No gatekeepers. Just us and the people who believe in what we’re making. This is independent filmmaking in its purest form — a direct line from the people who watch to the people who make.

We shot Roster Reset on location in New York City, entirely on the Blazar 33mm anamorphic lens — one single lens for the whole film. There’s something about the way it renders faces, the oval bokeh, the horizontal flares, the squeeze — it just feels like things are off. Shooting on a single focal length forces you to commit. You can’t zoom your way out of a bad setup. You have to move your feet, find the frame, and trust the lens. It keeps things honest, which felt right for a film about choosing one person.

Watch on your largest screen possible and thank you as alwasy for your support of my work!

Thank you to producer Jonah Weinstein for flying in from Los Angeles to make this film with me.

Xo,

Jonah