THE BACKSTORY

SEPTEMBER 13TH 2023

I was scrolling instagram, feeling isolated, directionless, lame, in the big city. I started to watch - every video - from an account I'd been a fan of for a while - @willsurvives.

I thought, "Why is this kid doing this? Building a cabin in the woods, alone? Posting it all on instagram? Is it for the clout? Or is he finding something out there?" Then I thought, "Someone needs to make a documentary about him." and then I thought, "I should."

At 12:12 AM, I emailed him asking him if he'd be into it. 

5 days later he responded "honestly sounds interesting."

A month after that, I went to New Mexico. 

OCTOBER 19TH 2023

I slept in a tent for a week, trying to film as much as possible every day. The first night I got there, Will told me Vice, CNN, and some other people had asked to make a documentary about him too. I guess he said no to all of them and yes to me because I seemed chiller. He was probably right, I'm pretty chill.

I didn't know exactly how I was going to tell Will's story. He was only 20 years old at the time, but it already felt complicated to explain how he'd built a cabin before this in Oregon, got kicked out by the US Army Corps of Engineers, then was hit up by a follower on tiktok live who invited him to New Mexico, plus a lot of other stuff I'm leaving out, so I just filmed what I thought were the most interesting parts of his daily routine. I interviewed him and asked him questions. A lot of questions. He was definitely getting sick of the questions, but it was just him and me, what were we supposed to do for a whole week?

We ended up getting along and both thought I should come back to see how he was doing in the wintertime. It seemed like surviving the winter would be tough. So I did.

DECEMBER 27TH, 2023

I came for another week and stayed in a motel down the road. At this point Will had brought his best friend Jesse Ross out there to live with him so I brought my best friend Sam with me.

The thing was, Will was surviving the winter easily. Which, pause for glaze, is insanely impressive. A 20 year old kid who had zero instruction went out and built a cabin in the side of the mountain, in Northern New Mexico, and easily survived. I don't think people are properly giving bro his flowers. I am. If you think it's so easy, you try. Yeah, that's what I thought.

At the same time, he had really blown up on youtube by then which was paying him a lot of money, and he honestly seemed bored. He built his house, wasn't cold, had a dog, had his friend. All of this didn't make for the best documentary. When I left I wasn't sure what I would have.

JAN 2024

After shooting the movie, things moved really slow. There's a lot I could explain but honestly, who cares. Other people were helping me behind the scenes, only they made things go slower. I really tried to utilize their help, because they're talented, but eventually you just need to finish the thing, so I chiseled down the 30 hours of footage I shot by myself. During this time, something happened that you'll see in the documentary. I couldn't leave it out.

PRESENT DAY - AUGUST 2024

Will had to leave the place in New Mexico right after finishing the amazing set up he built. Now he's living in West Virginia. If you don't know a lot about him, he uploads youtube videos twice a week where he explains it all better than I could.

He is talking about doing a solo survival challenge in Alaska, and he doesn't really cap so, that's probably coming soon. I saw him when he came to New York City for the premiere two weeks ago. He brought a nice lady friend with him, just a little update for the real heads.

After almost a year, I think my questions have been answered. That's why I made the documentary, so I'm not going to write more here. Just watch it. And buy a T-shirt. But yeah, I feel lucky Will let me do this, and answered my questions, and ultimately I am only more impressed by the guy as time goes on.

Basically, I feel good about the whole experience.

Follow your dreams.

And thanks to everyone who helped;

Isaac Eiger made all original music, Sam Resetarits took the pictures, Alex Winker did the color, John Keville mixed the sound, Matt Michaud made the title cards, Noah Kesey designed the t shirt, Rhys Scarabosio let me borrow his lens, Jenny Mackenzie let me borrow a mic, and the rest of you, I'm leaving anonymous, like you asked, but I won't forget.

I hope everything goes ok with T-shirts but hit me up if there are any problems with that too.