When Evan Carse (Co-Writer / Lead) and I created Cardboard Island, we were juniors in college, coming off a seven-episode series and looking to push ourselves as far as possible. After leaving the filmmaking program and switching into screenwriting, we set one goal: to graduate having made something that truly felt epic.

We started by chasing ideas—big, imaginative, borderline impossible ideas—without worrying about how they would fit together. Only after we had everything on the table did we begin shaping the story. What we ended up writing was a 120-page script driven heavily by visual effects we had no prior experience with. It was far outside our comfort zone, and honestly, intimidating. But we committed to a mindset: keep pushing, and we’ll figure it out. Nothing is out of reach.

That philosophy carried us through production. Over the course of a summer, with a crew of fewer than five people, we filmed nearly every day—experimenting with puppetry, green screen, practical explosions, fire, stunts, and even building custom equipment we had never seen before.

Post-production proved just as demanding. We lost the entire score in a flood and had to rebuild it from scratch. We taught ourselves visual effects, recorded ADR across different states, and constructed an entire world—both visually and audibly—from little more than a green bedsheet and an Adobe Cloud subscription.

Three years later, Cardboard Island stands as the result of stretching every creative and technical muscle we had. While the scale of the project is something we’re proud of, it’s the story that matters most to us: taking all of our wild, childlike ideas and shaping them into something deeply personal and heartfelt.

This film was only possible through collaboration. From start to finish, it reflects the generosity and talent of the artists who joined us along the way—especially in post-production—proving just how powerful community can be in independent filmmaking.

As of March 2026, Cardboard Island is complete and heading to festivals.

—Jacob Boatsman (Writer/Director/VFX Artist)