WALDEN POND BOOKS
2022 / 1 minute / Short / Ryland Walker Knight



DIRECTOR’S STATEMENT
A barista once said, “You’re going all in on books.” So I leaned into it and devised a paean to the act of holding a book to read. It’s an intimate relationship to a rather inanimate object. (But it’s a fetish object, too; I mean, trees died.) The different smells of paper and ink and dust, the creak of the floorboards. You’re browsing for a book in a breathing room. This piece is an invitation to dream that space into existence—as a dream. Somewhat linear but not, brazen copy you might call a poem, a sonic realm come alive in space, a portrait of a space, a place, a business yes, but also conceptual from the miniature on in, we’re bringing you into a book, many books.
Hopefully this piece inspires a trip to the store. Or whatever store close to you that you love. There’s thankfully still new ones opening up, but I approached Paul at Walden Pond about this idea because I can always remember the store featuring in the trips to the movies down the street with my dad and later with both lucky and unlucky friends.
Many thanks to the killer crew who pulled off a lot of fun stuff.
CREDITS
Writer/Director // Ryland Walker Knight
Creative Director // Sean Gillane
Executive Producer + Producer // Chris Walters
Cast - Narrator // Esmé Weijun Wang
Customer // Tracy Nguyen
Director of Photography // Peggy Peralta
Gaffer // Matt Stouppe
Art Director // Amanda Beane
Asst. Director // Andrew Juncker
1st AC // Annie Li
2nd AC // Brandon Smith
Best Boy Electric // Marc Lenahan
Key Grip // Ryan Moore
Best Boy Grip // Jon Sun
Grip // DeVron Randle
Additional Photography // Seng Chen
Additional 1st AC // Anthony Rosario
Production Asst. // Maxine Day Johnson
Edit+VFX // Capsaicinco
Sound Designer + Re-recording Mixer // Matthew Tammariello
Creative Director // Sean Gillane
Executive Producer + Producer // Chris Walters
Cast - Narrator // Esmé Weijun Wang
Customer // Tracy Nguyen
Director of Photography // Peggy Peralta
Gaffer // Matt Stouppe
Art Director // Amanda Beane
Asst. Director // Andrew Juncker
1st AC // Annie Li
2nd AC // Brandon Smith
Best Boy Electric // Marc Lenahan
Key Grip // Ryan Moore
Best Boy Grip // Jon Sun
Grip // DeVron Randle
Additional Photography // Seng Chen
Additional 1st AC // Anthony Rosario
Production Asst. // Maxine Day Johnson
Edit+VFX // Capsaicinco
Sound Designer + Re-recording Mixer // Matthew Tammariello