My name is Jarl Olsen. I am a middle aged white man living in the American Midwest. I lead a glamorous life. I’ve just spent this summer rehabbing a house that was so dirty, the people who used to go there to smoke meth would go to the neighbors’ to use the toilet. I swear this is true.

Once, while cleaning out an apartment storage unit, I found a box with some Swedish porn and lots of short films inside. I sold the porn right away, but no one wanted the short films, which had odd titles and starred actors no one had heard of. Some of them weren’t even in color. If I had been thinking, I could have Xeroxed the cover art from the porno and bought some blank DVD jackets, but those are the kind of “Eureka” ideas that only occur too late, like when you’re sitting at the Department of Motor Vehicles and it occurs to you what you should have said to that witch of a second grade teacher when she held up your crayon unicorn for ridicule before the entire class.

About the films. It was clear someone had spent a lot of time making them, even the black and white ones, so it didn’t feel right just chucking them. Besides, all that video stuff is really toxic for the environment. I sent them out to film festivals that take short films. Some of them didn’t get in. Some of them did. The important thing is, none of them came back.

I still use that box, because I move a lot and boxes are handy. Sometimes when I unpack it, I find things that I don’t remember having packed. Screenplays. A novel. Scribbled ideas for movies or TV shows. Nothing of value. No porn.

The latest thing I found was like a giant comic book, all carefully hand drawn by someone who clearly was not a professional artist. I read it and I thought it was like an entire movie drawn out, picture by picture. The story took place in Los Angeles and their were some references to other comics that I didn’t really get, but the main characters were pretty girls who I found myself rooting for, even though they kind of blundered their way through the world and didn’t treat others very well. Maybe when I look again, this comic will be a movie.

My name is Jarl Olsen and I live in the American Midwest and I am very grateful to Raindance for their support of filmmakers big, small and imaginary.

Jarl Olsen is a freelance copywriter and commercial director. His work, including some short films, may be viewed at jarlolsen.com and web.mac.com/smugglersinn.