Julien Surdeau, also known as Paris-based artist Thirsty Bstrd, converted being stuck at home into a creative journey of making a short film at home, alone. The result is a 3-minutes singular short film made of stock footage that condenses a twisty sci-fi plot and a traveling love story in the shadow of the COVID-19 pandemic. 

See the movie here : View

“The starting point was : What if I told a story taking place around the world while I’m stuck at  home?“ Julien Surdeau says. “It’s been years since I wanted to shoot a proper short film. The CO VID-19 pandemic really stomped out my fire. Especially since most of my ideas were taking place  in the UK or in the US. I realized that if I wanted to make it happen anyway, I had to do it by myself,  at home.“ 

“That frustration is actually at the origin of the plot. We all spent a complicated time with the CO VID-19 pandemic, so I thought “what if I could instead remember last year as the best time of my  life?““ adds Julien Surdeau. “I worked on a script that would condense a modern sci-fi plot (with a  twist), a love story, some of my movies influence, my state of mind regarding the pandemic… all  compacted in a 3 minutes short film.“ 

“The use of stock footage was the natural choice as I wanted to tell a big story without being able  to step outside. I had recently taken a look at stock footage videos online and was surprised by  the quality of what I found. I had put aside a few shots that caught my attention, thinking it would  be a great challenge to try to build a story around stock footage someday.“ 

“I spent days watching stock footage videos, working on building a narrative consistency. I was editing and writing at the same time. I used computer-generated voices to punctuate the edit so  I could rewrite all the time and get an idea of the final cadence. At this stage, the story was still evolving depending on my findings,“ develops Julien. “Weeks later, once I was satisfied with the result, I got the voices recorded by US voice artists I cast online, with whom I was able to work remotely. And voila!“ 

About Julien Surdeau

Julien Surdeau is a multidisciplinary artist living and working in Paris, known as Thirsty Bstrd. As an artist, his work explores a critical view of social and cultural issues, drawing inspiration from contemporary art and pop culture. 

Instagram : @thirstybstrd @juliensurdeau 

Contact Details

Name: Julien Surdeau

Email ID: [email protected]

Location: Paris, France