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Emerald City tells the story of two young men -- each isolated in their own way -- who meet on the back roads of the US/Mexican border where they develop a tentative friendship that gradually becomes more.

Featuring a diverse cast and crew (race, ethnicity, gender, sexual orientation, ability), this was one of the best teams I've ever had the privilege of working with. We had an amazing time filming in and around Potrero, California.

Reading David Bobrow's script for Emerald City, I knew it was something special right off. The original script was set during Trump's presidency, and while it made more explicit references to the closing of factories, the immigration crisis, and the rise of the MAGA mindset, David when we first talked described the story not as a political one but a story of facing one's self and making a connection that would change one's life. The script was lyrical and beautiful, and what spoke loudest was its love story. As a result, this is one of the most unabashedly romantic films I've every made.

Set against the backdrop of the migration issues along the US border with Mexico, the story is of two people coming from completely different perspectives on those and yet finding a connection with each other. The politics give way to a story of human connection.

By 2023, when we shot the film, we were faced with the question of whether or not we try to make a "period piece" (even if the "period" was only 5 years previously). We ultimately decided not to, and we reshaped the story a little to reflect some of the shifting dynamics post-Trump.

The script's overt film references include Wizard of Oz, Almost Famous, and Butch Cassidy & the Sundance Kid, though there are others hidden within the story. Cinematographer Matt Hayward and I wanted to create an image reminiscent of Westerns and other (more modern) stories set in the vast landscapes of the American Southwest. This led to shooting with anamorphic lenses and re-creating the extremely wide aspect ratio Westerns often employed to emphasize the environment. We wanted the film's beginning to emphasize the bleakness each character felt by desaturating the colors and utilizing a sparse sound design. But as the two young men get closer -- to Emerald City and recognizing the depth of their connection -- the images and sound design become more lush, until they find that the feelings of community they seek are within and around them.

Josef (Joe) Steiff is an independent filmmaker and writer whose work has exhibited in the Americas, Europe, and Asia. Raised in rural Appalachia, he doesn’t talk with much of a drawl unless he’s really tired — or you’ve bought him that second shot of whiskey — because his family said it would make people think he wasn’t smart. As a former licensed social worker, he creates work that reflects his interest in the ways that people struggle to make personal sense out of random, impersonal events. Feature films like The Other One (writer/director) and More Beautiful Than a Flower (producer), as well as his shorts “Jesse James,” “Emerald City,” “Borders,” “Catching Fire,” “I Like My Boyfriend Drunk,” and “How Will I Tell? Surviving Sexual Assault,” reflect on social issues. He served as general crew on Michael Moore’s Roger & Me and Wendy Weinberg’s Academy Award nominated documentary, Beyond Imagining. He contributed a sound installation to the first major art exhibition regarding HIV in the United States, “AIDS: The Artists' Response," and is the writer/performer of the critically acclaimed one-man show Golden Corral about his experiences growing up and working in Appalachia. His publications include “To Lose My Mind and Save My Soul: The Masculine and Feminine in Films Set in the Forest” in Cuaderno No. 91 The Heroine’s Path in Film and Other Narratives and an essay about gay domestic violence, “Flashpoint,” in Hinterland. In addition he has written or co-written three books on aspects of filmmaking and edited several books on popular culture, including topics that include anime, manga, Sherlock Holmes, and the TV series Battlestar Galactica.

Emerald City tells the story of two young men -- each isolated in their own way -- who meet on the back roads of the US/Mexican border where they develop a tentative friendship that gradually becomes more.

Featuring a diverse cast and crew (race, ethnicity, gender, sexual orientation, ability), this was one of the best teams I've ever had the privilege of working with. We had an amazing time filming in and around Potrero, California.

Reading David Bobrow's script for Emerald City, I knew it was something special right off. The original script was set during Trump's presidency, and while it made more explicit references to the closing of factories, the immigration crisis, and the rise of the MAGA mindset, David when we first talked described the story not as a political one but a story of facing one's self and making a connection that would change one's life. The script was lyrical and beautiful, and what spoke loudest was its love story. As a result, this is one of the most unabashedly romantic films I've every made.

Set against the backdrop of the migration issues along the US border with Mexico, the story is of two people coming from completely different perspectives on those and yet finding a connection with each other. The politics give way to a story of human connection.

By 2023, when we shot the film, we were faced with the question of whether or not we try to make a "period piece" (even if the "period" was only 5 years previously). We ultimately decided not to, and we reshaped the story a little to reflect some of the shifting dynamics post-Trump.

The script's overt film references include Wizard of Oz, Almost Famous, and Butch Cassidy & the Sundance Kid, though there are others hidden within the story. Cinematographer Matt Hayward and I wanted to create an image reminiscent of Westerns and other (more modern) stories set in the vast landscapes of the American Southwest. This led to shooting with anamorphic lenses and re-creating the extremely wide aspect ratio Westerns often employed to emphasize the environment. We wanted the film's beginning to emphasize the bleakness each character felt by desaturating the colors and utilizing a sparse sound design. But as the two young men get closer -- to Emerald City and recognizing the depth of their connection -- the images and sound design become more lush, until they find that the feelings of community they seek are within and around them.