Ashes of The Mountain

Ashes of the Mountain is a psychological and philosophical expedition:
A funeral procession to the roof of Africa, where four friends confront mortality and search for meaning at the edge of the world.

Role: Producer
Scope: Story Development, Post-Production Strategy, Team assembly and management

Overview

Ashes of the Mountain was the first feature film I produced—and, unexpectedly, the beginning of a love story.

I met the director, Joseph Lindley, in a park before we ever worked together. What began as an. off-screen relationship slowly evolved into something deeper as we navigated the emotional, philosophical, and logistical intensity of finishing this film together. By the time the project wrapped, we had not only shaped a feature-length documentary, but were engaged to get married!

The Challenge

When I joined the project, principal photography had already taken place. The team returned from Mount Kilimanjaro with hours of breathtaking but overwhelming footage—visually epic, emotionally raw, and philosophically dense.

How do you translate extreme physical endurance into an internal reckoning?
How do you communicate grief, awe, fear, and transcendence without flattening them into exposition?

Creative Strategy

Our approach was to build inward, treating post-production as a form of excavation.

Rather than forcing the footage into a conventional documentary arc, we leaned into the psychological terrain beneath the climb and created a layered storytelling language that included:

Dream & Psychedelic Sequences
We designed surreal, psychedelic dream sequences—rich with hidden symbolism—to visualize subconscious states the climbers couldn’t articulate aloud. These moments operate beneath logic, inviting the audience to feel rather than interpret, and rewarding repeat viewings with deeper meaning.

Animated World-Building
Animation became a bridge between reality and interiority, allowing us to externalize memory, grief, and liminal states where vérité footage alone fell short.

Pickup Interviews
Post-expedition interviews gave the climbers space to reflect with emotional distance, transforming physical feats into philosophical insight.

Voiceover as Reflection
Carefully sculpted voiceover served as connective tissue—less narration, more inquiry—guiding the audience through questions of mortality, friendship, and presence.

Immersive Sound Design
In collaboration with Dallas Audio Post, sound became a psychological force: breath, silence, altitude, and inner echo working together to mirror the mind under extreme conditions.

Editorial & Creative Collaboration

This film was shaped through deep collaboration in post, with essential contributions from:

Howard Wimshurst (art director/animator)
Max Shirlo (assistant editor)
Jake Gum (editor)
Sound Design (Dallas Audio Post)

The Result

We completed the film and premiered it at Anchorage International Film Festival, a deeply sentimental moment given our strong creative community in Alaska—and especially meaningful as this is where I am now developing my first feature film as a director.

But one of the most exciting phases of this project is still unfolding.

Ongoing Impact & Distribution

The film’s life has extended beyond the festival circuit through an experimental, viral digital marketing campaign led by director Joseph Lindley, pushing the boundaries of what independent film distribution can look like as the industry itself undergoes transformation.

Rather than waiting for permission, the campaign treats the internet as a living exhibition space—testing new models of reach, intimacy, and audience engagement in real time.

Why This Project Matters

Ashes of the Mountain reinforced a core belief in my work:

Post-production is where the footage comes alive and the story finds its form. It's make it or break it.

As the producer, I got to helo translate Joseph's vision into cinematic language through partnerships and workflow.