“Zeke's Role in Our Pack” by Matthew Disbro
Beyond the Short Official Premiere
Meet the Disbro family: Matthew, Deanna, Beau, and Zeke—dad, mom, baby, and doggo, respectively. In this first-time parent household, learn how the struggles of new parenthood combined with 2021 pandemic related concerns to create a gloomy forecast over the Disbro family’s health and wellness. Then see those challenges overcome by the inclusion of Zeke in our “pack,” and how the simple act of taking care of a dog can translate into taking care of the whole family.
FROM THE DIRECTOR
“From a content creator perspective–this project holds a special place in my heart… But why? Because this story is about my family!
The video documents a timeframe that was indeed quite challenging. As most parents can relate. The first 0-18 months of parenthood demands a ton of time and attention. Plus the health concerns surrounding COVID-19 exposure in 2021 made an oddly isolating period of life for both Deanna and myself.
Casting difficulties aside, the story told falls squarely into the most magical time frame of a parent and child relationship. The transitional period when a baby grows into a toddler. E.g. When I watch this now, I am just tickled at the fact that our son was still crawling when this was filmed in mid 2022. It wasn’t but a month or two after the fact that he began to walk.
Yet there is another element at play, enticing both my creative muse and fondness regarding this video.
In addition to the opportunity to reminisce, this project was creatively challenging to put together, because I was incorporating my own voice and narration into the broader structure of a short documentary. I know that I have no claim to breaking any kind of narrative mold here. There are a handful of mainstream examples of intimately crafted documentary stories where the filmmaker is a subject of the story being told.
However, that personalized narrative challenge is not something I have ever thoroughly tackled until this story. And I love that this story fulfills that dynamic relating to my own growth as a storyteller. To me, it’s quite fitting that my first experience with parenthood is also my first time interweaving a personal narrative into a short doc featuring otherwise traditional documentary storytelling.”
-Matthew Disbro
Credits
Filmmaker and narrator// Matthew Disbro/ @matthewdisbro @reelgoodimpressions
STARRING
Deanna Disbro, wife
Beau Disbro, son
Zeke, the dog
Sponsor// WUF World/ @wuf.world
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