He texted me back!

Ryan Luciani of GoodFriend served as Director of Photography on this dating comedy sketch for Midwest Polite, written by Deanna Ortiz and featuring Ortiz alongside Zako Ryan. Shot in a Chicago apartment over the course of a single afternoon, the piece taps into the particular chaos of getting a text after a first date, when every possible response feels loaded, timing becomes strategy, and the whole situation is suddenly under a microscope. We shot the sketch fully handheld to help sell that spiraling energy, keeping the camera close to the tension and the comedy. It was a fast, fun shoot built around performance, pacing, and the kind of emotional overanalysis that feels painfully familiar.