Table of Contents
Three Key Takeaways
- Kai Straw’s debut foray into filmmaking is deeply personal, blending his music and visual storytelling into a singular, vulnerable work.
- The film explores themes of choice and redemption through a symbolic narrative of life and death, reflecting Straw’s own transformative experience.
- As a self-taught, self-funded creator, Straw exemplifies the spirit of independent filmmaking by embracing imperfection and continuous learning.
Kai Straw, a nomadic artist known for his work as a singer, producer, and songwriter, steps into the filmmaking arena with his music video Chokin', now selected for FilmQuest, one of the world’s premier genre film festivals. Wearing multiple hats—including director, editor, and cinematographer—Straw crafts a haunting narrative that merges his evocative song with a visual story of time reversed and choices undone. Featuring performances by Serra Naiman and Kyle McCarthy, Chokin' marks a bold and intimate debut that resonates far beyond its musical roots.
What drew you to make this film? Why this story, and why now?
I wanted to take my first step into filmmaking and considering I'd built an audience for my music, a music video seemed like the best way to do that. I tend to make music intuitively - I don't write songs with a plan in mind - so I approached this music video in a similar way. I picked my song Chokin' just because it felt right to me, and I told the story that unfolded in my mind as I listened to the song. I made what was dictated to me by my mind's eye, essentially. The consequence of that - is you can accidentally be more vulnerable than you intended; if you have a kind of stream-of-consciousness workflow, what you ultimately make and what it means happen without your permission.
"I look at this video, and though I didn't consciously plan this, it's about a character who looks down two roads - one leading to death and one leading to life - and they decide to choose the latter."
This was my exact experience when I decided to quit drinking 12 years ago. Watching the video, I see a symbolic representation of what it felt like to turn away from the dark.
What surprised you most about the filmmaking process this time—creatively or logistically? Was there a moment on set or in post that completely changed how you saw the story?
What surprised me most was how deeply meaningful it was in ways I did not predict. It was like I made something, and that something spoke back.
Is there a moment in the film that feels the most you—something only you could have made?
The whole video! Considering my hands were all over it - the song, the cinematography, the writing, the direction - it has this hyper-auteur quality; it is a singular vision.
What was the hardest creative decision you made while making this film?
The decision to stop working on it. I had never used any of this equipment before; I was self-funded, self-taught. I'd never used the camera, the lights, or anything. Some of these sequences are the very first time I'd attempted to use any of this stuff. By the end of production - I'd learned so much, part of me wanted to go back and redo almost everything. However, I learned through making music - if you behave this way - you never release anything - because everything can always be perfected; that's an endless pursuit; everything can always be redone. Had I decided to continue redoing - by the end of that second time through, I would've learned more, and I would've wanted to redo everything again with all I'd newly learned!
"When you're on the frontlines of what you should be making... every scene you shoot contains a lesson you can take into the next scene; and the project itself is a lesson you take into the next project."
You should not allow the lessons you learn to fold back onto the trials that taught you those lessons; instead, you should take what you learned into the next crucible - the higher mountain - or else you'll be rolling around in the sandbox forever.
What do you hope audiences take away from your film?
That's up to them, really. I made what I had to make. What they take from it is sort of another piece of art drawn in their own mind; I don't have a right to take that brush and tell them what to paint.
How has this film shaped or shifted the kind of stories you want to tell next?
Not really. I'm very clear about what I want to make. If anything, considering how well the video has been received, I feel even more confident leaning harder into my idiosyncrasies as a creator.
What’s a tool, technique, or resource that really helped you during production?
Considering this is a deeply amateur work - no film school, no prior use of the equipment - it was definitely galvanizing as an independent creator. These tools, and how to use them, it's all so accessible. The barrier between the creator and the created is just you, really.
Independent filmmakers often rewrite the rules out of necessity. What do you think is the greatest strength of independent filmmaking, and how did you lean into that on this project? Is there a lesson or breakthrough you’d share with others navigating this path?
You can make a film with any tool and at any level of ability.
What does it mean to you to have your film selected for FilmQuest, one of the world’s top reviewed genre film festivals?
I'm honored! My next step will either be making a short film or a feature film - and it will very likely be something in the same wheelhouse as this music video. To be accepted by FilmQuest is to be accepted by the place in culture that I think may ultimately respond best to my work in film.
FilmQuest celebrates the majesty and might of genre filmmaking across fantasy, horror, sci-fi, action, thriller, western, kung-fu, and beyond. How does your film fit within—or push the boundaries of—genre storytelling?
I'm hoping my film, and any work that I do in fiction, will marry genuine human experience and truth with wild imagination. Sometimes I think we are best confronted by truth symbolically; fantasy and horror give us a symbolic toolset, a kind of envelope we can use to allow ourselves and audiences to safely confront truths about what it means to be human. A fantasy story slides truth under your door while truth told plainly continues to knock, unanswered.
"Fantasy and horror give us a symbolic toolset... a fantasy story slides truth under your door while truth told plainly continues to knock, unanswered."
Where do you see this film going next?
Not sure! It's a music video at the end of its festival run. I'm honored by the awards it has received, the selections it has garnered, the people it has impacted, and I'm excited to take all I've learned from this project into - probably - my first short film.
"At the core of all my work is a desire to discover, wrestle with, illuminate, adore, and to tell, the truth."
Cast & Crew
- Kai Straw — Producer, director, editor, cinematographer, singer, songwriter, and producer of the song; a nomad artist living month to month around the US.
- Serra Naiman — Cast member.
- Kyle McCarthy — Cast member.
