My name is Than Niles, I have been making and consuming movies and other various forms of art since I was a wee lad.
During all of that time (I’m almost 37), I have maintained an irrational distrust of balloons and their potential to pop. My artistic production company is called Big Balloon Productions.
The idea was that if Batman could use his fear of bats to turn himself into a symbol that would strike fear into the hearts of Gotham’s criminal underbelly, then I could use my fear of balloons to create a film empire. Maybe I should have thought about it a little harder than I did, but here we are.
The intent of Man vs. Balloon is to be a safe haven for art lovers and artists to know that they are not alone in this mess of an AI-ridden, economy decimated, value fractured, directionless hellscape that we inhabit. At the very least, maybe a short story, movie recommendation, or director’s treatment I share here will give someone passing through a chuckle or a, “hey, fuck this guy, but his ranting gives me an idea,” kind of experience.
As I get older and the number of social media versions of me grows, I kind of wish that this publication was being delivered to you via a bit of parchment that I pull from a satchel in the back of my horse-drawn cart.
As we leisurely traverse the road to the market, we spot each other and wave. Upon approach, I ask about your harvest this year, and you crack a joke about the laziness of the younger generation. I hand you the freshest that Man vs. Balloon has to offer, and then we are both dead of dysentery by age 30, as the creator intended.
Since the internet will have to do for now, here is the pitch:
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It is lonely out there and we could share a digital cup of coffee together to ease the stress. Subscribe to get full access to the Man vs. Balloon creative lab and director’s journal and publication archives.
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Thank you so much for exploring what we do.
