Whenever 10 year-old Zemarcus Blue has a bad day, it can come out of nowhere, and things get strained between him and his Dad. Sometimes the only thing that helps is the VR game his Mom made for him before she died. CREAK! is a live-action/animated short film that tells the sweet story of a day in the life of the Blue family.

Tifa Tomb

Creak! came to me as I stood in my kitchen, crunching a potato chip. Time slowed down, and that sound was the loudest thing in my whole world. It got me thinking about the web of sounds all around us, and how they connect us to moments in time. The shape of the story became clearer as I was processing my own mortality, watching my kids get taller every day. And I thought about what would I leave them with, when I left this world. What would I pour into them. And then, what if a mother poured so much of that love into a technical work that could reach out, even after she was gone. No longer face to face, but trying to keep the bond intact through play and comfort. That's how Zemarcus, Rose and Julian came into focus. A family, a VR game, and love existing in those in-between spaces.

Tifa Tomb is a director based in the Seattle area, who’s most recently directed short film, Retch, was awarded Best Film - Seattle Black Film festival 2020, and was an official selection at SIFF 2019. She works as a Media Producer at the University of Washington, and freelance edits feature length and short narrative and non-fiction work. She also serves on the Board of Directors for Northwest Film Forum.

After spending the last few years transitioning from an educational career into filmmaking, Tifa now pursues projects exploring themes of home, and the deconstruction of linear time.

Instagram: @creak_short_film

Catalina Rodriguez

Catalina Rodriguez is an award-winning cinematographer who brings together her many mediums of art to create poetic-driven, cinematic imagery to the screen. Her work consistently seeks to implement the beauty of this world while exploring human interaction and their relationships to the world around them. Influenced heavily by a cross-cultural upbringing, Catalina’s unique work is derived from personal experiences, adventures and memories of the multitude of countries and cultures she grew up in. www.rodriguezcatalina.com

Neely Goniodsky

Neely Goniodsky has directed and animated over twenty-five short films including productions at the National Film Board of Canada, The New York Times, and Seattle University. She holds a master’s degree in Animation from Royal College of Arts, London, and a bachelor’s degree in Animation from Concordia University, Montreal. Neely has been animating for over 15 years with her works reflecting an ever-ongoing search for new styles and expressions. Neely is interested in interpreting the human condition through abstract narrative and visual experimentation attempting to translate reality into visual poetry. She explores a combination of traditional animation techniques including ink and paint on paper, cut-out collage, under the camera animation, computer drawing, and 2D computer animation. http://neelygoniodsky.com/