#theloon

Well, that's it, folks—the Loon is fully completed and has been submitted to the Maine Mayhem Film Festival alongside many other amazing projects. From start to finish, watching ideas on paper come to life was truly an honor. 

From a personal perspective, this was a true milestone—perhaps unlike any I've reached before. I pushed my limits, often searching for excuses not to move forward because it made me uncomfortable. Yet, overcoming those fears of self-doubt and criticism has strengthened my confidence for future projects.  Because of this experience (and you can say my story is material), I also bonded closely with my family, especially my father. 

Getting to share with my dad what filming The Loon was like was a conversation I never imagined having. Before editing the film, I spent time at the location with my father; we went on multiple walks, just talking about filmmaking, the experience, what I was going through, the troubles, and the stress. He was there through all of it—watching me handle situations, being my shoulder to lean on when I needed to rant or just talk. I will always remember those walks and our conversations. Now, being only two days away from the premiere, I cherish the time I had sharing with him, and I can't wait for people to finally see it.

Hello, this is Ryan Habeeb of The Loon team, here to discuss a bit of personal reflection, personal creation, and more updates of The Loon. I am excited to announce that we are officially wrapping up post-production, and that The Loon film is officially complete! Set to premiere at the Maine Mayhem Film Festival hosted at Nickelodeon Cinemas (Patriot Cinemas) on May 7th, it is 1 of 8 amazing featured short films all created by brilliant students enrolled at Southern Maine Community College. Do not forget to purchase your tickets, they are nearly sold out!

For more information, check out this page: https://www.patriotcinemas.com/movie/2026-maine-mayhem-film-festival

Besides the 8 short films, there are an additional 13 micro short films directed by the producers of these short films. This includes The Loon producer, Oliver Hartt Caron, with his micro short Shower Chicken. It also includes my psychological thriller micro short called MARIA, which I had much fun creating along with those I am grateful for helping me bring this vision to life!

BTS from MARIA:

Personally reflecting on this Maine Mayhem experience, I was very happy to partake in it. I have learned a lot in the process of what it means to be a filmmaker truly collaborating with those around you. Along with this, I have made many great friends and connections as I continue on into the media world.

The Loon was an experience that I’ll never forget, not just as part of my career, but my life. I want to thank Charlie Stacey for recruiting me as a producer, and everyone else who have taught me new things along the way. Thank you, and I look forward to the future films we make!

Hello, this is Oliver Hartt Caron with another update for The Loon that is a little different than our usual post as I will be talking about my micro-short that will be shown at the Maine Mayhem Festival.

So the way the festival works is that there are 23 students who will make a film to be shown 8 of these students make a 15 minute short film while the rest make 1 minute micro shorts. I am one of those students making a micro-short.

The micro-short that I am making is quite different than The Loon as mine is a mockumentary. I have always loved mockumentaries, some of my favorites being Spinal Tap and American Vandal. So my micro short is a spoof on my strange addictions with a mockumentary feel about a a man who eats a whole chicken in the shower every night. So the only thing related to The Loon about mine is the use of a bird...

I was really excited about making the film and the footage turned out as amazing as I had hoped and can't wait to see it screened alongside The Loon and all the other films at Maine Mayhem this year.

That is all for this week folks.

Hello, this is Ryan Habeeb of The Loon team here to update you all on our current progress in the post production stage! As we continue to work on the fine cut of our film, we have much more to keep you all informed on regarding merch, music, and advertising!

To start off, we are currently in the process of designing official Loon posters. With a variety of pictures taken by Leo Millecchia and Luis Valmadrid, each poster has a special theme tailored to The Loon film’s aesthetics, all graphically designed by Charlie himself. These will be posted up around Southern Maine Community College and other locations in southern Maine.

Merchandise is also still being made, with an expected release by August of 2026 for those that donated to our Indiegogo fund. We once again thank those who have donated, and all of those that have continued to support us along the way!

As we come closer to the end of post production, we will finalize it with an official composition that will bring the ultimate unique feel to our short film. Composed by J-Wizdum, these soundtracks will bring an extra emotional depth to The Loon. Check out his Instagram: prod.jwizdum

As we approach the end of post production, we have been reflecting on the journey up until this point, grateful to have been partaking in the creation of this short film. We will continue to keep all of you updated. Until then, thank you all!

Hello, this is Ryan Habeeb of The Loon team. I am once again excited to inform you guys on all the amazing progress we have made up until now, and our efforts moving forward into our next phases of this journey.

As you all know, we have officially wrapped up the production stage of The Loon! I am personally very proud of everyone’s efforts and contributions to make this story come to life. Everyone brought the best out of one another, and we continue to look forward to the final stages of development.

In transition to the post-production stage, all of us have been assisting on other production sets, helping one another out. We have also been taking a much needed break of course, figuring out the next steps for our film as we continue on. We have further been planning new marketing tactics, especially more fun and engaging ones in attempt to grow The Loon’s presence at Southern Maine Community College and beyond. In addition, we have also been continuing to make merchandise for supporters coming soon.

In regards to the production stage itself, it was a valuable experience that has helped us all grow. We had a lot of fun moments on set that can be reflected on along with lessons we've learned. I am very happy to say that things have been coming out great for this film, and I personally look forward to its further development in post production! We will continue to keep you of you updated on our progress. Thank you all for support!