New Year, Bad Influence
Director's Note by Vincent Sekafetz

2024 was, as you could expect, a big year for me.  I made a LOT of friends, bought even more toy cars, and most notably, of course, I directed and premiered TWO feature-length productions (the second of which, a stage musical written by a friend of mine, will be up on my channel sometime in the spring). The response to these projects, especially to Bad Influence, has been extremely gratifying, to say the least.  It was obviously a labor of love (how could it not be after six years?), but more than that it is one of the most personal projects I could've chosen to spend those six years on. The music is all from soundtracks or bands I've been obsessed with over the years, the visuals a giant crossover between every movie and Thomas fan filmmaker I've loved, and the story is a conglomerate of many of my experiences within the fandom and outside it in the time since beginning development. Of course, this means that the fact that as a film it HAS spoken to so many, let alone anyone besides me, is a great honor that has been humbling to witness. That everyone at the premiere cheered for both climaxes, notably the bridge jump (a topic of much discourse in the Thomas community), told me that I had managed to do something special.

​

​

​

Those of you who, like me, connected with the confused but impassioned little Ivo, the emboldened yet grieving James, or any one of the various characters that fill out this world (each with their own purpose), mean a great deal to me, and I am profoundly grateful that the response to Bad Influence has been centered around its story, an even more impressive feat because of the fact that it has involved the most complex lighting and facial tracking of any Wooden Railway video to date. 

To those who have loved these characters as I have, creating fan art and edits and analyses, thank you.  Your support means worlds. Let's keep it up into the new year! I'm hardly done with talking about this movie in behind-the-scenes content nor am I done with the universe itself, and I'll have something special to share with you very soon. In the meantime, the spirit of creation in the Thomas community is steadily making a resurgence, and I couldn't have made it through this process without the endless help and inspiration from my colleagues, who have proven time and time again this year that Sodor is a medium, not just a place. In the crew alone: My partner, Annie's emotional surrealist "Machnamh", our Stepney (CyberRusty99)'s ongoing trackmaster drama, Lemmy's impressive and versatile 12 days of audio stories, "Shell on Wheels" by the ever pioneering EnterprisingEngine93(who both inspired and filmed the Sir Handel barge scenes!), and Tines, the voice of Toby, who just released a movie of his own last week: "Tobias and the Arcane Merchant". You should check it out. 

These are but a few of only the most recent offerings from creators who started with nothing but a vision and some trains, and you can too. If there's anything I want people to take away from this project, it's to be the bad Influence you want to see in the world. 

 

Peace, and happy 2025!

​

​

​

​

​