Executive Zen

James Clair’s Executive Zen is a short film about two people pulling hard in opposite directions, but what can they do to keep the chasm from stretching too far? David Thompson (Damon Forte) is a hedge fund manager on a forced sabbatical, which sounds like a vacation but…you know. His hard-nosed boss, Mr. Holmes (Robert J. Brown, III), still has a leash on him, and the money is quietly draining away. Making matters worse, in hopes of changing his diet, his wife, Sunday (Melissa Clair), has replaced the bagels and cream cheese with something that resembles a nutty bean cake. Sunday has gone full zen with soul-mapping sessions, crystals, astrology… the whole deal. While David stresses over family finances, she’s busy filming videos for her 81,000 online subscribers… that’s right, 81,000 subscribers.

“Sunday has gone full zen with soul-mapping sessions, crystals, astrology… the whole deal.”

With the couple’s finances bleeding out, David can’t grind his way out of this one. Maybe the pair can combine their skills. The question is whether a man who still can’t get his head around soul mapping can find a way to work with his “out there” wife, who has not a single entrepreneurial bone in her body, to join forces and create Executive Zen.

James Clair’s Executive Zen is a DIY comedy short that is all heart, and the filmmakers’ hearts are pretty weird. Clair creates two very distinct characters in David, the driven and desperate businessman, and contrasts him with his hippie wife, Sunday, who constantly addresses her husband as “Hey, Man.” While the comedy is pretty basic and humorous, what sneaks up behind you is this love story between the two. I didn’t see the emotion coming, but it creates the lovely button on this comedy short.

Executive Zen can be streamed on YouTube.