A birthday sets off a chain of unexpected events in Director Derick Halliman’s dramatic thriller, Life of Mike.

Halliman’s film tells the story of Mike Smith, a thriving real estate tycoon who experiences a day of reckoning and is confronted with the stark reality of his life when his wife Celeste makes a heartfelt attempt to show him love on his birthday.

On July 26, after the DGA membership screening in Los Angeles, Halliman discussed the making of Life of Mike during a Q&A moderated by Director Christine Swanson (Albany Road).

During the conversation, Halliman shared his different philosophy when it comes to the shooting schedule.

“It took us thirty days to shoot. I’m trying to have a philosophy of more days, smaller crew. These days, most people are going with fewer days, larger crews. I don’t want to take that philosophy. I’d rather pay the talent, locations, or set design and things [to] work in more days. Because I feel like when you have actors that you’re trying to shoot ten pages in a day, they can’t get into it. So, I’d rather spend a little bit more money on sets or locations and then have the actors focus on shooting a couple pages at the time.”

Life of Mike is Halliman’s feature directorial debut. He became a DGA member in 2024.