Short Story Films

Negotiations With Existence

produced and written by Timothy Trieste

Songs and Music Composed by Timothy Trieste (SOCAN Timothy Feher)

from Sound of The Muse Records

The Negotiations With Existence short film series was presented on-line by a number of theatres and theatre companies across Ontario during the pandemic lockdown. The themes of the stories and Trieste's one-man productions captured the zeitgeist of the interior dialogue we were all facing at the time, a feeling that still prevails today in 2024. For never before has our confidence in the future of existence been so fragile.

In the first episode "This Is Your Captain Speaking" an airline pilot shares his existential thoughts with his passengers. Trieste features two of his songs in this episode "Falling Through The World" from his The Life of Pearls album, and Shadows Collide (You Don't Have to Give Up) from his SleepWalk Plaza album. Both songs feature vocalist Shann Bailey.

The Great Canadian Theatre GCTC provided this introduction to Negotiations With Existence:

“GCTC was looking for an online production to capture the interior experiences and contemplations we were all feeling during the lockdown,” says Eric Coates, GCTC’s Artistic Director. “Earlier this year, I came across Timothy’s writing, short film production, and music, and was struck by his themes. I offered him a challenge to package his stories and music into something that would capture the interior dialogue that we are all feeling at this time.”

Episode 3 "Life In Spin" tells the mystical experience of an elderly security guard, the only one left on the overnight shift at the desolate carnival grounds in the same town in which he had grown up. The story features Timothy Trieste's song "Life In Spin" from his SleepWalk Plaza album with vocalist Shann Bailey, on Sound of the Muse Records.

Watch the continuing series throughout 2024 and 2025 on Youtube. Visit and subscribe to the channel.