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Logline

In a world where teleportation has made all other means of transportation obsolete, we follow the last traditional commuter through his city’s once-vibrant streets. We see this stubborn outsider cling to his outdated routine in a society that has left the daily commute behind.

Synopsis

Elsewhere, Instantly is a mockumentary that follows Julian, an old soul trying to defend his corner of the universe. Set in an alternate timeline where teleportation has rendered all other transit obsolete, we watch Julian feel the quiet joys and sharp loneliness of being the last traditional commuter, walking the vacant streets that were once bursting with life.

Julian’s world isn’t a sleek, sci-fi vision of the future. It’s a world that looks quite similar to ours, just without the vast infrastructure for commuting.

We see Julian trudging through the streets and what his commute has become as the city continues to eat into existing infrastructure. He’s had to get creative, leaping between fire escapes and skittering across ice rinks. Our mockumentarians come with Julian, studying a day in the life of a nostalgic oddball, trying to remain authentic in a world that’s slowly leaving him behind.

This film is a love-letter to fellow slow-adopters, and a beacon that says “No matter how fast the world changes, you won’t be left behind. Even if you walk slowly, you will not walk alone.
 

Meet the Filmmakers

Madison Lin — Writer/Director
Madison Lin is a born and bred Oakland native. Growing up surrounded by the beauty of Lake Merritt, Madison loves her city. By age eight, she knew she wanted three things: to live in LA, be a filmmaker, and ride a motorcycle. Ten years later, she moved to LA to check items off that list.

Madison received her BFA from the University of Southern California’s Film and Television Production program. Shortly after graduating, her short film, Red（ 红色）was the winner of the SHIFT Creative Fund, a 2023 Screencraft Film Fund Finalist, and a 2023 Austin Film Festival Second Rounder. She had the opportunity to work as a director with the Emmy Award-winning actor Brad Garrett on a pilot called No Small Talk. In 2023, she was selected as a mentee at Netflix. Additionally, in 2025 her feature script was a Finalist for the Writer/Director Track for Sundance Collab’s Cultural Impact Residency. She’s really proud of everything she’s done so far and is doing her best to keep working towards the dreams of that eight-year-old girl growing up in Oakland – except the motorcycle thing, she rode one once and it turns out they scare her.

Phoebe J Yung — Producer
Phoebe J Yung is a Chinese-American producer from NYU Tisch School of the Arts. On top of her film & television production degree, she’s gained experience in creative development, TV programming, sales, acquisitions, and distribution at companies including Fremantle, AMC Networks, NBCUniversal, and the Sundance Institute. She was recently selected for the CBS Talent Incubator where she produced a project for the studio. As a storyteller, she loves creating coming-of-age, surrealist, and sometimes, horror films that address complex family relationships, explore cultural themes, and bring AAPI-centered narratives and characters to the forefront. Phoebe works on all theatrical releases at Paramount Pictures as the executive assistant to the EVP of Global Marketing and SVPs of Brand Marketing Strategy. Her most recent and upcoming titles include Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning, The Naked Gun, Roofman, and The Running Man.

Jake Behn — Producer
Jake Behn is a film producer who loves bringing stories about unexpected heroes to life. Raised in the suburbs of Seattle on a steady diet of DC Comics and indie movies, Jake loves the intersection of slice of life studies underpinned by themes of accountability, courage, and hope – all attributes of his favorite comic book heroes. In 2024, he produced an award-winning short which had its premiere at the Oscar Qualifying festival, LA Shorts.

Michael Farmer — Producer
Michael Farmer is an award-winning producer and director with roots in non-fiction storytelling. Born and raised in the D.C. area, he is now based in Los Angeles, where he works across documentary, digital, and narrative projects. Michael’s a recent graduate of USC’s School of Cinematic Arts, where he directed a graduate thesis multi-media documentary.

Since graduating, he has worked across the industry in different capacities for companies such as Bindery and Apple TV. Michael was selected for the DART fellowship at Netflix, where he expanded his practice in archival storytelling and nonfiction research.

Michael’s creative interests center around how vast systems—ecological, political, spiritual—manifest in the smallest corners of human life. He’s guided by curiosity and the strange poetry of everyday existence. Amidst the chaos, he still tries to find small moments of joy in his daily commute, often taking the scenic route through the hills (if the 101 is backed up).

Scott Larson – Director of Photography
Originally from Dallas, Scott Larson developed a love of being behind the camera from an early age. From attending Chapman University to moving to LA to shoot movies Scott has worked on a variety of projects from branded documentaries to narrative feature films. He is excited to continue shooting compelling and visually striking films which connect with audiences and convey the vision of each project. His recent film Sweetbriar was a 2025 SXSW Official Selection and winner of the Texas Shorts Audience Award. His earlier work Memory of Things Gone also premiered at SXSW in 2017.

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Contact

For inquiries, please contact fiscalsponsorship@filmindependent.org.