I Created My First Blog Magazine - Why The Silent Monologue Exists

vonley w smith

03 Oct 2025 • 3 min read

For years, I’ve told stories through moving images — first as an editor, then as a short filmmaker, and now on the road to my first feature. But filmmaking isn’t just what happens on screen. It’s late nights shaping scenes, long days on set, cultural battles to tell Caribbean stories, and the quiet moments of doubt and breakthrough that never make it to the credits.

This space is my antidote to that silence.

This blog-magazine is where I take control of my story. Here, I’ll share the journey in real time — from behind-the-scenes experiments, festival highlights, and creative essays to the raw, unpolished truths of being an independent filmmaker from Barbados navigating a global industry.

Think of this as both a diary and a magazine. A living archive. A place where I can document, reflect, and connect, not just showcase finished films.

Bts of my wrting tools, learning music while brain storming ideas.

Right now, as I sit and write this in October, the year is tilting toward its end. Two months left. This year has been tricky — beautiful in some ways, sobering in others. I’ve discovered deep purpose in my work but also been confronted with some hard realities: such as financial struggles, which been slowing me down, thus i am allowing life to reveal its lessons on its own time.

One of the biggest lessons? Having the courage to wear my heart on my sleeve.

This year I faced major disappointments — applications denied, projects that didn’t get the callbacks I hoped for. And in those moments I asked myself: Is this really the journey I set out for?

"So close yet so far, staring towards the castle" image by vonley w smith

This year I’ve been paying attention to small finds — like this piece of brain coral I picked up while walking the beaches in Barbados. I often collect rocks and corals that wash ashore, each one a quiet archive of time. Holding them reminds me that stories are not just written in words or film, but also in stone, water, and earth.

The world is shifting — AI, new creative economies, changing gatekeepers. But also, I’m shifting. I’m finding out who I am beneath all the hype of “being a creative.” I’m learning that my path doesn’t define my worth. That disappointment isn’t an endpoint. It’s something to face, something to let burn itself out overnight, and to rise again the next day with gratitude.

This is what I want to share here: the ongoing, imperfect arc of growth. Filmmaking is one expression of it — and we’ll get into that in later posts — but writing for The Silent Monologue is its own new arc.

I love the name because it hit me instantly. The Silent Monologue is my quiet voice reaching you directly — not filtered through interviews, press releases, or secondhand narratives. Just me. My odyssey, my reflections, my notes from the in-between spaces of making art and living life.

“It takes courage to be a real one in this fake world. Own who you are.” — Pawan Nair→ For me, owning who I am means creating without waiting for permission — and letting the work speak louder than the noise.

So, if any of this resonates with you, subscribe to the mailing list. Follow along. I promise to make it worth your time. And I promise to myself to stop procrastinating and finally share what I’ve been up to.

For years I’ve captured and created for others. Now, as I prepare to release my first feature film, it feels right to also create for myself — and for those of you who’ve followed my journey, known a little about me, or are just discovering my work now.

This is the beginning of The Silent Monologue.

Thank you for reading. See you soon.