Hazel McKibbin and Robert R. Palmer Talk ‘Last Man Up’ And Palm Springs Shortfest

Shortfest 2026 runs through June 29, and tomorrow marks the world premiere of Last Man Up. Award winning director Hazel McKibbin and actor Robert R. Palmer co-wrote the short, and they talked to Deepest Dream about their collaboration. If it seems I praised them a bit too much, it’s because I really love the short! For more details, check out our interview.

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Last Man Up centers on several young men (including Robert R. Palmer and Armando Rivera) who are facing the imminent foreclosure of their house. The news leads to a bit of tension, and since these individuals have an on-edge and possibly self-destructive behavior, an undesirable outcome is in the cards.

 ”I think the idea was largely mine to begin with and it was really just birthed from this place of wanting to work and explore this theme of these masculine binaries,” said Robert R. Palmer, who contacted Hazel McKibbin for a possible collaboration. “And why these rules that young men are supposed to live by are so rigid. How do these men exist if they don’t have role models? So that was really the genesis of it for me.”

 ”I make feminist films about womanhood,” said McKibbin. “And to me, it was interesting to do something that was totally different than (what) I wouldn’t have necessarily written. I took Robert’s script, rewrote it, we went back and forth a bit, and then, yeah, directed it. And that’s how it happened.”

Palmer cited the overlooked Andrea Arnold feature American Honey as an inspiration for the short. His Last Man Up performance is intense and raw, but he was more than up for the challenge. “That’s the dream, is to be doing acting full time,” said Palmer. “But I will say doing thingslike this, there were parts of it that I really grew to love as well.”

McKibbin, who said she pays the rent as an editor, is developing a feature version of her award winning short Doublespeak and she is also working on another short with Last Man Up actor Armando Rivera.

But time is of the essense, if you are in Palm Springs area, give Last Man Up a shot at Shortfest 2026!