A release framework
SIMUL-MAKE
Two films. Same day. One axis.
Each complete alone. Together they reveal
a third thing.
What It Is
A simul-make is two films designed from conception to exist together, released on the same day, built on a shared axis that only becomes visible when you know both exist.
This is not a franchise. Not a sequel. Not an accident of cultural timing. The structure is about coexistence — the deliberate architecture of two works that belong together in time.
A simul-make must satisfy all six of the following criteria. If any one fails, it is not a simul-make. It may still be a valid dual release, but it is a different structure.
01
Simultaneous release
Both films available the same calendar day. Not the same week or season. The same day.
02
Shared axis
A conceptual foundation that connects them — not a shared universe or narrative crossover. A thematic mirror at the level of meaning.
03
Equal weight
Neither film is primary. No director's cut vs. theatrical, no main and spin-off. Both films are first-class works.
04
Complete alone
Either film can be watched without the other and provides a full, satisfying experience. No dependency, no cliffhanger resolved in the partner film.
05
Reveals a third thing
When both are viewed — in any order — a relationship becomes visible that exists in neither film individually. This emergent property is the point.
06
Intentional design
The pairing was planned from conception. Not accidental (Barbenheimer), not a marketing strategy. The films were built knowing the other would exist.
What It Is Not
Many dual releases look like simul-makes. None of these qualify.
Barbenheimer (Barbie + Oppenheimer, 2023)
Accidental. Not designed together. No shared axis. Culturally emergent, not architecturally planned.
MCU double-feature
Same universe, franchise logic. Phase positioning creates hierarchy — not equal weight.
Part 1 / Part 2 release
Fails "complete alone." Each part requires the other for resolution.
Director's cut + theatrical
Fails "equal weight." The director's cut is positioned as superior. Same film, not two films.
Film + documentary about the film
The documentary is subordinate — about the other, not alongside it.
Two films that happen to release the same day
Fails "shared axis" and "intentional design." Coincidence is not structure.
The Shared Axis
The axis is the conceptual relationship — the thing both films are about at a deeper level. It does not need to be stated explicitly in either film.
Temporal mirror
One film depicts the past, one depicts the future. The viewer exists in the present between them.
Elemental mirror
One film is about water, one is about earth. Or fire/ice, air/ground, etc.
Consciousness mirror
One film explores the internal (mind, awareness, soul). One explores the external (body, nature, action).
Geographic mirror
One film is set in the East, one in the West. Or North/South, above/below.
Genre mirror
One film is documentary, one is fiction — both about the same conceptual subject.
Protagonist mirror
Two films with different protagonists whose stories intersect at a specific moment or theme.
The viewer sits in the present.
Past on one screen. Future on the other.
The Third Thing
When both films are experienced, something emerges that exists in neither: the relationship between the two, the tension or harmony between their perspectives, the question that arises from holding both at once.
This third thing is the purpose of the structure. It is what makes a simul-make more than two films released together. It is the emergent property — the thing created by coexistence.
"The viewer cannot access this question from Film A alone or Film B alone. It requires the pairing."
Example: if Film A documents an event that happened in 1986 and Film B depicts an event that will happen in 2169, the third thing is: what does it mean to hold past and future simultaneously? What is presence?
The viewer sits in their present moment between two distant anchors — the settled past and the prophetic future — and in holding both they briefly become aware of their own position in time.
The Sunken Temple · The City of Gold
Ocean and jungle. 1986 and 2169.
Founding Example: The KA Films
The first designed simul-make on record.
Film A: The Sunken Temple
Film B: The City of Gold
Film
The Sunken Temple
The City of Gold
Subject
Yonaguni Monument, Japan
Lost Amazonian City
Time
1986 — the past
2169 — the future
Mode
Documentary
Speculative / prophetic
Element
Water — the ocean
Earth — the jungle
Consciousness
River of life, awareness, soul
Mother nature, body, embodiment
Discoverer
K.A. (Kihachiro Aratake)
K.A. (Kris Adams)
Hidden by
Sea level rise, 10,000+ years
Jungle canopy + European conquest
Guardian
Hammerhead sharks
The roots and vines
Discovery tool
Diving + sonar
LiDAR + expedition
SHARED AXIS
KA — the initials, the Egyptian word for the vital life force of the soul, the man born in 1986 — the same year the first temple was found underwater.
THE THIRD THING
Consciousness (water, awareness, the past temple) and body (earth, nature, the future city) meet inside the viewer's present moment to produce awareness. The films are doing to the audience what the two temples are doing to the planet — bringing two edges of an ancient civilisation back into alignment through the act of simultaneous observation.
THE 2169 DATE
Film B is anchored to December 2168 → March 2169: the Jose cycle node (178.73-year solar barycentre return) coincides with a Venus inferior conjunction within 92 days — the tightest doubly-magic temporal window in the 2000–2999 millennium. The future date is not arbitrary. It is the most structurally stable timestamp in the next thousand years.
The axis is the thread. The thread is the work.
Variations
The Nested Simul-Make
Four films released the same day, forming two simul-make pairs, which themselves form a meta-simul-make at the pair level.
The Delayed Awareness Simul-Make
Both films release the same day but the pairing is not announced. Audiences discover the relationship on their own, or it is revealed later. Intentional design is a creator-side criterion, not a marketing requirement.
The Cross-Medium Simul-Make
One "film" is a traditional feature. The other is a VR experience, an album, or a live event. The structure applies if all six criteria are met.
The Infinite Simul-Make
More than two works released simultaneously, all connected by a shared axis. Scales the structure but requires careful management of equal weight — each work must stand as a peer.
Relationship to 119 Minutes
The 119 Minutes framework defines a film structure based on runtime — exactly 1 hour 59 minutes, time awareness built into every frame, palindrome structure, mirror point at centre.
The Simul-Make framework defines a release structure based on pairing — two films, same day, shared axis, equal weight, each complete alone.
These are orthogonal. A 119 can be a simul-make. A simul-make can contain 119s. Neither requires the other. Both can be stacked.
Framework
What it governs
Core rule
119 Minutes
Runtime architecture
Exactly 119:00, clocks in every frame
Simul-Make
Release architecture
Same day, shared axis, equal weight
"This site is itself a simul-make: two frameworks, one domain. The relationship is only visible if you know both exist."
The Checklist
When asked "is this a simul-make?" — run all six.
☐
Shared conceptual axis (not just same IP)?
☐
Equal creative weight — no primary/secondary?
☐
Each film complete as a standalone?
☐
Together they reveal something neither has alone?
☐
Designed together from conception?
All six must be true.
Two films. One day. The relationship is the work.
119 Minutes
A public domain filmmaking challenge
Simul-Make
A release architecture framework
Runtime doesn't lie.
Two frameworks. One domain.