Movie

I shot a family friendly comedy in Idaho, using trusted crew from some of my 25 short films, and some additional crew and cast both locally and from L.A. Several Native Americans were involved as both cast and crew—as well as two Canadian First Nations crew members. The film is “in the can,” and we are seeking distribution. The movie does need polishing in a couple of spots, thus we have not been able to screen it at festivals. I’ve run out of money, and am hoping an interested distributor can finish those fine points for us. The movie is PG, with no drinking, drugs, sex, swearing, or violent images, and has been dubbed by some people as being “Christian adjacent.” The story itself has no reference to God or religion, though there is one wonderful scene with a local father/son guitar duo playing “Will the Circle Be Unbroken.” (The scene was inspired by a chance meeting with the duo when they rehearsed for a funeral in the lobby of my motel when I was staying in Idaho writing the movie.) A copy of the film will be made available to any qualified distributor. 

"Waking Up in Idaho"

Lewiston, Idaho: Anna, a bold 14-year-old Native American/Mexican girl, and her timid 15-year-old white foster brother Boyd, have bonded from living together for years in the same foster home. One day Anna rebels against their abusive foster dad, Dave, by throwing ice water on his face to wake him up in the morning–as he had been doing to them. As Anna could have predicted if she’d thought about it–which she didn’t–Dave promptly kicks them out. On such short notice, the foster social worker isn’t able to place them together in a new home. Instead, they end up separately with single women, Peg and Lucy, who’ve never been foster moms before. When both new mother/child relationships get off to a shaky start, Peg and Lucy decide to take Anna and Boyd together on a fun 3-day weekend of hiking, swimming, climbing, horseback riding, and even panning for gold. As Anna and Boyd struggle to cope with this new situation, and Peg and Lucy compete to be “best new mom,” the four embark on a roller coaster weekend comprised alternately of challenges and laughter, until a potentially tragic incident in the wilderness brings out the best in each of them, finally merging them into the makings of what has the potential to be a fulfilling future for all four.

Below are some clips.

More clips will be added each week, as I cut them out of the whole movie. 

clips 1 to 8

clips 9 to 16

clips 17 to 24

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