Boundaries Release Plan

About

SYNOPSIS

The more LAURA (Vera Farmiga) tries to set boundaries in her life, the faster those lines are crossed. Her 12-year-old son HENRY (Lewis MacDougall) is in trouble again at school. Her own penchant for adopting stray dogs and cats threatens to overwhelm their Seattle home. And her phone keeps ringing with calls she refuses to pick up—from her estranged father JACK (Christopher Plummer).

85-year-old Jack has crossed way too many lines himself. Despite his enduring charm, he’s being evicted from his senior community for unspecified misdeeds. After a lifetime of letdowns and betrayals, Laura wants nothing to do with him. But now, as an impoverished single mother, Laura needs help: Henry, who’s socially awkward and bullied, but sensitive, smart, and funny, has just been expelled. He has employed his considerable artistic talents to draw the school principal nude (and imaginatively posed—naked drawings are a specialty of Henry’s). Laura wants to get Henry into a private school where his creativity can be nurtured and his oddball tendencies tolerated, but she needs tuition money.

Laura reluctantly makes a deal with Jack: if he’ll help her pay for Henry’s school, she’ll rescue him from being turned out on the street and drive him south from Seattle to Los Angeles, where he will be taken in (reluctantly) by her sister JOJO (Kristen Schaal). Taking a leave from her job as the beleaguered personal assistant to a high-maintenance rich lady (Emily Holmes), and entrusting her menagerie of foundlings to a co-worker with a crush (Yahya Abdul-Mateen II), Laura hits the road with Jack and Henry in Jack’s elderly Rolls-Royce (Jack has long since lost his license).

Jack is an old hand at shamelessly manipulating and deceiving Laura. He quickly enlists Henry’s help in carrying out the side hustle he plans for the road trip: unloading his marijuana stash to clients along the coast without Laura catching on. Even though he loves his mom, Henry falls right into the job of assistant dealer with enthusiasm. Laura wants to bomb down to L.A. as quickly as possible, but their route meanders through rural countryside as they visit Jack’s old friends and associates. The warm and welcoming hippie household of STANLEY (Christopher Lloyd), an art forger, and his son JED (Halldor Bjarnason) thaws Laura’s heart a bit. Bikers, punks, farmers, and even the monks at a Buddhist monastery happily do business with Jack, abetted by Henry. On the one hand, Jack is teaching Henry to lie to his mother and break the law; on the other hand, he’s paying much-needed grandfatherly attention to a boy whose own father ditched the family years ago.

That feckless father, LEONARD (Bobby Cannavale) happens to be living along the road-trip trajectory in a Sausalito houseboat, and also happens to be one of Jack’s pot buyers. Motivated by Henry’s wish to reconnect with his missing father, but still unaware of the ongoing commerce, Laura agrees to stop by. Unsurprisingly, Leonard pretty much ignores Henry, but finagles his ex, Laura, into bed that night. The attraction is still there, and Laura falls for it—till the next morning, when she finds out he’s remarried. Jack chivalrously defends his daughter and grandson by popping Leonard in the nose, and Leonard counters by revealing what’s in the trunk of the car—the pot. Laura is livid.

Jack promises to ditch all the remaining stash with one more stop to pass it off to JOEY, a wealthy retired dealer. As Joey and Jack reminisce on glory days, Joey’s bucolic paradise is invaded by gun-toting, but bumbling, hold-up men who are swiftly scared off by Laura’s daring rescue. The slapstick-scary episode strengthens the growing bond that both Laura and Henry feel towards Jack.

On to L.A., where cheerily nutty JoJo, another animal lover, lives with a boyfriend and an assortment of pets in a teeny Hollywood bungalow which is clearly far too crowded to accommodate Jack as a live-in housemate. The family reunion is poignant, but nobody is really surprised when they wake up the next morning to find Jack vanished. Laura and JoJo have been through it all before, but it’s a painful loss to Henry, who has come to love his charismatic rogue of a grandfather.

Jack may not have said a proper goodbye, but he did leave a fat envelope of cash to pay for Henry’s art school. Settling back into their Seattle life after their epic road trip seems anticlimactic, till who should reappear at their door but—Jack, of course. The attachment to Henry and reconciliation with Laura are genuine and mutual. Maybe Jack will stick around. For Laura, the chance to accept, forgive, and heal will never go away.

PRODUCTION NOTES

In art as in life, no two road trips are the same—that’s what makes the classic journey the most elastic of storytelling frames for comedy, tragedy, and all the stuff in between. BOUNDARIES, writer/director SHANA FESTE’s unabashedly autobiographical portrait of her charming grifter of a dad, takes the West Coast road trip places it’s never before been.

“My father is incredibly charismatic and is very much Jack,” reflects Feste, “but he was in and out of my life in my early childhood, and I think that deep down inside, I had a lot of anger towards him that I was never really able to express. This film gives that anger a voice.” Using that anger—and the healing that came in anger’s wake—was creative grist for Feste’s fourth, and most personal, feature film (prior films as writer/director include Country Strong and Endless Love).

“My father moved in with me when he became ill a few years ago. He recently passed away but I watched him form such a vital and unique bond with my son, who still talks about him daily. So, although our story has its own version of a happy ending, I felt it would be dishonest not to investigate the anger I had suppressed for so long. When you love someone so wholeheartedly, engaging in any kind of conflict is never easy. I was scared of it, and in turn my screen character, Laura, was scared as well.” Feste’s alter-ego Laura, forever attempting to set reasonable boundaries in her semi-chaotic life, is played by VERA FARMIGA.

Feste embraced the road trip as her canvas. She explains: “There’s a good reason the road trip is such an institution: The simple act of travel makes it clear that the journey is always the real destination.” (And the characters you meet along the way are never quite what they appear—that construction guy in the orange vest who cops weed from Jack, played by CHRISTOPHER PLUMMER, is Feste’s father in a brief cameo.)

The deeply personal experience that is woven into the fabric of the film was mirrored by Feste’s writing process. She sought to make a film that stayed true to the emotions that served as its inspiration.

“Working on a studio film,” she relates, “there are a lot of voices in the process. On bigger films I’ve felt like my voice was disappearing; as much as I tried to maintain my voice, it was becoming clouded during the production. That’s a really scary place to be for a filmmaker, so I decided, this next film that I write, I’m going to write from the heart. It might be horrible, but it’s going to be “me,” and I’m going to stand behind every word on the page because it will be from my own truth.”

Feste’s real-life father-daughter story was as uniquely funny as it was infuriating. “An envelope full of cash appeared to pay for my first year of college, just like Jack pays for Henry’s art school with his pot money,” she recalls. “But there was no such money after the first year, so I had to drop out. If anything, real life was more outlandish than this story.” Finding the edge of comedy and genuine emotion was a revelation for Feste as a writer, having written and directed dramatic films to that point. That authenticity clicked with the actors who read the script.

“Comedy is about the hardest thing to write, especially for the screen,” reflects Christopher Plummer. “Human comedy is almost a lost art. I say almost, because about three years ago I received a movie script from Shana Feste, who with the sweep of her pen has revived that old art form to its liveliest and best. She’s given us a study of her own unsteady and dysfunctional family, which is not just hilariously funny, but remarkably moving and touching and heartwrenching.”

BRIAN KAVANAUGH-JONES (Midnight Special, Take Shelter, Insidious), who produced the film with CHRIS FERGUSON (Come and Find Me, Hollow in the Land, Afflicted), also happens to be married to Feste—so he witnessed the entire process unfold first hand. “What’s fun about this is she went and did some studio movies and then came back to something that is really true to her. The first draft isn’t that much different from what is now—she’s just continued to make it better and improve it, but it was so true the moment I read it on the page. It was great to see her get to share herself again in a story so clearly.”

The authentic personality of Feste’s own lived truth shines through from characters, plot, and setting, and especially in the often hilarious and poignant dialogue that drives it all. (An example: “You’re like the Pied Piper of mange.”)

As Plummer says, “She’s written it in a most unique style, but behind the brittle wordplay, there’s another life going on, a much deeper and more profound, unspoken life, a relentless search for harmony that must finally penetrate the surface. Shana is able to produce laughter and tears with equal and stunning force, and her actors are mighty blessed with the rich and eccentric characters she’s given them to play.”

Adds Feste: “All these characters are exaggerations of people that I know and love. Hard as it is to imagine, so much of what you see in the film has really happened to me—and because of that, the filmmaking process was very therapeutic.”

Cast

Vera Farmiga

Vera Farmiga

Laura

An Oscar® nominated and award-winning actress, Vera Farmiga continues to captivate audiences with her ability to embody each of her diverse and engaging roles.

Vera Farmiga is currently starring in Jaume Collet-Serra's thriller THE COMMUTER opposite Liam Neeson, and in an episode of the Amazon series PHILIP K. DICK'S ELECTRIC DREAMS directed by Dee Rees. She will next be seen in BOUNDARIES for Sony Pictures Classics opposite Christopher Plummer, as well as in Rupert Wyatt's upcoming dystopian thriller CAPTIVE STATE opposite John Goodman for Participant Media. In 2019, she will be seen in the upcoming installment to the blockbuster GODZILLA franchise, GODZILLA KING OF THE MONSTERS. Vera most recently wrapped filming Jason Reitman's political drama THE FRONT RUNNER, based on the real-life story of Gary Hart. Vera will star as Gary Hart’s wife Lee, opposite Hugh Jackman. She was nominated for an Oscar and Golden Globe for “Best Supporting Actress” for her role in Reitman's UP IN THE AIR opposite George Clooney.

In 2017, Vera starred in the fifth and final season of the A&E original series, BATES MOTEL, a modern-day prequel to the genre-defining film, PSYCHO. Farmiga, who earned a 2013 Emmy nomination in the category of “Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama Series” for her role, stars as the iconic character, “Norma,” in the series which gives audiences a glimpse into the dark and deeply intricate relationship Norman Bates has with his mother. The critically acclaimed series went on to win the 2016 People's Choice Award for “Favorite Cable TV Drama.”

In 2016, Vera starred in Jordan Roberts’ film BURN YOUR MAPS opposite Marton Csokas which premiered at the 2016 Toronto International Film Festival. That summer, Farmiga starred alongside Patrick Wilson in James Wan’s box office smash THE CONJURING 2: THE ENFIELD POLTERGEIST, the sequel to the 2013 hit THE CONJURING in which she also starred. Both films broke box office records and grossed over $300 million worldwide.

In 2016, Vera also appeared in Ricky Gervais’ comedy, SPECIAL CORRESPONDENTS for Netflix opposite Gervais, Eric Bana and America Ferrera.

In 2011, Vera directed and starred in the critically acclaimed independent film HIGHER GROUND, which won awards at the Sundance Film Festival, the Gotham Awards, Satellite Awards, Artios Awards, and Alliance of Film Women Journalists.

Christopher Plummer

Christopher Plummer

Jack

Christopher Plummer has enjoyed almost 70 years as one of the theatre’s most respected actors and as a veteran of over 100 motion pictures. Raised in Montreal, he began his professional career on stage and radio in both French and English. After Eva Le Gallienne gave him his New York debut (1954) he went on to star in many celebrated productions on Broadway and London’s West End winning accolades on both sides of the Atlantic. He has won two Tony Awards for the musical Cyrano and for Barrymore plus seven Tony nominations, his latest for his King Lear (2004) and for his Clarence Darrow in Inherit the Wind (2007); also, three Drama Desk Awards and the National Arts Club Medal. A former leading member of the Royal National Theatre under Sir Laurence Olivier and the Royal Shakespeare Company under Sir Peter Hall, where he won London’s Evening Standard Award for Best Actor in Becket; he has also led Canada’s Stratford Festival in its formative years under Sir Tyrone Guthrie and Michael Langham.

Since Sidney Lumet introduced him to the screen in STAGE STRUCK (1958), his range of notable films include THE MAN WHO WOULD BE KING, BATTLE OF BRITAIN, WATERLOO, FALL OF THE ROMAN EMPIRE, STAR TREK VI, TWELVE MONKEYS and the 1965 Oscar-winning THE SOUND OF MUSIC. More recent films include THE INSIDER (as Mike Wallace; the National Film Critics Award), the acclaimed A BEAUTIFUL MIND, MAN IN THE CHAIR, MUST LOVE DOGS, NATIONAL TREASURE, SYRIANA and INSIDE MAN. His TV appearances, which number close to 100, include the Emmy-winning BBC Hamlet at Elsinore playing the title role; the Emmy-winning productions The Thornbirds, Nuremberg, Little Moon of Alban and HBO’s Muhammad Ali’s Greatest Fight earning him seven Emmy nominations and taking home two Emmys.

Apart from honors in the UK, USA, Austria and Canada, he was the first performer to receive the Jason Robards Award in memory of his great friend, the Edwin Booth Award and the Sir John Gielgud Quill Award. In 1968, sanctioned by Elizabeth II, he was invested as a Companion of the Order of Canada (an honorary knighthood). An Honorary Doctor of Fine Arts at Juilliard, he also received the Governor General’s Lifetime Achievement Award in 2000. In 1986 he was inducted into the Theater Hall of Fame and in 2000 Canada’s Walk of Fame.

Plummer’s projects include the highly praised animated films UP, 9 AND MY DOG TULIP, as well as the title role in THE IMAGINARIUM OF DOCTOR PARNASSUS, directed by Terry Gilliam. He played the great novelist Tolstoy opposite Helen Mirren in THE LAST STATION for Sony Classics where he received his first Academy Award nomination in 2010. He followed that up the next year with another nomination and a win for Best Supporting Actor in BEGINNERS from writer/director Mike Mills and appeared in David Fincher’s THE GIRL WITH THE DRAGON TATTOO that same year.

In July and August 2012, he returned to the Stratford Festival to perform his one-man show that he created entitled A Word or Two, directed by Des McAnuff. In 2013, he starred opposite Oscar winner Shirley MacLaine in Elsa & Fred directed by Michael Radford, Hector And The Search for Happiness directed by Peter Chelsom, Danny Collins opposite Al Pacino and Annette Bening for writer/director Dan Fogelman and THE FORGER opposite John Travolta directed by Phillip Martin.

In 2015, he starred in REMEMBER, directed by Atom Egoyan and in 2017 THE EXCEPTION, based on the novel “The Kaiser’s Last Kiss” co-starring Lily James, Jai Courtney and Janet McTeer as well as THE MAN WHO INVENTED CHRISTMAS, co-starring Dan Stevens.

That same year he helped complete the filming of ALL THE MONEY IN THE WORLD for Tri- Star, earning him his fourth Golden Globe and third Academy Award nominations. This year he will appear in LAST FULL MEASURE with Sebastian Stan, Ed Harris and Samuel L. Jackson.

His recent self-written bestselling memoir, “In Spite of Myself” (Afred A. Knopf Publishers) is being much lauded by critics and public alike and remains a best seller.

Lewis MacDougall

Lewis MacDougall

Henry

Lewis MacDougall is a film actor, born and raised in Edinburgh, Scotland. Lewis made his feature film debut in Joe Wright’s Pan, shortly followed by the critically acclaimed A Monster Calls in 2016. His performance in A Monster Calls was recognized with a number of prestigious award nominations and in 2017 he won both the London Critics Circle Film Award for Young British/Irish Performer of the Year and also the Young Scot Award for Entertainment. Lewis will next be seen in the upcoming The Belly of The Whale starring alongside Pat Shortt and Michael Smiley.

Christopher Lloyd

Christopher Lloyd

Stanley

Christopher Lloyd began his career in theatre. He has appeared in over two hundred plays including on and off Broadway, regional and summer stock productions. For his title role in KASPAR he took home an Obie and Drama Desk award. Christopher starred in the Tony Award winning Broadway production of MORINGS AT SEVEN, directed by Dan Sullivan, as well as TWELFTH NIGHT in NY Festival’s Shakespeare in the Park, Center Stage’s WAITING FOR GODOT, as Dalton Trumbo in the New York production of TRUMBO and CAUCASIAN CHALK CIRCLE at Classic Stage Company with Brian Kulick directing.

In 1975 Lloyd began his film career in ONE FLEW OVER THE CUCKOO’S NEST. This was soon followed by a two-year run as Jim Ignatowski on the television series TAXI, for which Lloyd won two of his three Emmys.

In 1992 Lloyd made Emmy history when he won Best Dramatic Actor for Disney’s ROAD TO AVONLEA. In a category dominated by series regulars, Lloyd was the first actor to win for a guest appearance. The following year, the rules were changed to include a Guest Appearance category.

Lloyd has appeared in over ninety film and television productions including the BACK TO THE FUTURE trilogy, THINGS TO DO IN DENVER WHEN YOU’RE DEAD, EIGHT MEN OUT, ADDAMS FAMILY and ADDAMS FAMILY VALUES, BBC’s DEAD AHEAD: EXXON VALDEZ DISASTER, THE PAGEMASTER, DENNIS THE MENACE, ADVENTURES OF BUCKAROO BANZAI, TRACK 29, CLUE, THE DREAM TEAM, ANGELS IN THE OUTFIELD, STAR TREK III, GOIN’ SOUTH, WHO FRAMED ROGER RABBIT, MY FAVORITE MARTIAN, TALES OF DESPEREAUX, SNOWMEN, and Mike Nichols’ HBO adaptation of WIT, starring Emma Thompson. Christopher was nominated for a BIFA award for his recent work in the independent feature, I AM NOT A SERIAL KILLER.

Lloyd won an Independent Spirit Award for his chilly depiction as a soulless murderer in TWENTY BUCKS.

Yahya Abdul-Mateen

Yahya Abdul-Mateen

Serg

Yahya can currently be seen in THE GREATEST SHOWMAN ON EARTH, opposite Hugh Jackman, Zac Efron, Michelle Williams and Zendaya, as well as SIDNEY HALL, alongside Logan Lerman and Elle Fanning, which premiered at Sundance Film Festival 2017. He just wrapped shooting a lead role in James Wan’s AQUAMAN opposite Jason Momoa for DC Comics and Warner Bros, which will have a wide release in theaters in December 2018.

Previously, Yahya starred in the Netflix series THE GET DOWN, created by visionary director Baz Luhrmann, and in BAYWATCH, opposite Dwayne Johnson. Additionally, Yahya will be seen in FIRST MATCH, which premiered at SXSW 2018, based on an award-winning script by Olivia Newman that was workshopped in both the Sundance Writers’ and Directors’ labs.

In 2015, Yahya graduated Yale with an MFA in drama and was the sole recipient of the prestigious Herschel Williams Prize, awarded to one acting student per graduating class with outstanding ability.

Kristen Schaal

Kristen Schaal

Jojo

Kristen Schaal can currently be seen starring in the Fox series, THE LAST MAN ON EARTH opposite Will Forte. Kristen was recently seen opposite JK Simmons and Emile Hirsch in ALL NIGHTER, as well as LOST IN AUSTIN opposite Linda Cardellini and Patrick Warburton. She appeared in THE BOSS opposite Melissa McCarthy, and in the film, A WALK IN THE WOODS, directed by Ken Kwapis, opposite Robert Redford and Nick Nolte, which premiered at Sundance 2015. She is the Senior Women’s Issues Correspondent for “The Daily Show with Jon Stewart.”

She voices the character Louise in the Fox animated series BOB’S BURGERS, the lead voice in ZODIAC for Dreamworks, and recently won an Annie award for her voice in Gravity Falls. She also lent her voice to The Simpsons.

Other film and television credits include TOY STORY 3, DINNER FOR SCHMUCKS, 30 ROCK, the cult hit series, FLIGHT OF THE CONCHORDS, MAD MEN, MODERN FAMILY, and her Comedy Central half-hour special, LIVE AT THE FILLMORE, among others. Kristen appeared in THE COWARD at The Lincoln Center Theatre, and was awarded The Lucille Lortel Award for her performance.

Schaal is also a published author. She co-authored a sex guide, The Sexy Book of Sexy Sex, with husband and “Daily Show” writer Rich Blomquist.

Bobby Cannavale

Bobby Cannavale

Leonard

Select NY Theater:
The Hairy Ape ( Drama Desk Nomination),The Big Knife, Glengarry Glen Ross, The Motherfucker With The Hat (Tony Nomination, Drama Desk Award), Mauritius (Tony Nomination), HurlyBurly, Fucking A, The Gingerbread House Member: Labyrinth Theater Company

Select Film:
I,TONYA, JUMANJI: WELCOME TO THE JUNGLE, FERDINAND, DADDY'S HOME, ANT-MAN, SPY, DANNY COLLINS, ANNIE, CHEF, BLUE JASMINE, WIN WIN, THE STATION AGENT, FAST FOOD NATION, ROMANCE AND CIGARETTES

Upcoming Film:
THE IRISHMAN, ANT-MAN AND THE WASP, BOUNDARIES, GOING PLACES

Select Television:
Mr. Robot, Master of None, Vinyl, Boardwalk Empire (Emmy Award, SAG Nomination), Nurse Jackie (2 Emmy Nominations, SAG Nomination), Will and Grace (Emmy Award) Upcoming TV:
Homecoming, Angie Tribeca

Dolly Wells

Sofia

Dolly Wells is a UK writer/performer who starred in the six-part comedy DOLL & EM, which she co-created with Emily Mortimer for HBO. DOLL & EM received the distinguished nomination for the South Bank Sky Arts Award for Best Comedy in the U.K.

Dolly was most recently seen in HOME AGAIN, produced by Nancy Meyers and directed by Hallie Meyers-Shyer, and I DO…. UNTIL I DON’T, directed by Lake Bell. She will next be seen in the feature BOUNDARIES opposite Bobby Cannavale and Vera Farminga for director Shana Feste. Dolly’s credits also include PRIDE AND PREJUDICE AND ZOMBIES directed by Burr Steers for Screen Gems starring Lily James and Jack Huston as well as Andrew Haigh's film 45 YEARS. Dolly starred in the Starz series, BLUNT TALK, created by Jonathan Ames, alongside Patrick Stewart and Jackie Weaver. Before relocating to NY, Dolly was singled out for her work on some of the most beloved comedic series in the U.K., SOME GIRLS, SPY (BSkyB) & NOEL FIELDING'S LUXURY COMEDY (E4) among many others.

ANIMALS

About The Animals

“I’ve been told my entire film career to never write animals, children or water into my scripts. I threw that advice out the window when I wrote BOUNDARIES and I’ve never been happier. I’m what the shelters call a “bottle-feeder”. I’m on a short list of truly insane volunteers that will bottle feed an orphaned cat or dog 24 hours per day, sometime every 2 hours. We do this because the shelter does not pay their employees to spend the night and if no one volunteers the pups are put to sleep. While it is incredibly challenging there is nothing more rewarding than seeing a two-day old pit bull that looks more like a mole, turn into a beautiful silky coated puppy because of all your hard work and middle of the night feeds.

I have always rescued - my friends like to joke that stray animals can smell me coming. So much so that I started carrying pet food and leashes in my car so it would be easier to secure them when I spotted them roaming the streets. Rescuing is a part of who I am and when I wrote BOUNDARIES I knew I had to include that part of me. Laura’s ultimate happiness at the end of the film is lying in a bed with eight dogs, and so is mine!

Despite the warning, shooting an indie film with a cast of over ten animals was surprisingly calming. Our actors loved being able to hold a scruffy ragamuffin in their arms during the shoot and although we were all covered in animal hair at the end of the day we wouldn’t have had it any other way!”

– Shana Feste

Loretta

Loretta

Loretta is a terrier rescue and loves napping, stealing food from babies and being held. Loretta was the happiest dog on set because she was finally allowed to go to work with her mom, who directed the movie. The only problem was when her mom would yell, “Action!” Loretta would immediately run to her behind the camera so the first AD had to call action in the scenes Loretta stars in. Loretta made every dog jealous when she got to kiss Christopher Plummer on the lips – she nailed it every time.

Cabela

Cabela

Cabela is a Border Collie and loves dock diving, swimming & long hikes in the woods. Her favorite reward is to play ball but she rarely says no to a tidbit of whatever you may be eating… not going to lie she is our resident diva! Often while filming she would look down her nose to those misbehaving! Cabela provided a real calmness on set, so much so that Lewis claims he never had to act when he was with Cabela, his love for her was real.

Liquorice

Liquorice

Liquorice is the real senior citizen of the set! Liquorice is blind and deaf. He loves to be held and cuddled for - that reason you will always see him in someone’s arms throughout the film. Liquorice always acted like an old dog happy to sleep or be carried around…that is until lunch came around. He then he acted like a puppy going around sampling a little food from everyone.

Alfie

Alfie

Alfie is a rescue so it is unknown how old he is or what breed he might be but it’s safe to say he is older terrier mix. He has ever met a person he didn’t think was his best friend. He always walks with a little spring in his step and a mad wagging helicopter tale. Alfie spent a lot of time in that Rolls Royce with Loretta and some might say a romance blossomed behind the scenes.

Princess Tia

Princess Tia

Princess Tia is a Cavalier King Charles Spaniel. She doesn’t let her uncontrollable tongue stop her from living life. She loves to be held by her mom and was our most curious dog on set. She was fine to sit in a corner and watch all the chaos unfold before her.

Violet

Violet

Violet is a naked cat. She talks endlessly and has tons of confidence for a cat with no hair. Clearly a diva, she didn’t socialize much with the other working animals on set, preferring to be alone in her carrier, or in the arms of her obedient owner.

Tashie

Tashie

Tashie has an awesome rescue story. She was once a very sad, thin dog but found an amazing forever home and transformed into the star you see on screen! She loves a good couch nap and has come to understand cones as a necessary evil.

Hank

Hank

Hank is a “one-take wonder!” He was supposed to roll all over a suit and leave a coat of hair behind and he did it perfectly on his first try. Once his scene was finished, he continued to “rehearse” with the crew. He is a big, lovable softy that adores new people!

Squirt

Squirt

Squirt plays the part of “rescue puppy” along with litter mates that looked similar. The pups were sixteen-week-old chihuahua mixes and got a ton of attention behind the scenes. So much so that our animal wrangler had to act as security when too many crew members swarmed around them - but they were happy to have all the love!

Filmmakers

Shana Feste

Shana Feste

Writer/Director

Shana Feste’s involvement in the arts began when at age 11 she toured with the Young Professionals Actors program. She continued her training at the Santa Monica Playhouse theatre program, studied screenwriting at the University of Texas in Austin, and attended the producing program at American Film Institute. Feste has been named one of Variety's “Ten Directors to Watch” and one of Filmmaker Magazine's “New Faces in Independent Film.” She was nominated for a Humanitas Prize for her first feature, THE GREATEST, which she both wrote and directed. The film premiered at Sundance and stars Carey Mulligan, Susan Sarandon, and Pierce Brosnan. Shortly after returning from Sundance she was hired by Hilary Swank to adapt the novel, "You're Not You" for the big screen. Her second directing/writing effort, COUNTRY STRONG, was a country music musical starring Gwyneth Paltrow, Tim McGraw, Leighton Meester and Garrett Hedlund which garnered Oscar and Golden Globe nominations for Best Original Song.

Brian Kavanaugh-Jones

Producer

Brian Kavanaugh-Jones is the founder of Automatik, a Los Angeles-based film and television production company, and partnered with Fred Berger. Brian executive produced the Jeff Nichols’ feature LOVING which was nominated for an Academy Award and two Golden Globes. He also produced Nichols’ previous film MIDNIGHT SPECIAL for Warner Bros. Brian recently produced Chris Weitz’s OPERATION FINALE for MGM (Sir Ben Kingsley & Oscar Isaac), Miles Joris- Peyrafitte’s DREAMLAND (Margot Robbie), Max Minghella’s TEEN SPIRIT (Elle Fanning), Banks Griffin’s THE WOLF HOUR (Naomi Watts), Shana Feste’s BOUNDARIES (Vera Farmiga, Christopher Plummer), Jamie Dagg’s SWEET VIRGINIA (Jon Bernthal, Rosemarie Dewitt, Chris Abbott, Imogen Poots), AUTOPSY OF JANE DOE written by Andre Ovredal, and Automatik’s first television series BEYOND which has just premiered its second season on ABC’s Freeform network.

Chris Ferguson

Producer

Chris Ferguson is the President of Oddfellows Pictures, founded in 2012. Producing original feature films, Oddfellows has released its eighth film, SWEET VIRGINIA that premiered at Tribeca Film Festival 2017, starring Jon Bernthal, Chris Abbott, Imogen Poots and Rosemarie DeWitt. The upcoming sci-fi action feature FIRST LIGHT starring Stefanie Scott premiered this year at SXSW. Oddfellos also recently launched its boutique animation studio, Oddfellows Labs, developing projects for both television and online.

Dorian Harris

Editor

Early in her career as a first assistant editor in NYC, Dorian worked for Francis Coppola and Arthur Penn. Her editing break came from Robert Altman on the HBO mockumentary series TANNER '88. After working with several first time directors such as James Gray (LITTLE ODESSA), Dorian moved into dramatic series with time off to edit two features directed by Rob Reiner. She has just completed Season 3 of MAN IN THE HIGH CASTLE. Starting the Diversity Committee at the Editors Guild and chairing the Women's Steering Committee are projects she is deeply passionate about.

NC Page Buckner

Production Designer

Page’s eye for design is visible in the some of the biggest feature films of the last decade. He was art director on DJANGO UNCHAINED, JURASSIC WORLD, IRON MAN 2, THE AMAZING SPIDER-MAN, TRANSFORMERS 1 & 2, as well a visual effects consultant on a number of projects including THE GIVER, INSURGENT, DIVERGENT, ALLEGIANT, RED 2, and G.I. JOE: RETALIATION. He has production designed several independent films, short films that have screened at festivals such as Sundance and SXSW. Page has also production designed award-winning commercials and music videos as well as, state of the art stages for major live concert events. His most recent work as production designer can be seen on Zak Hilditch's 1922 for Netflix, as well as the upcoming film BOUNDARIES.

Michael Penn

Music

Critically acclaimed singer/songwriter Michael Penn ventured into film scoring when he was asked by filmmaker Paul Thomas Anderson to score the films HARD EIGHT and BOOGIE NIGHTS and continued to show his prowess with his heartbreakingly honest scores to THE LAST KISS, Nanette Burnstein’s Sundance hit AMERICAN TEEN, SUNSHINE CLEANING (starring Amy Adams), THAT EVENING SUN (starring Hal Holbrook), SKATELAND, SOLITARY MAN (starring Michael Douglas) and CARRIE PILBY starring Colin O’Donoghue and William Mosley. Michael scored the hit Showtime series MASTERS OF SEX starring Michael Sheen and Lena Dunham’s hit HBO series GIRLS.