RIVER

Our hero, River promises his Momma on her death bed that he and his brother will go to the Grand Canyon. This promise drives him in ways even he doesn’t fully comprehend, as a part of him may even hope to reunite with her there. In the end, he must learn to let her go and allow her to live in his memory.

His brother Red, is well-meaning but utterly overwhelmed with the responsibility of now caring for River. Only when River steals the family car in his quest to get to the Grand Canyon is Red forced to confront his inner conflicts. In the end he must learn to let go of the burden of being a surrogate parent, and just be River’s brother.

On his adventure, River proves both that he is more capable than Red imagined, and less so than he himself had envisioned, as he finds he needs the help of others along the way. This includes an escaped convict who is singularly focused on avenging his own brother’s death, a runaway bride looking to escape her jilted groom, and an Elvis impersonator who, like Oz’s Cowardly Lion, must uncover his own inner bravery.

The catalyst for this adventure is an ammo box full of cash that River finds near their trailer home, which brings their local police chief and a pair of mysterious bikers onto their trail, all of whom collide in a showdown at night, at a salvage yard in the middle of a monsoon downpour.

River is a passion project, 20 years in the making, which started out as a feature length script called Learning to Drive, first written in 97 and inspired by my brother, Andy. This became a short film, completed in 2016, which has won over a dozen awards in film festivals around the globe. You can learn more about that at “learningtodrive-movie.com”.