a film by CHRISTOPHER CUNETTO
how can you live if
you can’t live with
YOURSELF?
A drag queen haunted by addiction must battle vivid hallucinations to nail a life-changing performance.
VISIONS
a SECRET
and a BETRAYAL
become TORMENT
FEAR
and DESPERATION.
concept visuals
CAST
Emmanuel
Elliot Key
as Corri O’Hare/Crystal
Emmanuel Elliot Key (he/they) is an actor and writer trained at Howard University, best known for his role as Arpad in Signature Theatre’s Helen Hayes nominated She Loves Me. Emmanuel has performed at the Kennedy Center, Constellation Theatre Company, and Roundabout Theatre Company in New York City. He also studied Shakespeare at the British American Drama Academy in Oxford, England. Emmanuel is a commissioned playwright having written a 10-minute play for Theater Alliance’s Protest in 8, a series outlining the eight demands of the Black Lives Matter Movement. Emmanuel is from Pittsburgh, PA where he trains with Jill Wadsworth. He is represented by Docherty Talent Agency.
Josh
Adams
as Gideon Parks
Josh Adams is originally from California, but currently lives in Brooklyn, New York. He received a BA in Theatre at University of California: San Diego, as well as a minor in Political Science. For 10 years he acted professionally in Washington, DC and is thrilled to return to the area to work on this project and continue to lift Queer stories and voices. Select Film Credits include: Thank You, The Coming Storm, Dinner with the Alchemist, Geographically Desirable, and You’ll Be Fine.
Carol
Cadby
as Vic Rodgers
Carol is a bilingual English/Spanish SAG-AFTRA actor with experience and training in film/TV, stage and commercials. Her film and theatre credits include Radium Girls on Netflix, Miami Vice, Gateway, La Llorona, Love Letters, Savage in Limbo, and Top Girls. She has also been a theatre educator and director for 35+ years and teaches at Catholic University’s Rome School of Music, Drama and Art, at the Theatre Lab Acting Conservatory and is a Wolf Trap teaching artist.
Jacob
Yeh
as Ryan McAllister
Jacob Yeh is a three-time Helen Hayes Award-nominated DC-based actor who has been seen at Studio Theatre, Ford's Theatre, Shakespeare Theatre Company, Folger Theatre, Theater J, 1st Stage, Constellation Theatre, NextStop Theatre, Washington Stage Guild, Imagination Stage, Adventure Theatre and many others. You can see him next in King of the Yees at Signature Theatre in September 2023.
Gideon Parks
Tall, muscular, and handsome - the stereotypical perfect gay guy. Uses his looks and privilege to get exactly what he wants. He is cunning, witty, jocular, seductive. Pushes boundaries to maintain his control.
Corri O’Hare
Androgynous or nonbinary. Kind and sensitive but lacks self-awareness. Corri is desperate to fill the void inside. They are tentative and reserved. Drag is their source of power and freedom.
CHARACTERS
Vic Rodgers
Punk rock/biker type. Relentlessly honest and grounded in love. She has seen so much - and doesn’t suffer bullshit or fools as a result. Struggles to find the line between tough love and reckless honesty.
Ryan McAllister
Kind and trustworthy demeanor. Genuinely interested in the success of those around him, and willing to put his neck on the line to give someone a chance at their dreams.
MOOD FILM STILLS
FILMMAKERS
Christopher Cunetto
Writer/Director/Executive Producer
Christopher Cunetto is an award-winning filmmaker, visual artist, and creative strategist based in Washington, DC. Beyond his work in commercial design and video, his narrative film has been screened at diverse venues - from the premiere of his short film Jeux, a love letter to DC LGBT nightlife, at local bar Number 9, to a selection of shorts celebrating Iberian poets at The Kennedy Center, to short films screening internationally. His latest short Safe Word is currently in festivals, including the Academy Award Qualifying fest Provincetown International Film Festival and Canadian Screen Award qualifying festival Inside Out Toronto.
“A filmmaker, artist, and designer by trade, I'm a passionate creative leader hell-bent on making things that move people. I have built a creative career on top of my passion for incredible visual experiences, my technical skills, my commitment to showing up and doing the hard work, and a belief that art and story are the most effective tools to inspire action in those around us.”
Christopher Recieved his B.F.A in Painting and Drawing from the Corocoran School of Art in Washington, DC and graduated Summa Cum Laude with an M.A. focused on Writing and Directing from American University in Washington, DC. He has supplemented his creative studies with the New York Studio Residency Program in Brooklyn, NY.
Mauricio Pita
Executive Producer
A Venezuelan-American actor, director, and producer. Mauricio is Arena Stage’s current Community Programs Manager where he oversees the Voices of Now program (VON) which produced two feature docudramas during the pandemic and most recently nine short films for the 2022 VON festival at Arena Stage. Mauricio served as Creative Producer for the 2020-2021 Virtual Season of IN Series Opera. His projects with IN Series included the film Orphée et Eurydice, the audio play A Fairy Queen, and the interdisciplinary film/theater piece Boheme in The Heights. All three were featured on DC Metro Theater Arts’ 2021 lists of outstanding productions. In addition, Mauricio currently serves as Artistic Associate with We Happy Few Theatre Company and recently directed two Sherlock Holmes audio experiences as part of their at-home Detective Play Series which received praise for their crisp style and directing. Maryland Theater Guide called Sherlock Holmes and the Adventure of the Norwood Builder “...a perfect adventure.”
Fernando Rocha
Director of Photography
Fernando Rocha is a Mexican-American Cinematographer based out of the U.S. East Coast whose work spans both scripted and unscripted genres. He is a 2022 Southern Exposure Film Fellow and Part 107 certified Drone pilot. Fernando was also selected as a 2022 Sundance X Adobe Ignite Fellow, a program which “identifies and supports new voices and talent from the next generation of filmmakers by providing artistic and professional development to advance filmmakers to the next stage in their filmmaking.” In 2021, Fernando won a Fulbright Grant to create a short-documentary project about water rights and accessibility in the Bajo Lempa region of El Salvador. He is currently working as Cinematographer on his first feature-length documentary, an anthology on Central American immigration to the United States.
Fernando’s visual approach merges the organic and intimate nature of documentary filmmaking with the attention and care to detail of narrative in order to create a visual language that is right for each story regardless of genre. He graduated Summa Cum Laude with a B.A. from American University in Washington, D.C. as a Frederick Douglass Distinguished Scholar. He has studied at the University of Southern California School of Cinematic Arts in Los Angeles and the FAMU Conservatory in Prague, Czech Republic.
Nina Young
Producer
“My name is Nina Young. I’m a screenwriter, director, and producer from Detroit, MI with a passion for exploring the Black female identity through film. I write stories about Black women who find ways to maneuver through relationships, work, and all the murky parts of life. I believe that Black women deserve to have the space in Hollywood to explore, expand, and create their narrative.
In 2019, I earned my MFA in film from Howard University. Since then I have worked on a number of short independent films. Recently I served as the unit production manager and first assistant director on Leo Films’ Alemanji and associate produced Tepui Media’s award-winning short film Safe Word.
In the Fall of 2022, I wrapped post-production on my short film, The Problem with Erin- a story about a young woman who struggles with the decision to finalize her divorce.
My hope is that my work will add to the current artistic conversation around African American women and our experiences, and will provide additional space and opportunity for Black artists to share and discuss. I hope you find my work to be enlightening, enjoyable, relatable, and refreshing.”
TIMELINE
ONGOING
DEVELOPMENT AND
FUNDRAISING
JUN - JUL ‘24
PREPRODUCTION
AUG ‘24
PRODUCTION
AUG - SEP ‘24
EDIT
SEP ‘24
POSTPRODUCTION
OCT ‘24
VIP SCREENING +
FESTIVAL APPLICATIONS
Special Thanks
Production Partners
Individual Supporters
Anonymous, AlanMichael, Michael Bellavia, Jonathan Borgia, Christopher Cannon, Julie Casey, Troy Cassel, Holly Hassett, Chloe Himmel, Nichole Lemmon, Timothy Metzner, and Seth Turner.
