When artistic hipster Sean (Josh Tyson) decides to make a film, he invites his old high school flame, Emily (Samantha Soule), to help him write it. 15 years out of high school, Emily is now a successful partner in a law firm and the only person Sean—whose never stuck it out at any of his creative ventures—knows with the actual cash to bankroll his project.
When Jonah (Tom Kemnitz Jr.) and Maggie (Jennifer Faith Ward) move into their dream home in Orlando to start their family, things take a sudden turn for the worse when Jonah loses his job at the local paper. Then, as they’re trying to figure out how to make ends meet to survive their mortgage, Jonah is lost at sea in a mysterious camping accident. Now Maggie has to deal with her grief while trying to do everything she can to save money so she won’t lose the anchor that’s drowning everything in her life: the house.
When Jake (Ken Sandberg), Byron (Owen McCuen), and Jack (Glenn Mercer) come to a forest reserve for a weekend retreat at a cabin, they’re surprised to meet an over enthusiastic forest ranger (Brian Holcomb) who warns them about the dangers of a mysterious area known as “Apple Island.”
In 2013, Carlo Caldana released an independent novel called, Smile Again, Jenny Lee, about a world renowned tennis player with a personality like Tonya Harding, who got her leg messed up like Nancy Kerrigan. (Only in this tale, she actually was knocked out of her sport for good.)
Two years later, in a feat of moxy that’s truly impressive, Carlo Caldana translated his novel into a script, directed the film, and cast himself as the colead alongside Monique Hafen who played the titular Jenny Lee.
The tale of the film revolves around Jenny’s attempt to find her place in the world after losing her spot in tennis. Low on funds and about to be cut off by her wealthy mother (Linda DeMetrick), she agrees to help a lawyer named Charles Landale (Carlo Caldana) track down her absentee father, hoping that he will float her some cash. However, when the mystery of her father’s disappearance grows more ominous, she and Landale will have to keep their wits about them to unravel the mystery.
For soldiers who have survived the horrors of war, coping with the psychological trauma back home can be its own battle. Less Lost, directed by Chase Conner, follows Luke (Shane Fike), a medically-retired U.S. Army soldier who must now readjust to civilian life.
Reality show host and hunting prodigy Kenny Wayne (Zack Gold) drags his camera crew on a hunt for the most legendary, terrifying buck in the wilderness of the Pacific Northwest. While Kenny tries to prove his hunting worth by capturing the quest on video, cameraman Steve (Cathan Bordyn) and sound recordist Alex (Briana Chicha) must figure out if the hunt is legitimate, or simply a hoax. What will they find out in the woods?