Film Independent’s Fiscal Sponsorship program opens the door to nonprofit funding for independent filmmakers and media artists.

Logline

On her way to visit her sick father, an adrift young woman, Riley Varick, hits a deer on the road and is forced to confront and accept her actions as a prerequisite for her father’s inevitable demise.

Synopsis

RILEY has been struggling to find her purpose as a young adult. When her father, JOHN, falls ill, Riley is forced to overlook their tumultuous relationship and come to his aid. On her way to visit him one day, Riley hits a deer on the side of the road, severely injuring the animal. While waiting for the cops to arrive, a mysterious woman, CELIA approaches Riley and convinces her to touch the deer, confronting her actions.

Meanwhile, John is completely immersed on a Virtual Reality beach, going through the motions of his daily meditation routine to help him with his pain while being accompanied by a computerized seagull.
 

Meet the Filmmakers

Ani Schroeter — Director/Writer

Ani Schroeter is a New York based filmmaker. In the last year, Ani has produced two short films, Wiggle Room and Good Grief. She also produced the launching campaign for oHHo, a Hudson Valley based CBD oil campaign , an episode of the Nike x Champs Glow Session and the music video Triptych for the singer Samia, premiering this fall. On top of her producing work, Ani served as the 1st Assistant Director on the film Giants Being Lonely, which was nominated for the Orizzonti Competition (Horizons) at the 2019 Venice Biennale. In 2017, Ani wrote, directed and produced the short documentary The Way of the Person, which profiled the lives of three young adults living in post genocide Rwanda. She previously worked at EMJAG productions as an Executive Assistant to Scott Lambert and Alexandra Milchan. She is currently a freelance producer/director.

Myriam Schroeter — Producer

Myriam Schroeter is an award-winning producer whose work spans the commercial and narrative realms. She co-produced the acclaimed film, The Light of the Moon, which won the Narrative Feature Audience Award at the 2017 SXSW Film Festival. She’s produced a number of independent music videos, art films and shorts, including short Gramercy which will have its world premiere at Locarno, Telluride and BFI London 2020. She’s collaborated on multiple video projects with artist Adam Pendleton, which are slated to premiere at The Whitney Biennial 2021 and a dedicated MoMA show “Who Is Queen?”. Additionally, Myriam spent two years working closely with Peter Saraf and Leah Holzer as a creative development executive at Big Beach Films. While there, she optioned IP, reviewed new project submissions, discovered fresh talent and built out their independent film slate. She currently runs her own production company, Putshki, and will serve as an Executive Producer on the international feature film Before the Spring, written and to be directed by Lotfy Nathan. She is a graduate of Northwestern University and resides in Brooklyn.

Alexander Dynan — Cinematographer

Alexander Dynan is a New York based Cinematographer. He shot Paul Schrader’s 2016 film, Dog Eat Dog, which premiered at Cannes Directors Fortnight. The following year he shot Paul Schrader’s film, First Reformed, which premiered at the Venice film festival and was nominated for Best Original Screenplay at the Oscars. Alex DP’d the fourth season of Billions and the 2020 film After Love, the first feature film of director Aleem Khan which will be premiering at Telluride this year.

Contact

For inquiries, please contact fiscalsponsorship@filmindependent.org.