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Logline

To save his family from financial ruin, a desperate suburban dad puts a hit out on himself with the Russian mob for the insurance payout, but when they take his money yet leave him alive, he’s broke, humiliated, and spiraling.

Synopsis

Seamus Lynch is drowning. His daughter’s recovering from leukemia. His marriage is falling apart. He’s out of work, out of options, and buried in debt. So when a friend inadvertently opens a dark door, he hands his last twenty grand over to a Russian mobster.

It all builds to Seamus and his estranged wife Margot forming a reluctant alliance to survive. And by the end, holed up in a beachside safehouse caught between the mob and the FBI, the man who tried to disappear finally learns how to show up.

The seed of this story came from something someone said when I was caught in a bad situation: “You want? I know a guy who can take care of… things.” It stuck. For years. How close are any of us, really, to crossing a line we didn’t know was there?

It’s about redemption through sacrifice. But it turns on a contradiction: what if the most honorable thing someone can do appears, at least on the surface, like giving up?

Seamus is a man living on the frayed edges of the American Dream, where doing everything “right” no longer guarantees anything. The film challenges the idea that worth is measured by what we provide, and asks what’s left when every part of a man’s identity—career, family, masculinity—has come apart. He’s not equipped, but he has to find a way.

Redemption, in this world, doesn’t come from escape, but from facing the wreckage—his mistakes, his fear, his family—and choosing to act.
 

Meet the Filmmakers

John Washburn — Writer/Director
John Washburn is a Brooklyn-based writer/director who tells grounded, character-driven stories about flawed people navigating moral gray areas with wit and humor.

His path to filmmaking has been a long, serendipitous circle—from making Super 8 movies as a teenager, to touring in bands, to building a career as a creative director at NYC agencies. Across music, design, and commercial production, storytelling has been the throughline: shaping emotional experience with precision and restraint.

His narrative shorts have screened and been awarded internationally, and his screenplays have placed in top competitions including the Nicholl Fellowship and Austin Film Festival.

Alongside his narrative work, he directs commercial and branded content for clients such as Google, Amgen, Diageo, and Realtree.

Nelson Isava — Producer
Nelson Isava is a producer born and raised in Caracas and based in New York City. His work explores character-driven stories with emotional urgency, rooted in the belief that bold, human-centered cinema can thrive within limited resources. To him, small-scale filmmaking is not a constraint but a creative philosophy—one that favors clarity, rigor, and heart over spectacle.

His career spans fiction, documentary, and digital series, unified by a focus on culturally relevant, emotionally complex narratives. His early shorts screened at the Art of Brooklyn and Urbanworld Film Festivals, and he later showran editorial and branded docuseries at Complex Networks, crafting culture-forward nonfiction for millions.

His latest short, ATTAGIRL!, starring Leyna Bloom, premiered at the 2025 Tribeca Film Festival followed by HollyShorts in Los Angeles, and was co-funded by MAC Cosmetics.

As a professor at SVA, Nelson trains emerging filmmakers to see limitations as opportunities and to build sustainable careers through inventive production and alternative funding models.

He is currently producing The Sad and Tawdry Story of Seamus Lynch alongside director John Washburn, a project he believes exemplifies the future of narratively ambitious, resourceful cinema.

Elayne Shuster – Executive Producer
Elayne Shuster is an Executive Producer with 30+ years of experience in film, television, and high-end branded content. As Founding Partner of M Street Creative, she leads large-scale storytelling projects—from documentaries to broadcast—guiding them from initial concept through financing, distribution, and final delivery.

Known for translating creative vision into clear, actionable direction, Elayne manages complex budgets, schedules, and risk while building the operational stability that allows creative teams to do their best work.

Respected by directors and crews for her steady leadership under pressure, Elayne’s work is defined by a commitment to creative integrity and disciplined execution. She ensures projects are both thoughtfully developed and responsibly managed from start to finish.

Across decades of work, she has produced national campaigns, award-winning public service initiatives, and long-form documentaries for global brands. Her approach remains consistent: protect the story, support the filmmaker, align stakeholders, and see the vision through without compromise.

Bianca Grimshaw – Production Counsel
A partner at Granderson Des Rochers, LLP’s New York office, Bianca represents top-tier talent in the film, television and new media industries. Her over 100 film and TV credits include: If I Had Legs I’d Kick You, A History of Sound, Absolution, Never Rarely Sometimes Always, The Skeleton Twins, and Beasts of the Southern Wild.

Sam Breslin Wright – Actor
SELECT TV & FILM:
The History of Sound, Countdown (Amazon), The Crowded Room (Apple TV), Madam Secretary (recurring), Bull (recurring), Elementary, Law and Orders, The Beaver, Rescue Me

SELECT THEATRE
Broadway Macbeth
Off Broadway The Trees, Mr. Burns, a Post-Electric Play, The Temperamentals (Drama Desk Award, Best Ensemble), Coop, Bonnie’s Last Flight, King Phillip’s Head, Vendetta Chrome, Paris Commune.
Regional: We’re Gonna Be Okay (Humana Festival), Bunny Foo Foo (Actor’s Theater of Louisville), The Three Sisters (Berkeley Rep/Yale Rep), eight seasons at the Williamstown Theater Festival.

M.F.A. UCSD. Artistic Associate of The Civilians

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Contact

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