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Just Never Leave
TYPE: Narrative Feature
GENRE: Drama
STATUS: Pre-Production
LOGLINE
An American punk rocker has to pull a crime job in Buenos Aires to save her transgender girlfriend from a terminal disease.
SYNOPSIS
Sloan is a renegade misfit with a devil-may-care attitude, who fronts a hardcore punk band and boosts stolen cars. Her world is turned upside down when she falls hard for a beautiful transgender girl named Gabriela. We follow her as she grapples her own ego and decides to risk everything for the person she loves.
ARTISTIC STATEMENT
Just Never Leave is a story about love as a catalyst for personal growth. It pairs two seemingly disparate lovers in a situation that challenges their romantic concepts. The protagonist is hard-edged and gritty. It takes her unlikely partnership with a young transgender woman to reveal the value of loyalty and unconditional love. Centered on that theme, the script tackles issues of grief, regret, gender identity and the downfall of sacrificing everything to pursue your dreams.
I’ve always been fascinated by people who view crime and violence as the solution to disillusionment. So, in the vein of Sam Peckinpah or Nicolas Winding Refn, I set out to explore that concept through the eyes of a female punk rocker. She’s fresh out of jail from a stint for involuntary manslaughter; angry at the world and volatile. Throughout the course of the story she’s forced to face and deal with that conditioned ideology.
In terms of tone, I’d like the film to feel claustrophobic. The film takes place entirely in Buenos Aires, Argentina at night. There’s also a sense of entrapment that the main character is going through emotionally and I’d like the camera to reflect that by shifting to longer and longer lenses as the film progresses and not seeing much of the sky. Also I’d like the camera position to start off high and slowly shift lower. Visually, I imagine the look of the film to be dimly lit and underexposed. Filmmakers like David Fincher, Michael Mann and Denis Villeneuve come to mind. The story takes place in the shadows both literally and figuratively: midnight in the city, punk rock, and underworld crime. I’d also like to play around with assigning colors to different characters to enhance different aspects of their personalities, world views and emotions.
One of the things that makes me most passionate about this story is the way it approaches gender fluidity. Without having the narrative hit you over the head, it allows the audience to experience characters that are more than just “trans” or “lesbian”. To portray unbiased viewpoints and have them dealing with universal issues outside of their sexuality humanizes them in a way that I feel is underrepresented. The main thing I’d like the audience to take away is a sense that the world isn’t black-and-white. That sometimes complex decisions are made that can be both right and wrong. I’d also like to challenge people’s concept of what true love can look like. Hopefully, by the end, the audience leaves with a sense that real happiness exists when you value relationships over success.
- Dillon Tucker Writer/Director, Just Never Leave
KEY CREW
Dillon Tucker - Writer/Director
Writer/Director Dillon Tucker wrote and starred in Gina Cassavetes’ directorial debut, Love and Skin, which premiered at the Palm Springs International Short Festival and won Best Short at the Hollyshorts Film Festival. Tucker also co-wrote and starred in the feature films And Uneasy Lies the Mind, which was a part of the 2014 SXSW Film Festival, and That Side of a Shadow. Tucker is a graduate of the American Academy of Dramatic Arts, where he finished top of his class and was given the Charles Jehlinger Award upon graduation. Afterward, he spent two years acting at The South Coast Repertory Theater and The Actor's Studio. Tucker is also a prolific musician, having produced four studio albums. He has been fortunate enough to tour the US and Europe playing his unique hybrid of folk and hip-hop music.
Ricky Fosheim - Producer
Producer Ricky Fosheim is the founder of Detention Films, where he has produced four feature films and dozens of music videos. Fosheim recently produced The Head Hunter, a medieval horror movie that had its world premiere at the prestigious Sitges Film Festival and was the number one most downloaded horror movie on iTunes in April 2019.
Fosheim’s previous feature, And Uneasy Lies the Mind, was the first feature film to be shot entirely on an iPhone and screened at SXSW. In 2015, Fosheim’s short documentary Bayanihan: The Spirit of Community won Best Short Documentary at the Asian Film Festival. Fosheim spent five years as a freelance director and cinematographer at The Salvation Army, where he had the opportunity to tell short stories and documentaries about homelessness, addiction recovery, domestic abuse, and poverty. He holds two degrees, a B.A in Film Production and a B.B.A. in Business Entrepreneurship from Loyola Marymount University.
Allison Bryant - Producer
Allison Bryant is a producer committed to sharing stories that challenge conventional paradigms. With a penchant for producing and a love of experimental, creative, bold ideas, she works to encourage dialogue and foster community through filmmaking. Behind the camera, she has worked on shows at Netflix, Disney, CBS, Red Bull TV, and crush+lab productions as well as a number of passion projects, fashion films, and music videos. She is currently the post-production coordinator on the Netflix show No Good Nick.
Kevin Stewart - Cinematographer
Cinematographer Kevin Stewart was born in Paris, France and raised in Portugal until the age of 17. After graduating film school from Loyola Marymount University, he spent five years as one of the main shooters for Funny or Die, working on projects with Will Farrell, Don Cheadle, and Steve Carell. Kevin’s recent credits include the Rosa Parks biopic Behind the Movement, which is nominated for two NAACP Image Awards; Blumhouse's Unfriended: Dark Web which was released in over 1,500 theaters nationwide; and The Head Hunter, which premiered at the prestigious Sitges Film Festival. His commercial work includes brands such as Starbucks, Adult Swim and Walgreens.
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