As an artist, I am captivated by character studies that use personal conflicts to critique socio-political dynamics. My project’s aim is to peer into the life of an outcast and create empathy regarding their plight. Vial is my biggest risk in this regard.  

As someone in long-term recovery, the subject of addiction has defined the past six years of my life. It’s an endlessly terrifying, hilarious, and provocative world I’ve strived to explore in my work. At the end of the day recovery hinges on the concept of storytelling. Every recovery meeting is a group of strangers who sit in a room and share their stories. The good, the bad and the downright absurd. I guarantee if you step into any AA/NA meeting you will feel everything from heartbreak to euphoric joy. And you will feel all of that free of judgment. 

That’s the feeling I want to capture.  With this film I want to tackle the intersection of addiction, criminal justice, and how these elements can impact a family through a darkly comedic lens. And there is nothing more hysterically awkward than a drug test, especially one you are trying to cheat. I won’t get into the details but let’s just say I’ve had some experience in this arena.

After delaying a drug test with his parole officer, a relapsed addict must set out to find clean urine at the risk of losing custody of his son.

One day while trying to buy heroin from his dealer Ronnie, Ken is called by his Parole Officer Denise whom he’s been avoiding. She’s going to pay him a visit at home and conduct a randomized drug test. Ken makes up an excuse of going to a job interview and rushes home to change into interview attire to sell the lie. 

Once Ken returns home he’s berated by his mother and his son hides from him. When his P.O. comes by his mother’s apartment asking for a drug test Ken is able to delay the test. Denise recommends Ken takes a janitor job she’s floated by him which he ignores. Ken’s delay only buys him a few hours. 

Ken runs around Newark to his drug dealer, AA meeting, and the streets looking for a way to cheat this test, but realizes his only option is to go to his son’s elementary school and steal the urine from him. Ken does just that but scares Oli in the process.  

Ken passes his drug test, but when he returns home his mother has kicked him out of the house and it's unclear if he’ll be able to repair the damage he’s done to his relationship with his family. 

A month later we see Ken mopping up a diner floor as a janitor, trying to clean up the mess he has made.

Vial takes place in the grit of city streets where Ken has attempted to redeem himself in the eyes of his family. That said, in this neighborhood drug abuse and policing are so commonplace that if you take your child to a playground don’t be surprised to see a dealer parked on a swing slinging goods.

My filmmaking journey has run in parallel with my recovery and Vial is the culmination of 6 years of honing my craft with my writing partners David Holmes and Robert Capron. In that time we’ve screened at festivals such as the Rhode Island International Film Festival, Austin Comedy Festival, Hollyshorts Monthly Screening Series, and New Jersey Recovery Film festival. Those films have varied in tone from dramas to experimental films and absurdist comedies.

Each of those projects has built up to Vial, a story we’ve spent a year and a half carefully constructing. During that time the script for Vial (formerly known as Aim High) placed as a Semi-Finalist at the prestigious Hollyshorts Short Screenplay competition and Quarter Finalist at the We Screenplay competition.

I believe with my experience as a filmmaker, someone who’s experienced in this world, and has the advice of parolees and parole officers on set, we are ready to pursue this daunting subject matter through a gritty and realistic lens.

Ken (30s): A thin, dope sick addict. He walks like the weight of the world is crushing him down, a feeling which he constantly tries to outrun. He has a sensitivity in his eyes, which suggests we don’t know what emotion will come out of him next. Ken has complex PTSD from his childhood. He’s a person who runs around juggling knives, praying one won’t stab him. He talks a mile a minute. 

Barbara (60s): Barbara is loving to her family but doesn’t take anyone’s shit. She’s been through too much to tolerate lies and denial. She tired of having to be responsible, hoping at this age she’d be able to retire, finally leave Jersey and kick up on a beach. That is no longer possible since her son's incarceration and needing to tend to Oli. 

Ronnie (Late 20s): If a person could be a burnt out cigarette it would be Ronnie. Ronnie is a drug dealer and associate of Ken Curtis. He’s fast-moving and manipulative - the sort of guy who is fun to go out with but might try to steal your wallet while you are drunk. Ronnie speaks like a salesman. An unhinged narcissist who has been diagnosed with sociopathy or as he might just say he’s “interesting.” 

Oli (6): Oli is an obnoxious and rebellious kid. He hasn’t faced much discipline in his short life by virtue of the fact that very few authority figures have been around him. His grandmother has been working and his father’s been in prison most of his life. He’s a relatively happy child but is easily scared and has been traumatized by his upbringing. 

Denise (50s): Denise is Ken’s parole officer. She’s stern about the rules but incredibly empathetic and sweet. Always in uniform. Denise has worked as a P.O. for 25 years. She became a P.O. because she saw so many of her friends and family budding up against the prison industrial complex and wanted to be a positive voice and change the system from the inside.

Vial is a film that balances tone. On the one hand it deals with hefty subject matter and on the other the realities of Ken’s world are absurd. Inspired by the grit of hectic crime films such as the Safdie Brother’s Good Time with the tragic realism of Darren Aronofksy’s The Wrestler and most recently Miles Warren’s brilliant short film Bruiser, I want to immerse you into Ken’s world of panic.  This means we’ll carefully use our lens choices and free flowing camera to suggest our characters chaotic internal state, but also prioritize the tender moments with his family. This means we’ll be using tightly framed close ups on wide angle lenses and have hand held tracking shots that weave through the action barely giving the audience a moment to catch their breathe.

The Wrestler (Dir. Darren Aronofsky)

Bruiser (Dir. Miles Warren)

Good Time (Dir. Safdie Brothers)

We are asking for a total production goal of $10,000.

These funds will go towards the wages of our hard working New York local crew, meals, and safety equipment to make sure that our cast and crew are working in a safe and healthy environment.

Pre-Production: June 2022 - October 2022

Script Finalizations, Location Scouting, Crew Scouting, Fundraising, Storyboarding

Production: October 2022

(6) day shoot on location in NYC and Newark, NJ

Post-Production: December 2022 - May 2023

Editing, Sound Designing, Dialogue Editing, Coloring, Music Composition

Delivery: May 2022

First cast/crew screenings of the final film

Film Festival Circuit: May 2022 - March 2023

Preventing further spread of the COVID-19 virus is of our utmost importance.

With the pandemic still affecting the lives of many work environments, we take the safety of our cast and crew extremely seriously. We will be implementing the official COVID-19 safety rules that OSHA, SAG-AFTRA, and the states of New York and New Jersey have set forward, which is being practiced on all major motion picture sets. Some of these safety precautions we will be taking include:

Required masking for all cast (except when filming) and crew

Masks and other Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) accessible on set (including hand sanitizer, clorox wipes, gloves, etc.)

Temperature checks and COVID health checks before coming onto set

Mandatory PCR testing before set

Social Distancing whenever possible

Alexandre Davis

Writer/Director

Alexandre Jerard “AJ” Davis (he/him) is a novelist and filmmaker from New York City. His films have played at the Rhode Island International Film Festival among others. He has also been represented by Sterling Lord Literistics for his debut novel “Ballad of Thin Man” which he is currently editing. Alexandre has also participated in activist work regarding addiction and substance-free identities on college campuses, promoting inclusion through Brown University's SoBear organization and LMU’s Lions for Recovery. Alexandre is an MFA candidate in Loyola Marymount’s SFTV program and currently resides in Los Angeles. 

Robert Capron

Writer

Robert is an established actor and writer who has demonstrated a clear versatility on both the stage and the screen. Known for his starring role in the DIARY OF A WIMPY KID film trilogy - based on the best-selling children’s books by Jeff Kinney -  Robert also appeared in Tim Burton’s FRANKENWEENIE and starred in the Netflix feature film THE POLKA KING, which premiered at the Sundance Film Festival in 2017. On television, Robert was most recently seen in a recurring role on CBS’ ELEMENTARY, as well as in episodes of both THE HAUNTING HOUR and THE MIDDLE as featured guest stars. Additional credits include appearances in the short films A Different Kind of Animal and Bye Bye Buddy. Alongside a mountain of development experience, he recently completed work as a writers’ assistant on THE MUPPETS MAYHEM (Disney+).

Ashley Blalock

Producer

Ashley (she/her) is an Asian-American creative producer and MFA candidate at Loyola Marymount University in Film & TV Production, with a specialization in Creative Producing. She has a bachelor’s degree in Statistics and Art from Rutgers, the State University of New Jersey. Ashley has a background in producing advertising and editorial campaigns in NYC and LA. Some of her work includes projects with Vogue, Ralph Lauren, Zimmermann, OPI, Savage x Fenty, and more. She currently has produced 10 short films and 8 dance films. Ashley is also a dance performer and choreographer for Continuum Dance Company, a dance company located in NYC. She loves all things media and movement and hopes to continue to work in short form and long form narrative work.

Patrick Simpson

Producer

Growing up in London, UK, Patrick Simpson (he/him) is a 3rd-year Graduate Student specializing in Creative Producing at LMU’s Film School. He has produced 4 LMU shorts and is producing 2 thesis short films this fall and a Proof of Concept short film for a TV show in the spring. Additionally, in the spring, he is writing and directing a dark comedy web series “Lost In It” about the complex world of the music industry, co-written with his friend, Joseph Bell. His Trinity College Senior thesis, That’s Showbiz, Baby, was an Award-winning film and was selected to multiple film festivals.His most recent film, Lone Wolves Die Alone, a sports drama about mental health in boxing, is currently on the festival circuit. This summer, Patrick worked as a Development Assistant for Creative Engine Entertainment and has helped with the development process on Showtime’s “Yellowjackets” and other projects in development.

Vial is a proof of concept. It is part of a much larger world that we want to expand into feature film. With the help of film festivals and competitions we will apply to, we hope to continue Vial's development into a much larger piece.

Your contributions to this project are extremely valued in any form! If you are not able to contribute monetarily and would like another way to be a part of this project, we appreciate your support in spreading the word about our campaign! 

Please follow along our Instagram (@vial_film) 

You can also help spread the word by sharing the link to our fundraising page to your friends and family!

https://igg.me/at/vialfilm