In a quest blending fantasy and reality, a widower off his meds and a runaway girl reinvent themselves as knight and squire, racing across states to a Renaissance Faire duel, eluding police and family entangled in a kidnapping misadventure.
In the vein of "Hunter for the Wilder People" and inspired by Don Quixote, AMERICAN KINGDOM depicts the epic journey of self-proclaimed knight Donovan Keaton (57) and his young sidekick squire Jess Garcia (15) as they travel together from Texas to California on a fantastical quest for self-realization. A year after his wife died in a tragic accident at a Renaissance Fair, Don becomes obsessed with everything medieval. He slowly retreats into a fantasy world, adopting a new identity as a chivalrous knight on a mission to better the kingdom he dutifully serves. Don has successfully managed schizophrenia for over 30 years but stopped taking medication after losing his wife's insurance. Worried about his mental health and the astronomical cost of medication, Don’s sister Melissa thinks it best to commit him until they can pay for his treatment. Overhearing this prompts Don to plan his escape: he'll ride his "trusty steed" (a vintage sidecar motorcycle) across the American Kingdom to a Renaissance Festival he saw advertised on TV, where he will win the "King's riches" for defeating the "Black Knight," who he believes has personally challenged him to a duel. On his way out of town, Don finds Jess, a teenage neighbor, perched upon a bridge. Jess, a spirited tomboy, carries an indescribable longing deep within. Feeling unaccepted by an oppressive mother named Crystal, their paths converge in this pivotal moment. Jess convinces Don to let him be his faithful squire on this knight-errant journey to the faraway lands of California. They encounter divine detours and unexpected adventures along the way. Don gets officially knighted by King Lear at a Shakespeare play. They visit a shaman who concocts an herbal medication for Don, train with a dancing magician at Burning Man, and aid a Navajo protest against uranium mines. They even deliver a mother’s ashes to her estranged daughter across state lines. With each diversion comes a new lesson or skill that will come to Don’s aid in his final duel. But the odds are starkly against him. With worsening mental health, visions of the Black Knight terrorizing him, and the fact that the police believe Don kidnapped a missing minor, they run into trouble every step of the way. But Don’s fantastical spirit, combined with Jess’s resilience, drives this odd couple onward and shows that sometimes... believing in a new sense of self can be the best road to healing.
Based in Los Angeles, award-winning Spanish director Sonia Sebastian has a vast experience spanning theater, television, and film. Her passion for telling stories involving diverse and dynamic characters is a common through-line while bringing a personal cultural perspective to her work.
She brings a distinctive humorous style to her work, and she likes to think of herself as an actor’s director, having worked with talents such as Dermot Mulroney, Penelope Ann Miller, Jamie-Lynn Sigler, Mayra Batalla, Maria Botto, Alexandra Billings, and Parminder Nagra.
Sonia is developing de TV Show “Life Streamed” and her next feature film “American Kingdom”. She just finished her feature film “The Kiss List” produced by Marvista Entertainment and Adquired by HBO MAX.
Her third film, “The Virgin of Highland Park,” an inspirational coming-of-age story, recently premiered on Pluto TV and has won the Best Feature Film award at the Women Worldwide Film Festival, Albuquerque Film Festival and Cacique Film Festival in Egypt. Her feature film “Freelancers Anonymous”, produced by Full Spectrum Features in Chicago, was recognized by ReFrame and IMDbPro with the gender-parity stamp. Sonia’s first feature film “De Chica en Chica”, is available on Amazon Prime Video.
She is a mentee of the Half Initiative, created by Ryan Murphy, where she shadowed director and producer John Gray on Lone Star 911. She has directed multi-cam episodes for Spain’s TV networks Mediaset and TeleMadrid. She was the showrunner, writer, and director of the first online web series in Spain, Girl Seeks Girl, produced by Movistar.
Her commercial work includes Netflix, Google Pixel, Google Home, Disney, Tinder, Roomba, Walmart, Nature Made, and PayPal.
Sonia has served as a juror for the International Emmy® Awards competition to recognize excellence in international television programming, among other Film and TV contests worldwide.
