Ann, an exhausted frontline worker, faces a crisis of her own as she navigates logistical challenges and personal trauma while struggling to find housing for a young woman desperately trying to escape her abusive partner.
BURNOUT tells the story of Sara is a crisis counselor at an organization for at risk youth in Montreal. When a teenage client, Katie, shows up in need of shelter, Sara drops everything to try and help her out. When Katie opens up about her past, her story strikes a personal cord with Sara. Sara talks her boss, Michaela, into releasing emergency funds to help Katie get through the week and hopefully into a domestic violence program. Sara immediately encounters a series of logistical obstacles. First her phone is disconnected because her work failed to pay the bill on time. Then she discovers that all of the domestic violence crisis centers in the city are full. Thanks to a helpful colleague she’s able to find a space for Katie off the island but they have to move quickly. Unfortunately, emotional and logistical obstacles, including a missing ID card, slow them down considerably and they find themselves racing against the clock. Katie and Sara ultimately triumph over both personal crises and bureaucracy, only for Katie to freeze up during the intake interview causing her to lose her space in the program. Defeated, Sara returns to the office where her boss reminds her that because of her, Katie has a health card, not to mention, a trusted adult in her life. Ann argues that that isn’t enough and Michaela maintains that it will have to be.
Finalist, Los Angeles International Screenplay Awards - Diversity Initiative VI
Quarterfinalist, WeScreenplay Feature Lab 2024
Second Rounder, ScreenCraft Film Fund Spring 2024
Quarterfinalist, New York International Screenplay Awards - NYISA 2024
