Genre
Synopsis
Open on a poised Ren, cut on her lip, ring on her finger, hunt in her eyes. Water spills out of the finely-appointed tap. A rumble, she grips the sink, and then an explosion. She’s on the floor. We pull up and out through the hole in the building, and recognize its dome.
Hard cut to five years earlier: Ren – 30, Latina, with crippling student loans, a BRCA gene mutation, and no support system – desperate to find a way to pay the bills, wants to see the world’s truth “up close and personal” while she searches for something to give a shit about. A recovering “peacemaker” from a family destroyed by politics, Ren also just reached “life overtime” having surpassed the age her mom was when she died of breast cancer thirteen years ago.
Ren begs her best friend Joe - a DP shooting news in conflict zones - for a job. For reasons of his own, Joe lies on her behalf, teaches her to mic his kids, and days later, Ren finds herself on a first-class flight to Syria as the new “sound guy.” In a conflict zone for the first time, Ren attempts to hold on to her sanity by badly entertaining the children of a refugee camp, bonding strongly with one girl in particular.
When the girl arrives at the housing the crew have for the night, it seems as if Ren might manage. But then an explosion goes off nearby and in the chaotic aftermath, the girl disappears. Joe drags Ren into the high-adrenaline atmosphere where every moment is high-stakes and “breaking the story” is king. The team rush to the media hotel base nearby to get the story out, and a manic, bacchanalian celebration follows, fueled by the recklessness that comes from experiencing how precarious life is before you know what you want to live for.
Ren heads to her room, toxic with drink and shame, haunted by the image of the little girl. The bed spins. The girl’s eyes flash. Ren sweats. Later that night, Joe knocks on the door -- it’s time to go, there was a call. They have to move on.
Easy for you to say.
Bio
Catherine Eaton is a director, writer, actor, and storytelling activist. She directed and co-wrote the feature THE SOUNDING - starring Harris Yulin (OZARK) and Frankie Faison (THE WIRE) – which won over two-dozen awards on the festival circuit, sold to HBO for international broadcast, myCinema for North American theatrical, and was nominated for the SAMHSA Voice Awards for activism. Catherine was selected as a Shadowing-Director for Ryan Murphy's Half Program and for Tribeca Film Festival's "Through Her Lens" Director’s Lab and Grant. She was also chosen as a Statera Mentee under Showrunner Kit Steinkellner and an inaugural Avalon: Story Fellow and she is one of the first six Regenerative Filmmakers for reGEN Media. Catherine’s pilot FREE RADICAL – based on her personal experience working with freelance news crews in conflict zones – was selected for The Gotham/IFP's Project Forum. Catherine is a Director/Writer at Next Chapter Podcasts where she’s directed seven fiction episodes and wrote/adapted 60 plus episodes. She is also the co-showrunner of the current The Light Ahead podcast series. Catherine has created content for MSG's Garden of Dreams Foundation and shares an Emmy with the production team on "The Human Toll of Ethanol" (Bloomberg TV). As an actor, she has performed on Broadway and around the world. Catherine teaches Screen Directing at Harvard. She is Paraguayan and French-American.
Awards History
IFP The Gotham's Project Forum 2018
