When a single dad gets a life-altering diagnosis, his teen daughter partners with a spirited singer and psychic dog to unravel her family history and transform his perceptions of her from misguided to fiercely resilient.
Prodigy musician Natalia is forbidden from pursuing music by her ill and restrictive father. He believes his daughter is not good enough to break ceilings in worlds of professional musicianship, and he wants to make certain she will have all she needs to succeed in life, as he struggles with complications from his new illness and by his grief of abandonment by Nat's musician mother, who left to pursue her own thriving music career. Nat refuses to speak to him, and isolates in her bedroom, composing symphonies across her walls. She hears and sees the musical notes swirling around her as she transcribes them.. She is writing a special composition, an ode to her mother's musical legacy for her. Free-spirited singer Annie - and psychic dog Boozer - arrive to rent the empty lot next door, amping up the tension. They meet over a stolen iPod and decide to privately jam together in a covert girl band. When they combine their two original sounds, something entirely new is born. And it will go viral. Propelling Nat and her father into a battle for Nat's choices in life versus her loyalty to support her father's wishes for her.
Donna is an Indigenous Latine writer/director working in film, stage and TV, focused on stories of women with unusual or heroic skills, humanity, or insights. She explores family, identity, and rugged individualism versus community and belonging.
Her short, The Girl Next Door won Grand Jury Prize at Mystic Film Festival, Jury Award at Silent River, REMI Award at Worldfest Houston, Finalist award at NewFilmmakers NY, and Honorable Mention at Cine Pobre. It has screened at over 59 festivals worldwide including Cascadia, Santa Monica, Philadelphia Latino, Dumbo, Cleveland Indie Gathering, and Australia Independent.
Her dark comedy satire, Death of a Saleswoman is a 9-time award winner, including for Best Director, Family Film, Experimental, and Comedy Film at festivals around the world. It sold at Cannes / AFM / and Berlin markets and streams globally. Donna’s other film and TV works are Nicholl SFs, Gotham No Borders, Slamdance Labs, Stowe Story Labs, Sidewalk Narrative Labs, PageCraft, Sundance, Reel Sisters/BRIC and NYSAF Workshops, and MIPTV/Cannes invited projects.
Donna is the creator and Chair of Alliance of Women Director’s #MentorLatinaDirectors Fellowship and has served as a Jurist on several U.S. and international film festivals. She is a founding Board Member of the women’s comedy fest, Broad Humor Film Festival in Los Angeles, CA. She brings strong stewardship to creative projects, and a focused, compassionate leadership style to her teams, assembling standout professionals and industry colleagues from years in entertainment. She earned her MFA in Film from Florida State University.
Stowe Story Labs 2021, 2022
Sundance Institute Workshop for Screenplay and Directing
DTLA Film Festival 2019 - Best Screenplay
Executive Producer - Forrest Murray
Casting Director - Sunday Boling
Writer - Donna Bonilla Wheeler
Director - Donna Bonilla Wheeler
