WILD HONEY, A Film By Francis Stokes, to Premiere At The 24th Annual Austin Film Festival

WILD HONEY, a film by Francis Stokes, will have its World Premiere at the 24th Annual Austin Film Festival.

WILD HONEY is an offbeat comedy about a lonely, down-on-her-luck phone sex operator in Chicago who falls for one of her callers, and flies out to L.A. to find him. She soon learns however, that things are more complicated than they appear.

WILD HONEY will premiere at the 24th Annual Austin Film Festival Oct 26th - Nov 2, 2017

Gabby's (Rusty Schwimmer, The Guardian, The Perfect Storm) life is on hold; in fact life just happens to her. She's middle-aged, broke, living with her mother, and working out of her old high school bedroom as a phone sex operator. She's frustrated. Then she gets a call from Martin (Timothy Omundson, Psych, Supernatural). He is out for more than just arousal; he is looking for a connection. He charms Gabby with his self-effacing wit, and jokes about his glamorous life as a Hollywood sci-fi screenwriter. He lives in the same city as Gabby's estranged and successful sister, Esther (Stephnie Weir, The Comedians, Crazy Ex-Girlfriend). Martin is a far cry from her last boyfriend, Chicago meathead Vince (Todd Stashwick, 12 Monkeys, The Originals). Gabby has always been a bit impulsive, so she spontaneously decides to fly out to Los Angeles, drop in on her unsuspecting sister, and meet up with the man of her dreams. But she soon learns in the City of Angels, things are more complicated than they appear.

"I like stories about the MISFITS of society," says writer/director Francis Stokes. "The supporting characters in other movies - they're the ones I want to see a movie about. I want to learn their life choices, their hopes and dreams, their adventures. Romantic comedies in particular are normally the territory of perfect young couples with otherwise enviable circumstances. But the rest of us have romantic lives, too. Rusty really embodies Gabby, and brings out the aspiration and sort of kid-like optimism she has, in spite of the fact that her life is a mess."

Director/Writer: Francis Stokes

Francis grew up in Chicago and graduated from NYU Film. While working as a museum guide at Griffith Observatory, he wrote and directed HAROLD BUTTLEMAN, DAREDEVIL STUNTMAN, a 35mm comedy starring John Hawkes as a small town tuxedo salesman who thinks he's the next Evel Knievel. He then created the viral hit web series God Inc, about life in the corporate offices of God, and developed it as a TV series for the Syfy Channel. He is currently developing the series Bad Advice for Kids for Insurrection Media.

Producer: Bekah Sturm

WILD HONEY is Rebekah's first self-produced feature. She has been steadily building her knowledge over the last 10 years working behind-the-scenes with many of the top writers, directors, and producers in Hollywood. She's worked on many feature films and TV shows including: TED 2, Cosmos: A Spacetime Odyssey, '42', and Dexter (Season One). Most recently, she served as one of the producers on the global mini-series event, The Long Road Home for National Geographic.

Gabby and Martin, photo by Justin Lubin; Gabby and Esther, photo by Thomas Hargis. Wild Honey will also be at the Virginia Film Festival November 9 - 12th, 2017

Website: wildhoneythemovie.com

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