H.O.M.E. – what does it mean to you?
Definition of the word HOME- -n- the place in which one’s domestic affections are centered; adv-deep; to the heart ♥ ; v. to navigate toward a point by means of coordinates other than those given by altitudes.
H.O.M.E. – as an acronym it can be interpreted as wherever you call home. Some might say it’s “wherever you lay your head at night” and that definition may or may not be odds with the dictionary, but it may still be correct. The word HOME has many meanings to many people.
Hence the title of our film, H.O.M.E., as an acronym
This is where the genesis began. To feature the themes of individuals in New York City who are experiencing urban alienation through an immigrant perspective. Throughout this writing process we decided that eliminating one of the previously planned 3 stories would create a stronger body for the script that would allow the 2 stories to complement each other to still retain the idea that these are not stand alone accounts but a multitude that would convey the essence behind the themes of the film. Hence the synopsis
H.O.M.E. is a feature film about the human condition, comprised of 2 different but related stories involving characters who have intimate and meaningful encounters through the lens of a disconnected and alienating city. Set in New York City, the characters in these stories find themselves in an internal struggle with their environment and proceed to navigate through their path of understanding.
The basis for the film was now ready for execution. In that , I narrowed in on the 1st story which is based on an article I read in the New York Times by Kirk Semple who documented a young man with Aspergers Syndrome whom went missing in the NYC subways for several weeks . I decided on this for our 1st story and started to pull together a crew of talented artists to begin this process. 1st priority was approaching a talented actor to play the role of the young man with Aspergers Syndrome. This we were lucky to find in the the emerging actor , Jeremy Ray Valdez whom I’d seen from his award winning performance in La Mission and for whom I had an “in” to meet him in LA to discuss the role with the help of Giselle Rodriguez.
Here’s an early image from the film’s sketchbook.
