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Logline

Passionate young painter, Kae Beaumont, struggles to live up to her father’s strict artistic expectations – even after his death. When she’s tasked with honoring him through a gallery exhibit, Kae must decide if she’ll embrace her natural inclination to paint abstractly, or succumb to the pressures her father put on her to paint in the style he was known for: realism.

Synopsis

Kae Beaumont is preparing for an upcoming gallery opening to honor her father, the late, strict, realist painter, Vance Beaumont. Standing in his shadow, she fears the abstract paintings she continues to create during grief-frenzied, storm-riddled nights are not what people are expecting.

Or at least, that’s what the Beaumont Gallery art curator, William Richney tells her, reminding her that she should be creating “real” art. Like her father would have wanted. The gallery is, after all, about him. Not Kae.

Feeling pressured by Richard and an intrusive interviewer who’s covering the upcoming gallery show, Kae is forced to reflect on the tumultuous relationship she had with her father that was unable to be salvaged before his death.

As she attempts to paint in his style, Kae finds she still can’t escape her natural artistic urges, sparked by the feelings attached to her childhood memories as random strokes of color that appear in her mind’s eye, clouding—or, perhaps, clearing—her artistic vision. This leads her to instinctively, and seemingly uncontrollably, transform every realistic painting into an Abstract expression.

Although, that urge may very well be the answer to all of Kae’s problems…
 

Meet the Filmmakers

Alaysia Renay Duncan – Writer/Director/Producer
Alaysia Renay Duncan is a Brooklyn-based actress, writer, director, and producer from Saint Paul, Minnesota. With a BFA in Acting with a Minor in Writing from Ithaca College, Alaysia can be found working as a creative producer for Black Girls Don’t Get Love, submitting endless self-tapes, or developing her various screenplay ideas. Alaysia hopes to create stories that expand the realm of representation for Black girls and women in the media. alaysiarenayduncan.com.

Jacquelyn Chin – Producer
Jacquelyn Chin is an award-winning Chinese-American filmmaker and proud member of IATSE MPEG Local 700. She’s a jack(ie)-of-all-trades with a background in all areas of film production. Now, she mainly works as a freelancer in post-production sound and production management. Her other recent projects include Blue Bloods season 14, Kung Fu Panda 4, Candy, Remains, and If My Candle Burns Blue. jacquelynchin.com.

Ray Deutsch – Producer
Ray Deutsch is a writer, producer and filmmaker with a background spanning development, production, and distribution. Ray has worked with boutique agencies and major media brands. Each creative endeavor has painted the picture, informing her work as a Producer on Abstract.

Ray’s portfolio under the banner “hypochondriac productions” earned her status as a Tribeca Film Institute Alumni and an Ithaca College Rod Serling Scholar for Excellence in Screenwriting. Previous projects include the award-winning surreal psychological feminist short film I Dream in Color (Executive Producer), and passion project, The Lucky Few web-series pilot (EP).

Astrid Dong – Assistant Director
Astrid Dong is a writer, filmmaker, and community organizer. Their most recent film, Joyrider, supported by the Elayne Rubino Award, premiered at Millennium Film Forum in Brooklyn, NY. They are a Telluride Film Festival Student Symposium alum and a Tribeca PitchNY Participant. Passionate about public art, their community work has been supported through the Asian American Arts Alliance. Astrid works as a TV assistant.

Thomas Jenkeleit – Production Designer
Thomas Jenkeleit is a scenic & prop designer from Queens, New York devoted to creating new, reimagined, and thought provoking work. Recent credits: The Park Avenue Armory, Soho Rep, HEREarts Center, New Ohio Theatre, The Bridge Production Group, IRT Theater, Zipline Media, SpotCo Media, People Magazine/Entertainment Weekly, Bay Street Theatre, Trove, NYU Tisch, Columbia University, New York Film Academy, Hippodrome Theatre, Iron Crow Theater, Colorado Springs Fine Arts Center, Hangar Theater Company, State Theater of Ithaca, Kitchen Theater Company, The Cherry Arts. BFA Ithaca College. jenkeleit.com.

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Contact

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