Film Independent’s Fiscal Sponsorship program opens the door to nonprofit funding for independent filmmakers and media artists. Donate today and help bring Cohetes to life.

Logline

On the Fourth of July, a rookie pyrotechnician assembles a ragtag team to transport a truckload of highly volatile, illegal fireworks down the Texas coast without getting caught or killed.

Synopsis

The Guzman family loves to blow shit up. Professionally, it’s fireworks, but for ARI GUZMAN (Mexican-American, 20s) it’s often relationships. After a failed attempt to branch out on her own in the big city, Ari returns to her hometown on the Texas coast to assist her dad MANUEL (Mexican-American, 50s) and her uncle MEMO (Mexican-American, 20s), with the annual 4th of July fireworks show. This was supposed to be Memo’s big shot at running the show, but her finds himself rattled by the return of his assertive niece.

The unthinkable happens when the son of the show’s sponsor causes a disastrous explosion leaving uninsured Manuel critically injured and their entire fireworks supply burned up. Desperate to cover mounting medical expenses and to keep the family business alive, Ari strikes a deal: make the show happen in exchange for a handsome payout and backdated insurance forms. Problem is she must resurrect a supply of outdated, and illegal, fireworks from deep storage. To make matters worse, she doesn’t have the resources she needs to run the show and Memo is reluctant to help. Plus the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives are sniffing around the accident.

Together, Ari and Memo Ari assemble a group of inexperienced locals strapped for cash to cautiously transport the volatile supply across town — possibly risking the lives of her team with every bump in the road threatening their explosive cargo. Their convoy is meant to load onto a barge where they will set sail and fire offshore in sight of the holiday carnival. However, they butts heads immediately, setting off a chain reaction of arguments, hubris, and missteps.

If Ari doesn’t rely on her team after a detonation, gridlocked traffic, and a missed boat, she risks failure again and putting on one helluva a show.
 

Meet the Filmmakers

Drew Saplin – Co-Writer/Director
Drew (he/they) is an Austin, Texas writer/director and co-founder of The Direct Line, a narrative production company. With over 10,000 hours in the director’s chair, Drew has crafted multiple YouTube shorts and series with over a million views, creating brand-integrated content with Meow Wolf, Omen Computers, and State Farm. Drew has written, directed, and produced shorts that have played at LAFF, Mammoth, Hill Country, and Rockport Film Festivals. Before his directing career, Drew worked as a 1st AD shepherding many first-time directors through the rigors of production. He’s an alum of The University of Texas.

Samantha Bennett – Co-Writer/Producer
Samantha Bennett (she/her) is a California-born, Austin-based writer, director, and producer driven by a passion for queer narratives. As the co-founder of The Direct Line, she co-hosted/co-produced the podcast How to Texas and earned recognition as a Feature Script Semi-Finalist in the NYC International Screenplay Awards. Her work has screened at SXSW, Hill Country, Deep In the Heart, and Rockport Film Festivals. Having honed her filmmaking skills as a script supervisor, editor, and motion graphics artist, she currently lends her expertise to Austin Community College full-time.

Morgan Pollitt – Producer
Morgan (she/her) began her journey as the assistant to Academy-Award nominated producer Sarah Green on Terrence Malick’s visionary The Tree of Life and Jeff Nichols’ emotionally charged Take Shelter. She was an Associate Producer on Jorge Perrugoria’s Amor Cronico, Nichols’ Mud, and Malick’s To The Wonder, Voyage of Time, and Knight of Cups. Morgan’s work extends to television, contributing to ABC/Shondaland’s The Catch, project development with immersive art installations like Meow Wolf, and producing the immersive science fiction Eminent Domain for Audible Originals. Upcoming projects include films by the Holden Brothers and Kyle Smith.

Francis Román – Producer
Francis (she/they) is a second-generation Ecuadorian-American writer, director, and creative based in Austin. She is the Senior Film and TV Programming Manager at the SXSW Film & TV Festival and leads the curation of their shorts program. Francis co-hosts and co-produces the podcast How to Texas. Making films with friends brings her immense joy, and she would love to do it forever.

Via Bia – Producer
Via (she/her) is an LA-based filmmaker raised in a Puerto Rican and Jewish family. She’s the Producer of La Juana (dir. Anayamel), Bridge. (dir. Cristina Wolf), and Development (dir. Chloe Caudillo), a 2023 LALIFF/Netflix Inclusion Fellowship film starring Haskiri Velazquez. As a writer/director, her screenplays have been selected for labs/mentorships with Sundance, Stowe, Women In Animation, and Cine Qua Non. Her film, These Colors Don’t Run, was distributed by HBO/MAX.

Make a donation to Cohetes

Contact

For inquiries, please contact fiscalsponsorship@filmindependent.org.