director's statement

After the Gunflint is a multi-generational coming of age film. It’s about a middle-aged man who’s wrestling with what it means to be a good father and a good man when he never saw those things modeled for him in his own childhood. David doesn’t drive a pickup truck or chug beer or watch wrestling, but his tendencies to be a workaholic and avoid his family are proving toxic all the same. It’s about a grandfather who always treated women with respect, and believes his granddaughter can love the woods the way he has. That she can be confident and strong and feminine. That hunting, fishing and camping aren’t just for the guys. And the real hero of the story is Jenna. Whose incredible perseverance and love for her family gives her the courage to do extraordinary things in the face of extreme pain, and sets an example for her own father.

I grew up on Spielberg films like Indiana Jones, Jurassic Park and even Hook. Spielberg never lost sight of what it meant to be a kid, and many of his films have starred children in harrowing situations, only to see them come out as heroes. In fact, as I wrote the bridge scene, with echoes of Temple of Doom in my mind, I chose not to dismiss it because it’s been done before, but to try to accomplish that scene on our shoestring budget as an homage or a cover song of sorts to one of the giants on whose shoulders I stand. In music, cover songs are a way to honor your influences, and share your own unique voice with a familiar melody. I encourage you to view this story, at times familiar, and at others unique, as the song of an extremely talented young team of filmmakers, hoping to add their voice to repertoire of cinema.

J.D. O’Brien