Having grown up in the small-town South, we know its comfort and claustrophobia. There's tolerance of quirks and suspicion of difference. But, maybe, in a time when society feels as fractured and alienated as it does today, hope lies in building community on a small scale.

500 Fireflies is a quirky dramatic comedy, evoking character and place through a story about a father and daughter struggling to define themselves.  

Have you ever felt like society's barely holding it together? Like there is no way we can possibly talk to each other? Like you can't look at your neighbor's yard sign one more second?

Somehow or other, we have to live together. It's messy. There are no easy answers. But maybe you don't have to like your neighbor in order to love 'em.

If you feel constantly frenetically connected and yet lonely, join the club. This is a film that we hope will make people feel a little better.

Struggling with a rocky marriage, Daniel moves his 16-year-old daughter, June, to his small hometown of Mt. Belle, VA. But when they arrive, they find that economic depression and youthful exodus have hit the town hard.

He soon runs into money troubles.

When his estranged dad Oscar promises to loan him money if he can catch five hundred fireflies, Daniel has to have a coming-to-Jesus meeting with his own pride. Eventually, he embarks on this quixiotic task, which brings him closer to his neighbor, Miriam - but threatens his relationship with June.

If Daniel can figure out his own life, maybe there is also hope for his struggling little town. 

We shot this film in July of 2021, over the course of nineteen days, with a 15-person crew.

Our goal is to have a final cut ready for festival screenings in the spring of 2023.

Upon completion, along with submitting it for a festival run, we will enlist a sales agent to get a distribution deal for a streaming platform. After debts and commitments are paid off, net proceeds will go into two funds: one for our next project, and the other to support an emerging filmmaker here in our local community.

 

Daniel (Brian Villalobos) is a consumer-protection lawyer by trade and an idealist by nature. He's optimistic to the point of self-delusion and doesn't always listen to the people he's supposedly trying to help. Through it all, he's a devoted dad trying to make the best decisions for his daughter.

 

 

 

June (Brett Cooper) is caught in the crux of her teenage years, her childhood disrupted by her parents' fights. It's hard to tell which parent she's more upset with, but she goes along with Daniel's plan because she sees in this summer a chance to redefine herself and take command of her own life.

 

 

 

Taylor (Nikolas Nadiro) is a teenage boy from a dysfunctional family whose favorite hangout (besides the vacant lot where he skateboards) is the camera shop. His Olympus is the only companion he really trusts... until he meets June.

 

 

Miriam (Honour Drew) grew up in Mt. Belle, moved away, and has returned home to care for her ailing father. As she loses her last connection to the small Southern town, she and Daniel see in each other a chance for a fresh start.

 

 

 

Oscar (Richard Riehle) is Daniel's conservative, hermetic father, who made his fortune in travel mugs and won't let his son forget it. As Daniel returns to Mt. Belle, he is really returning to his father, with all the loss and potential that this relationship holds.

 

 

 

Barney (Tom Belgrey) is Miriam's dad, the liberal local radio host, who alternates between praising the South as the cradle of true radicalism and cursing it as the heart of darkness. Now Barney is suffering from a mysterious ailment that has afflicted residents of Mt. Belle ever since the old factory shut down. It's likely these summer's fireflies are the last he will see.  

 

Some of the other characters who make up the made-up town of Mt. Belle include Pastor Jackson (chair of town council); Shad (Daniel's childhood friend who's determined to sell the town as a realtor); Maggie (Shad's mom, the mayor, who also runs the laundromat); Gordon, who rides a lawn mower to his camera shop; "Kimb with a B" (tough-on-the-outside girl who dreams of the big city); Mary John, who runs the long-standing general store, and her son Red and husband Trey... the former is a dip-spitting redneck, the latter a philosopher.

This film dwells in "place" with curiosity and affection, and lets characters talk and argue without letting the views of the writer impose upon them. Its setting in the '90s gives it a certain remove from today. It employs a touch of magical realism to champion the value of the small town, the small life, being together in a place that's a little remote.

Evocative of the lush tones of summer in the American south, the film hearkens back to the style of the mid-90's films that inspired it: quirky small-town comedies like Doc Hollywood and Local Hero, heartfelt ensemble-based narratives that celebrate community.

Our goal is to capture the many textures and details of the South – its beauty and its struggles – without romanticizing.

This movie takes place in two “moments”: its setting in the mid-1990s, and its filming in the 2020's.

As with any period piece, it's an opportunity to investigate a time that was not so long ago, yet feels like ancient history. The characters in this movie have never seen a cell phone. Teenagers are glued to MTV. The Internet is just on the perimeter of people’s awareness, limited in its usefulness to the novelty of joining a chat room on America Online.

In setting this story in the ‘90s, our aim to create distance from current political questions in order to, paradoxically, show their timelessness. We hope to generate constructive dialogue and hopefully some laughter.

Different Lens

500 Fireflies is a pilot project for the Different Lens Initiative, which aims to develop relationships between diverse and/or conflicting demographics of people by engaging them as participants in the filmmaking process. We aim to solicit feedback from communities relevant to the film’s story and build a cast and crew of diverse races, genders, religions, and political opinions.

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Hells bells, I'm excited to see this film! Support @deepstructurefilms at seedandspark.com/fund/500-fireflies/