In a world where emotional = weak and women = emotional, we hope the film creates raw and open conversations about childhood trauma from a woman's perspective. Taking inspiration from the horror and fairytale genres creates a creeping dread that underscores the grief and loss at the story's core.

Producer Mike Hogan and writer/director J. Batzli on set for Little Anna

My writing has always been, if nothing else, based in honesty. Writers are taught to use their own experiences as fodder for their work, a type of kindling used as the foundation to build a lasting flame. Even when working in the realm of genre, my stories are deeply personal to me, and LITTLE ANNA is no different. Given that it’s also my first “serious” project as director, I expect it to feel even more so.

The script that eventually became LITTLE ANNA was first written as a thesis proposal for my Screenwriting MFA at the American Film Institute, alongside Dorian Tocker (then a Directing fellow). We obviously didn’t follow through on its production then, but the idea continued to linger with me long after graduation. A lot was going on in my life around that time; not only was I reconciling how to re-enter the real world and keep myself afloat with trying to get a writing career off the ground, but I was in the midst of navigating the disintegration of several key relationships in my life that had recently become unsustainable. 

I felt (and still sometimes feel) completely lost, untethered in space and time. Have you ever had a moment where you suddenly question how you’ve ended up where you are?  It was as though I could pinpoint when exactly things had switched, the precise moments at which the wheel of fate had spun and set me on two different paths in two different times.

Where would I be if things had happened differently?, I asked myself. What was the other me like – the one who’d had the courage to cut her hair short, or who’d given a nice boy a chance, or hadn’t said that horrible thing she shouldn’t have? The one who had a father she trusted, who made her feel safe… or the one who didn’t have a father at all. What would I say to her if I could? And was she even still me, or a completely different person altogether?

Many who have read the script for LITTLE ANNA come away with different impressions of what's "really going on", and I hope this enigmatic quality will translate to the finished film as well. After all, there is no answer to why things happen the way they do; we cannot know what lies at the other side of the wheel. And because we cannot know, we are left to turn these things around in our minds for as long as the memory stays with us. We are, for all intents and purposes, haunted. That's the concept I wanted to explore in this film. We're almost at the end of the road - I can't wait to see it completed and for you to see it too.

It’s a carefully constructed world Anna Wheeler's created for herself and her fourth-grade students, one where any question can be asked without fear. Today’s question: “What happens after we die?”

Of course, there are endless theories, and just as the class begins to explore some of them, a knock comes at the door. It’s a new student – oddly enough, one Miss Wheeler isn’t expecting. Even more oddly, her name is also Anna Wheeler. Chalking it up to a fateful coincidence, Miss Wheeler welcomes the girl in and continues her lesson.

As the day winds down and the other students head home, little Anna is left behind. Her father, it seems, has forgotten to pick her up from school. Despite knowing her for mere hours, Miss Wheeler feels an intense personal responsibility for the young girl, ominously reminded of her own difficult childhood.

Unable to reach Anna's father and unsure what to do next, Miss Wheeler takes the girl back to her apartment for the night against her better judgement… but when Anna begins to display knowledge that should be far beyond her understanding, Miss Wheeler is left to wonder if the two may share more than just a name. 

Eliza Blair as MISS WHEELER 
A fourth-grade teacher beloved by her students for being extraordinarily understanding and patient. Trauma from her own childhood has left her feeling obligated to protect and care for the kids in her classroom - as a result, she doesn’t have much of a social life outside of it. Her world largely revolves around her students, leaving her own thoughts and feelings relegated mostly to background noise. 

Shaun Duke Jr. as DANIEL WHEELER
Overworked, overwhelmed, and trying his best to keep all the balls in the air for his young daughter Anna. It just seems like there’s not enough time in the day - not enough time to sleep, not enough time to shower, not even enough time to shave.

Charlotte Raith as LITTLE ANNA
Quiet and reserved, the kind of kid who’s listening closely even when you think she’s not. She learns by observing the world around her, her wheels always turning. Like her teacher Miss Wheeler, she mostly keeps her emotions inside. Like her father Daniel, she lacks confidence.

LITTLE ANNA melds genre elements of horror, drama, and fairytale, creating an unsettling environment meant to stir the audience's emotions and nostalgia in addition to sending a shiver up their spine. We aimed to meld a grounded, lived-in reality with a surreal, otherworldly sensibility.

Dr. Karl Albrecht theorizes that all humans share five primal fears, the most basic of which is a fear of death and dying; not just a fear of ceasing to exist, but a fear of the unknown, a fear of what comes after. To highlight this fear, we want to make Little Anna look and feel somewhat like a horror film while maintaining a layered emotional core. It's not meant to be scary, per se, but it is meant to linger long after the film is over. 

The world of LITTLE ANNA is the world we live in. We go to school, we go to work, and when life is over, we go somewhere else. Where that is exactly, we won’t know until we arrive. Like life, death is a mystery without an explanation. 

     

 

This project was awarded a small production grant in Shore Scripts' Film Fund 2020, but we still need your help to make it a reality!

Although our production ran smoothly, unexpected costs are always part of the process. Funds raised from this campaign will largely be put towards post-production color and sound, original music, and festival submissions.