None of them want to be on this mountain. None of them are willing to leave. Joseph "Joe" Daton is dead, and in order to receive his inheritance, our four main characters must complete a final "Daton Dude's Hike", an all male outdoor tradition of his. While on the hike, all of them must wrestle with his legacy, with grief, and their own relationship to masculinity.

All four of the characters feel as if they are outsiders, and yet they all paradoxically feel they deserve their share of the money. Edith was the favorite child, but since transitioning to a woman, she's hyper aware of how she no longer fits in. Her Dad asked for her to be there, but using the wrong name. Jason is the eldest, but he's also Joe's stepson, a fact that his stepfather never let him forget. David, the youngest, barely remembers the hikes, but he does remember their father, taking care of him when no one else did. And Cousin Coast knows he doesn't fit in with Joe's sons, he's just happy to be here.

As they hike the mountain, their relationship to their father, and each other, starts to be revealed. Their own insecurities, fears, and biases starts to come out until they reach a breaking point, and are forced to see what can be healed and forgiven, and what wounds are too deep.

The Origin

I wasn't an outdoorsy kid, but I looked forward to “the boys trip” a family hiking trip with three generations of men in my family. I didn't want to be a man, but I did want to be part of the family. For years I've wondered what it would have been like to complete the trip as the person I am today. That seed grew into the Daton family, and with guidance from Graham– this story.

A thing one often hears when transitioning is that people who knew you have to grieve the person they knew you as before they can accept your authentic self. That kind of grief for the living always troubled me,

I wondered what it would be like to juxtapose that kind of grief for a person that never existed with the much more final weight of losing a loved one too soon.

Why now?

It is so vital to tell trans stories now, in this current political climate. Our government, all the way up to the president, is attempting to remove trans healthcare, revert name and sex marker changes, limit trans kids’ participation in sports, and all together remove transgender people from daily life. General audiences need to see and understand the realities of trans people and their experience. And trans people need to be able to see themselves represented on screen, as worthy of having their story told.

And when people's lives become political wedge issues, so often it's family that becomes the battleground. Whether or not you are trans, or have a trans relative, you've probably lost someone in your family due to political differences. In this story we see four young people struggling with grief, their relationship to masculinity, and their economic circumstance. This is a story of empathy and family healing, two things we're all in dire need of right now.

Through David and Jason, we see two different paths for young men, and, in David, the potential for resolution and reconciliation. We hope this family can provide a microcosm of the fights happening in living rooms and family group chats across America, and that hopefully we can use that to bridge some understanding.

The Budget

We shot a teaser version of this short last year on a micro-budget out in Lake Cachuma, in Santa Barbara California. In doing so, we learned a lot about the area and what we'll need to make a finished short a reality. To make the best possible version of this short, we need a five day shoot, with cast and crew staying overnight on location. This saves us time from driving our LA based team back and forth to Santa Barbara, as well as creates an environment where the team can be fully immersed in the hike and the outdoors. For this reason the majority of our budget will go towards securing the campsite, food, and compensation for the cast and crew.

The remainder of our budgeting goes to the securing of the best possible equipment for this shoot. Shooting outdoors is difficult, and while our team is experienced with this location and this challenge, it means there are challenges to consistent light and sound. The higher quality of gear we are able to rent, the higher quality we can capture the beautiful outdoor scenery that is so important to us.

Being able to capture the connection between our crew, and the beautiful California wildlife, is really what will make this film stand out. With your help, we want to be able to take you on this hike with us.

From our Director