Artist’s Statement:​

​

"While I’ve always loved making films, it’s often been in the capacity of producing and writing, and I’ve rarely been tempted to take that final, daunting step into the director’s chair.  And although I have optimistically believed that I could work to achieve the leadership and vision required to helm a production, the ability to truly see the finished film both scared and eluded me.  

Until that is, my creative and life partner Nate Hapke, and my friend and collaborator Marisa Hood and I assembled for a writing day.  As often happens, life took our plans a bit off course, and we ended our productivity early with a glass of wine and a walk through the neighborhood.  On that walk, an emotional Marisa recounted the story of the time she took Molly with her terminally ill cat, Lucy.  While I had heard the legends of Lucy before, this particular story was new to me, and I was instantly obsessed.  I asked her how, as a filmmaker, she hadn’t told this story yet, and I excitedly began to pitch exactly what the film could be.  

And in that moment, it happened.  I realized that I actually saw a finished movie.  I saw the characters’ journeys.  I saw the Christmas lights bouncing and dancing on the walls.  I saw the movement of the camera, starting stagnant, and increasing with the chaos that is introduced into June’s life.  I heard the score and felt the beat the characters would dance to.  I lived it.  Suddenly, what had terrified me for so long was right in front of me, and it wasn’t so scary after all.  In fact, it was beautiful.  

Beyond that, I saw myself in the story.  A lifelong dog owner, and proud chiweenie mom, I know the happiness and heartbreak that pets can bring to our lives.  When I was 24, I premiered my first short film on the same weekend that our beloved family dog Lola crossed the rainbow bridge.  I knew that interplay of unbelievable joy and unbearable devastation, and I wanted to find it on screen.  And with the help of an incredibly talented and wonderfully supportive team, we did.  

As a writer, it doesn’t surprise me that my way into directing was ultimately writing.  With this film, I wrote a love letter.  It’s a love letter to Lucy, to Lola, to Coal, to Pumpkin, to Hunter and to Guinie, who we’ve lost.  It’s a love letter to Bea and to Lincoln and Ramona, who make us smile everyday.  It’s a love letter to my friend Marisa, who trusted me with such a vulnerable part of her heart and history.  It’s a love letter to my incredible partner Nate, who heard me when I said “I want to direct this” and championed me from that moment forward.  It’s a love letter to directing, and the joy I found in this new role.  And finally, it’s a love letter to all of our pets, who bring so much sunshine into our lives, that their light lingers long, long, long after they’re gone."  

​

-Rosie Grace, Director 

Theatrical Trailer (Coming Soon)

Stills

Behind the Scenes