Private Project

ALL IN

When an enterprising teen is left with seemingly insurmountable debt by his unscrupulous, late father, he must play poker to either make the money back and save what's left of his family... or die trying.

  • Dusan Brown
    Director
    Netflix's Oscar Winning "Ma Rainey's Black Bottom," and Indie Award-Winning Student Shorts "Cereal," and "Reece"
  • Dusan Brown
    Writer
    Netflix's Oscar Winning "Ma Rainey's Black Bottom," and Indie Award-Winning Student Shorts "Cereal," and "Reece"
  • Kexian Li (James Lee)
    Producer
    Award-Winning Short Film "Witness"
  • Joyce Kelly-Brown
    Producer
    Award-Winning Short Films "Reece" and "Cereal"
  • Dusan Brown
    Key Cast
    "Hustler"
    Netflix's Academy Award Winning "Ma Rainey's Black Bottom", Legendary's "42"
  • Rolando Boyce
    Key Cast
    "Dad"
    Showtime's "The Chi" & Starz's "P-Valley"
  • Daniel Chernish
    Key Cast
    "Nikolay"
    Academy Award Nominated, "Roads"
  • Dante Brown
    Key Cast
    "Dante"
    Blumhouse's "MA," Netflix's "Dash & Lily"
  • Project Type:
    Short
  • Genres:
    Drama, Action, Thriller
  • Runtime:
    14 minutes 51 seconds
  • Completion Date:
    December 15, 2022
  • Production Budget:
    10,000 USD
  • Country of Origin:
    United States
  • Country of Filming:
    United States
  • Language:
    English
  • Shooting Format:
    Digital
  • Aspect Ratio:
    2.35:1
  • Film Color:
    Color
  • First-time Filmmaker:
    No
  • Student Project:
    Yes - Chapman University, Dodge College of Film and Media Arts
Director Biography - Dusan Brown

Multi-talented, GenZ creative, Dusan Brown, born and raised in Chicago, relocated to Hollywood early to pursue his growing career in the entertainment industry.

Around age twelve, Brown had an opportunity to write, direct, edit, and score his first short film with equipment, a crew, and even a set mentor. Although the program, Ghetto Film School, was intended for high school students, Brown was selected as one of their youngest Fellows ever admitted.

Brown became an esteemed U.S. Presidential Scholar in the Arts (Film) and a prestigious National YoungArts Foundation, Gold Level $10,000 Winner (Film). His hard-hitting, coming-of-age short film, Reece, which he wrote, directed, and edited while still in high school, won five (5) awards at various national and international film festivals - often competing against undergraduate and graduate film student projects. Reece earned 14 nominations and was screened by over 10,000 viewers at 15 festivals, including Los Angeles International Shorts, Sacramento International, WILDsound Diversity (Toronto), Baltimore International, and American Pavilion Emerging Filmmaker Showcase (Cannes). Brown's latest student short, Cereal, an edgy, psychological drama that he wrote, directed, and starred in, racked up eight (8) festival wins, earned 12 nominations, and was officially selected into 15 film festivals.

Brown, an ever-evolving director-writer, is a Chapman University, Dodge College of Film & Media Arts scholar, matriculating their esteemed Film Production program with Directing as his major and Philosophy his minor. Over the past six years or so, Brown filmed a total of over 40 short films and music video projects, either independently or in collaboration with classmates.

Having worked as a professional actor all his life, Brown earned over 20 professional acting credits ranging from the Netflix Oscar-Winning feature, Ma Rainey's Black Bottom to the motion picture 42, a plethora of guest star roles on hit TV shows, as well as series regular on major network, animated shows. On the theatre side, Brown also played the coveted lead role of Young Simba in Disney's The Lion King on Broadway, North American Tour, and was nominated for a Young Artist Award for his performance.

As a filmmaker and film lover, Brown finds himself transfixed with stories about anti-heroic characters whose problems deal with ethics and morality. These are the types of thought-provoking stories Brown plans to continue making as they grant the ability to shed light on social issues not faced by just African Americans but stories that demonstrate common threads within humanity.

For more information contact Joyce Kelly-Brown at joyce@thebrownboys.ws.

Add Director Biography
Director Statement

It was the year of 2020.
COVID swept the world with its devastation and quarantine forced us to either become loners or find a new way to connect.

For me, being a freshman on a college campus, playing poker for pizza became a unique way for me to connect with peers. Although I had never played, prior, it quickly became a personal passion.

As I conducted further research on the game, I realized:
1. There are not very many movies about this game.
2. There are ZERO MOVIES about poker with a LEADING Black actor.
3. There are not very many movies with leading Black Actors winning in the end, in general.

One of my main goals in film, is to FURTHER EXPAND THE IMAGERY OF MY PEOPLE, people of color, showcase us in diverse roles, as well as highlight and bring about humanity to the underrepresented voice and... show us WINNING.

That's why it’s important for me to tell this story, because at its core, “ALL IN” is about - a kid, unfortunately, dealt a losing hand in life, YET turns it into a win.

Tackling the theme of man vs. man, "ALL IN," is a 14:51 short, narrative, semi-action drama that addresses family trauma due to addiction, yet touches on resilience and hope.

Although the stakes of insurmountable debt and death prevail throughout the story, there’s also minor moments where characters display humanistic traits which provide occasional, moments of humor. A movie like “ALL IN” is raw, authentic and much needed in our culture, as the game of poker grows significantly within our diverse community.