Private Project

All Souls

A weary Episcopal Rector loses his faith… but refuses to give up his parish, his last few friends, or the only true calling he’s ever known.

  • Tijuana Ricks
    Director
    Tijuana Ricks is a graduate of the Yale School of Drama, where she was awarded both the Rebecca West Memorial Scholarship and the Herschel Williams Prize for Outstanding Ability in Acting. Ms. Ricks has performed in numerous film, television, and stage productions. She is also an accomplished voiceover artist with a 2013 Grammy nomination for her work as Michelle Obama in the First Lady’s audiobook, American Grown. Ms. Ricks made her directorial debut in 2016 with The Vampire Leland, an official selection of the New York Television Festival, St. Louis International Film Festival, SoHo International Film Festival, and SeriesFest. IndieWire singled The Vampire Leland as one of “8 great pilots that deserve a network home.”
  • Gwydion Suilebhan
    Writer
    Gwydion Suilebhan is an American playwright, screenwriter, and poet whose writing has been noted for its “dexterous theatricality and unexpected pleasure” (Washington Post). A member of the Dramatists Guild Council, Suilebhan is the author of several plays, including The Butcher, Reals, Abstract Nude, Let X, and Transmission (a Helen Hayes nominee), among others. His work has been commissioned, developed, and produced by Gulfshore Playhouse, Theater J, Ensemble Studio Theatre, the National New Play Network, and Theater Alliance, among others. Suilebhan is also the author of Anthem, a short film commissioned by Centerstage and directed by Hal Hartley, and one of the co-founders of The Welders, a DC-based playwrights collective.
  • Chiara Motley
    Producer
    Chiara is a New York-based producer and actress. She graduated from Stanford University and the National Theatre Conservatory MFA program in Denver. Favorite credits include Princess Diana in King Charles III, Annie in The Call, Anne Elliott in Persuasion, and Jane in The Butcher. Her voice can be heard on the Her Interactive series of Nancy Drew video games as tough tomboy George, who fights monkeys and helps solve mysteries. Chiara produced and starred in And, Apart, a short film about grief set in the Pacific Northwest. Chiara was also the producer of The Casualty Process’s first music video “Violet Machine.”
  • Gwydion Suilebhan
    Producer
    Gwydion Suilebhan is an American playwright, screenwriter, and poet whose writing has been noted for its “dexterous theatricality and unexpected pleasure” (Washington Post). A member of the Dramatists Guild Council, Suilebhan is the author of several plays, including The Butcher, Reals, Abstract Nude, Let X, and Transmission (a Helen Hayes nominee), among others. His work has been commissioned, developed, and produced by Gulfshore Playhouse, Theater J, Ensemble Studio Theatre, the National New Play Network, and Theater Alliance, among others. Suilebhan is also the author of Anthem, a short film commissioned by Centerstage and directed by Hal Hartley, and one of the co-founders of The Welders, a DC-based playwrights collective.
  • Tijuana Ricks
    Producer
    Tijuana Ricks is a graduate of the Yale School of Drama, where she was awarded both the Rebecca West Memorial Scholarship and the Herschel Williams Prize for Outstanding Ability in Acting. Ms. Ricks has performed in numerous film, television, and stage productions. She is also an accomplished voiceover artist with a 2013 Grammy nomination for her work as Michelle Obama in the First Lady’s audiobook, American Grown. Ms. Ricks made her directorial debut in 2016 with The Vampire Leland, an official selection of the New York Television Festival, St. Louis International Film Festival, SoHo International Film Festival, and SeriesFest. IndieWire singled The Vampire Leland as one of “8 great pilots that deserve a network home.”
  • Michael Potts
    Key Cast
    "Reverend Morgan Thomas"
    Michael Potts is an accomplished actor of stage and screen who recently appeared on Broadway with Denzel Washington in The Iceman Cometh and is currently appearing in The Prom. Potts is widely recognized for his role as the well-mannered yet feared assassin Brother Mouzone on HBO’s critically-acclaimed series The Wire and as “Detective Maynard Gilbough” in the Emmy Award-winning HBO drama True Detective. On stage, he is known for originating the role of Mafala Hatimbi in the Tony award-winning musical The Book of Mormon.
  • Chiara Motley
    Key Cast
    "Reverend Molly Dole "
    Chiara is a New York-based producer and actress. She graduated from Stanford University and the National Theatre Conservatory MFA program in Denver. Favorite credits include Princess Diana in King Charles III, Annie in The Call, Anne Elliott in Persuasion, and Jane in The Butcher. Her voice can be heard on the Her Interactive series of Nancy Drew video games as tough tomboy George, who fights monkeys and helps solve mysteries. Chiara produced and starred in And, Apart, a short film about grief set in the Pacific Northwest. Chiara was also the producer of The Casualty Process’s first music video “Violet Machine.”
  • Luis Moreno
    Key Cast
    "Marco Ricci"
    Moreno most recently appeared on NBC’s The Blacklist. He’s performed on stage in New York, most recently in Red Bull’s “The Government Inspector” and Caborca’s “Distant Star,” and around the country, most recently at Actor’s Theatre of Louisville and the 2018 Humana Festival.
  • Canon to the Ordinary
    Key Cast
    "Chris LaPanta"
    He has performed in several stage productions and appeared in numerous film and television productions including John Wick 2, FBI, The Blacklist, Power, Person of Interest, Fringe, The Following and all three flavors of the Law & Order franchise.
  • Brooke Gardner
    Key Cast
    "Sofia Ricci"
    Yahoodi in The Mad Dog Blues at The Hive, Zoe in She Wants It (A short film produced by Topic Studios), A supporting role in feature film Gap Year (Post-Production), and Edda in the original musical We Didn’t Have Time to be Scared at the 2011 Edinburgh Fringe Festival.
  • Liz Wisan
    Key Cast
    "Justine "
    Liz Wisan is an actress, writer and comedian from New York. She recently starred in the Off-Broadway production of Gloria!: A Life about the great Gloria Steinam and #Date Me: An OkCupid Experiment Improv Show.
  • Project Type:
    Short, Television, Web / New Media
  • Genres:
    Drama, Religion
  • Runtime:
    35 minutes 40 seconds
  • Completion Date:
    September 1, 2019
  • Production Budget:
    56,000 USD
  • Country of Origin:
    United States
  • Country of Filming:
    United States
  • Language:
    English
  • Shooting Format:
    Digital
  • Aspect Ratio:
    2.39:1
  • Film Color:
    Color
  • First-time Filmmaker:
    No
  • Student Project:
    No
  • Digital Cinema Package:
    Unavailable
Director Biography - Tijuana Ricks

Tijuana Ricks is a graduate of the Yale School of Drama where she was awarded both the Rebecca West Memorial Scholarship and the Herschel Williams Prize for Outstanding Ability in Acting. Ms. Ricks has performed in numerous film, television, and stage productions alongside some of the greats in the industry such as the late Philip Seymour Hoffman, Laura Linney, Viola Davis, Paul Giamatti, and Dustin Hoffman. She is also an accomplished voiceover artist with a 2013 Grammy nomination for spoken word for her work as Michelle Obama in the First Lady's audiobook, American Grown.

Ms. Ricks made her directorial debut in 2016 with a comedy pilot she also co-created and produced, The Vampire Leland - an official selection of the New York Television Festival, St. Louis International Film Festival, SoHo International Film Festival, and SeriesFest. IndieWire singled The Vampire Leland as one of "8 great pilots that deserve a network home" that has "professional gloss, plenty of fun plot threads to explore, and a wry tone that had us hooked."
As a producer, her short film Human Resources: Sick Days Aren’t A Game premiered at LA Comedy Fest and went on to be an official selection for SoHo International Film Festival, St. Louis Filmmakers Showcase, HollyShorts Film Festival, St. Louis International Film Festival, and the Atlanta Film Festival where she was named, "A Filmmaker to Watch."

In 2019, Tijuana was selected as one of 15 semi-finalists for the Shondaland! Women Directing Fellowship. She is currently in post-production for her latest project, Make America Bake Again, a dark comedy starring comediennes Molly Camp, Shannon O'Neill and Ashley Austin Morris. MABA is about a wacky mid-western woman trying to make it as a finalist for her favorite TV baking competition.

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Director Statement

As a director, I enjoy complex stories with universal themes. All Souls is the story of Reverend Morgan Thomas, a man who has dedicated his life to supporting the faith of others but can no longer contain the fact that he himself no longer believes in God. But this story isn't just about an atheist priest coming into the light. Morgan has lost his sense of self and his entire identity in the work he's committed his life to. Now in my 40s, I know a lot of people who can relate to that. The feeling that your responsibilities and choices in life have left you lonely. You look to the right and the left and see the friends you once had are far from reach. You look back and don't know how you got where you are and the path ahead is terrifying. It's not easy to start over when what you have is all you've ever known. In this series, we walk with Morgan as he struggles to keep his church and community as his faith in God wanes.

All Souls was shot entirely in Brooklyn, NY with a cast and crew as diverse as the borough. I'm extremely proud to say my cast, crew, and post-production team is 75% people of color and 80% women.