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By Light Of Desert Night

When three best friends head into the desert on a bachelorette camping adventure, they have no idea that their darkest secrets are about to be revealed and thus set in motion a chaotic series of events that will change their lives forever.

  • David Stuart Snell
    Director
    InTransit
  • David Stuart Snell
    Writer
    InTransit
  • Ashley Pugh
    Producer
    Life After Flash, InTransit, Life After The Navigator, New Kids On The Blockchain, Best Of Both Worlds
  • John Rakoff
    Producer
    A Street Cat Named Bob
  • Lara Pictet
    Key Cast
    "April"
  • Meghan Carrasquillo
    Key Cast
    "Suzy"
  • Alexandra Bokova
    Key Cast
    "Beth"
  • Project Type:
    Feature
  • Genres:
    Drama, Thriller, suspense, road movie
  • Runtime:
    1 hour 36 minutes 20 seconds
  • Completion Date:
    September 16, 2019
  • Production Budget:
    150,000 USD
  • Country of Origin:
    United Kingdom
  • Country of Filming:
    United States
  • Language:
    English
  • Shooting Format:
    Digital 4K
  • Aspect Ratio:
    235-1
  • Film Color:
    Color
  • First-time Filmmaker:
    Yes
  • Student Project:
    No
Director Biography - David Stuart Snell

David spent his teen years exploring his love of photography by creating striking images photographing the London Skateboard and fashion scene. Also spending time at London Institute experimenting with super 8 and queuing incessantly for the darkroom.

This was followed by the traditional running jobs in Soho and then A.D. positions on a number of TV dramas and a period working in-house at BBC TV Centre on shows like Top of The Pops, Later With Jools and other primetime gems.

This led to a period of time working as a Production Manager on large scale global productions to equip himself with a thorough understanding of the production process, whilst directing a number of music videos to build his reel and ultimately make a move to directing full time. 

Since then David has worked all over the world on entertainment music formats, broadcast documentary, brand activations, TV commercials, live concerts and events.

However his real love has always been for narrative drama and his award-winning first short film 'Intransit' travelled the film festival circuit in 2017. By Light Of Desert Night is his debut feature film as writer / director.

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Director Statement

Back in 2015 when I began the first draft of this script great female characters were in even shorter supply than they are today. As a viewer I feel that I’ve seen the chaps do pretty much everything on screen, therefore I’m far more excited to create kick-ass female characters and see what mischief and mayhem I can get them into and out of.

By Light Of Desert Night is a perfect example of this, as narratives that reveal the darker side of human relationships have always fascinated me. None more so than the rich strands of love & hate, infatuation & loyalty, jealousy and admiration - those that inspire such ferocious conflict in our lives.
To create a rotten core between the 3 best friends in this story it was important to me to leave them metaphorically exposed to the elements and there are few places more suitable than a beautiful yet unforgiving desert canvas.

In this environment we can truly appreciate the effect that fear and solitude can have on an already troubled mind and the gradual reveal of a damaged individual is something particularly unnerving in cinema - from classic spaghetti westerns to the modern road trip.

Chronology is a wonderful companion and here, using day through night and back into dawn, it allows the character of April to really comprehend the sun setting on relationships previously enjoyed and to relish the dawn and the new path laid out ahead of her.
At the same time she may be the only one who truly finds her way out of the darkness and it’s for us as viewers to decide whether she remains the heroine of the story or an anti-hero of sorts.
Are each of them paying a price they deserve or are they unfortunate victims in events truly spun out of control?

The final fascination for me is in the characters themselves.
For various reasons they are the popular girls, the IT girls, the prom queens and exposing the cracks in their personas is fun - after all average joes probably don’t like them and enjoy taking a dark and sometimes smug look at them as they topple from their lofty heights.

Ultimately I see this as a road trip with Mean Girls, a journey featuring a calculated revenge, under the influence of either madness, mania or cold determination to survive, inspired by love & obsession in equal amounts… All amidst the backdrop of dark and forbidding rocks and sand.