Private Project

Caregivers

An elderly man and his adult daughter struggle with the question of whether he belongs in a nursing home.

  • John Erle Mundle
    Director
  • John Erle Mundle
    Writer
  • John Erle Mundle
    Producer
  • Maggie Vaughan
    Key Cast
    "The Daughter"
  • Wally MacKinnon
    Key Cast
    "The Old Man"
  • Project Type:
    Short
  • Runtime:
    15 minutes 19 seconds
  • Completion Date:
    May 30, 2024
  • Production Budget:
    4,000 USD
  • Country of Origin:
    Canada
  • Country of Filming:
    Canada
  • Language:
    English
  • Shooting Format:
    Digital
  • Aspect Ratio:
    16:9
  • Film Color:
    Color
  • First-time Filmmaker:
    No
  • Student Project:
    No
  • Parrsboro Film Festival
    Parrsboro, NS
    Canada
    October 5, 2024
    World Premiere
    Official Selection
  • Silver Wave Film Festival
    Fredericton
    Canada
    November 8, 2024
    New Brunswick Premiere
    Best Actress - Maggie Vaughan
  • Canada Shorts Film Festival
    Vancouver
    Canada
    Award Of Merit
Director Biography - John Erle Mundle

John Erle Mundle was born and raised in small town Canada, where he made a short film through the New Brunswick Filmmakers Co-op in the early 90s before moving to Vancouver to attend film school and pursue a screenwriting career.

His feature screenplay, Teenage Wasteland, was a two-time winner of the Praxis Screenwriters' Fellowship, now known as the Whistler Screenwriters' Lab. The script was further developed with the help of mentors Dennis Foon (Little Criminals) and Alan Di Fiore (Da Vinci's Inquest). An American-ized TV Pilot version of Teenage Wasteland won the Scriptapalooza TV Writing Competition.

After pursuing a screenwriting career in his spare time for a decade, he put his writing on hold while running an internet radio station called Dynamic Range Radio which had 10,000 simultaneous listeners at its peak and received a seal of approval from Lou Reed shortly before his death.

John is now residing in rural New Brunswick while caring for his special needs sister and her seven cats. He has several feature-length and short scripts in various stages of development and is hoping to re-focus on his filmmaking career, if the cats will leave him alone long enough.

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Director Statement

In late 2022, after Covid had turned my life upside down, I decided to return home after nearly 30 years to help care for my elderly father and special needs sister.

I was struck right away by the symbiotic relationship they'd developed after so many years of living together. His limitations were physical and hers were mental, but they complemented each other well, and each was the other's unofficial caregiver.

I started writing this story as a tribute to my father who always put my sister's needs ahead of his own, even at the end when he clearly needed more help around the house than my sister and I could provide.

He's no longer with us, but I hope this film captures at least some of his spirit, his generosity, and his Dad jokes.