Division Street series: Fish out of Water (pilot)

Young Dee resents having to stay with her cranky grandmother in the Lower East Side but soon begins having magical encounters in the rag tag neighborhood.

  • Traven Rice
    Director
    Side Effects, Tweet Me in New York, Antigone - a multimedia piece, Heads & Tails, Ferocious, The Night Tram
  • Traven Rice
    Writer
    Side Effects, Heads & Tails, Ferocious, The Night Tram
  • Jessica Vale
    Producer
    The Sounding, Wrong Man, Small Small Thing
  • Naledi Makel Murray
    Key Cast
    "Dee"
  • Jodi Carol Harrison
    Key Cast
    "Angela"
  • Amy Rutledge
    Key Cast
    "Zoe"
  • Jeffrey Farber
    Key Cast
    "Herman"
  • Kyle I. Kelley
    Key Crew
  • Project Type:
    Short, Television, Web / New Media
  • Genres:
    Fantasy, Family
  • Runtime:
    7 minutes
  • Completion Date:
    April 6, 2018
  • Country of Origin:
    United States
  • Country of Filming:
    United States
  • Language:
    English
  • Shooting Format:
    4K
  • Film Color:
    Color
  • First-time Filmmaker:
    No
  • Student Project:
    No
Director Biography - Traven Rice

Traven Rice is a New York City-based filmmaker with a background in theater. She is devoted to telling stories about the magical moments in our everyday lives. Rice has written and directed many film projects, including the award-winning short, Side Effects, about a young woman in a risky and mind-altering drug trial (starring Carla Quevedo - Show Me a Hero, The Secret in Their Eyes and Robert Beitzel - Turn, True Detective). Her first short film, The Night Tram, set on a midnight train to Prague hijacked by a gypsy band, was nominated for a Student Academy Award. Rice studied at the FAMU Film Institute in Prague, Czech Republic and at the Vancouver Film School in Vancouver, B.C. She proudly serves as Co-Leader for the film collective, FilmShop and is on the Board of Directors of the L.E.S. Film Festival. Rice is the co-founder of Lo-Down Productions.

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Director Statement

This series of short episodes reflect the importance of imagination in dealing with life’s challenges. The story incorporates the wonders of encountering new places and people from different backgrounds, while struggling to feel safe in a new environment.
Living and working in the L.E.S. as a local journalist and filmmaker, I’ve been deeply embedded in this unique community for the last eight years. Its diverse immigrant, working class history and current gentrification cycle results in a fascinating culture clash on every street corner. I’ve witnessed, first hand, how rubbing elbows with so many different characters creates a unique community -- and can save a soul. Coming from a broken family myself, this is my love letter, and a celebration of sorts, to the humanity found on the streets of the Lower East Side.
As “rag-tag” and gritty as the neighborhood is, I’ve stood on most of the street corners, and met so many of the residents, that I’ve come to recognize it as a magical place.
I also remember how hard is was when my parents got divorced and what it’s like to feel like an outcast. I was only able to survive their rocky separation, divorce and multiple new homes by relying on the support of a community of friends, neighbors and distant relatives who helped raise me.
Fantasy books, film and TV were my escape and influenced my imagination enough for me to believe I could tell my own magical stories, beginning at a young age. With "Division Street," I intend to show the benefits that a diverse community can bring to shaping a young girl’s personhood, while honoring the cultural history that is just under the surface. Through magical realism, I will show how facing our fear of the “other” and embracing our differences can make us all stronger.
The show is firmly planted in present day reality, but includes the magical realism that Dee encounters in her imagination. Each episode includes the emotional challenges that both Dee and her grandmother, Angela are facing, and ends with a magical element from the neighborhood that Dee encounters for support.
Magical elements include puppets, stop motion animation, cgi, time lapse, live action animation, choreographed street dancing, skater films and more. I will incorporate and highlight as many local artists and collaborators from the neighborhood as possible.