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Landing Home

Landing Home, inspired by his Off-Broadway play The American Soldier, the series takes the audience into the mind of a combat soldier and pulls back the curtain on the lasting damage of war to the human psyche. It helps the viewer understand that returning home can represent only the beginning of a different kind of war for them and their families. Luke, an Army veteran who served in Afghanistan, decides to leave the military to be with his family, he soon realizes that this is much harder than he ever imagined. Something as simple as a birthday party for his five-year-old daughter can quickly become overwhelming and trigger his post-traumatic stress.

The cast and crew include more than 20 veterans and some of New York's most well-known actors from Ylfa Edelstein (The Knick), who plays the lead opposite Douglas Taurel as his wife, Carolyn. J.W Cortez (Gotham and a Marine Veteran), Robert C. Kirk (Ray Donovan), Denny Dale Bess (Red Redemption), Leo Farley (Army Veteran), Ed Heavey (Army Veteran), James Randolph (Marine Veteran), Mary Jo McConnell (Army Veteran), Jennean Farmer (Army Veteran), Carson Cockrell (Marine Veteran), Tony F. DeVito, Arash Mokhtar, James Padric, Natalie Roy, Belle Caplis, Jenna Krasowski, Sarah Allyn, Anna Clare Kerr, Dennis Gagomiros, Kaylin Lee Clinton, Stella Taurel, Austin Taurel, Catherine Martin, Whitney Andrews, Teren Carter, Laurie Ciavardini, Na'Jee Jones and Jesse S. Martin.

Cinematographer, Robert Cauble and Edited by Simon Wheeldon. Producers: Cyclops Production & Catherine Anderson Martin of Betron Productions.

  • Douglas Taurel
    Director
  • Douglas Taurel
    Writer
  • Cyclops Productions
    Producer
  • Douglas Taurel
    Producer
  • Douglas Taurel
    Key Cast
    "Luke"
    The Affair
  • Douglas Taurel
    Key Cast
    "Carolyn"
    The Knick
  • J.W. Cortez
    Key Cast
    "Veteran Shane Childers"
    Gotham
  • Robert C. Kirck
    Key Cast
    "Terry "
    Hoffa
  • Project Type:
    Feature, Television
  • Runtime:
    1 hour 13 minutes
  • Completion Date:
    July 31, 2019
  • Production Budget:
    100,000 USD
  • Country of Origin:
    United States
  • Country of Filming:
    United States
  • Shooting Format:
    Alexa Pro
  • Film Color:
    Color
  • First-time Filmmaker:
    Yes
  • Student Project:
    No
  • Douglas Taurel
Distribution Information
  • Douglas Taurel
    Country: United States
    Rights: All Rights
Director Biography - Douglas Taurel

Douglas Taurel has been nominated for an Innovative Theater Award as well as the United Kingdom's prestigious Amnesty International Award for this work with 'The American Soldier'. He’s appeared in numerous television shows including The Affair, Mr. Robot, The Americans, Blue Bloods, Person of Interest, The Following, Damages, NYC 22, Believe, and Nurse Jackie. 'The Los Angeles Times' said his work on Nurse Jackie, "Nurse Jackie get's her most fascinating character yet to date."  

In the indie world, he has appeared in numerous films, including The Cobbler (starring Adam Sandler and Dustin Hoffman), The Kindergarten Teacher (starring Maggie Gyllenhaal), Delivery at the HBO Films Festival and recently finished filming No Justice for the Wicked. He was also cast a recurring voice in the popular video game Red Redemption.  

He’s an active producer of film with projects accepted in the prestigious Atlanta Short Film festival, New York’s Big Apple Film Festival, and recently finished filming his TV Series Landing Home, which he wrote, directed, and produced.

He was commissioned by the Library of Congress to write, create and perform his second solo show, 'An American Soldier’s Journey Home' which commemorates the ending of the First World War and tells the story of Irving Greenwald, a soldier in the 308 Regiment and part of the Lost Battalion. He has performed the play twice at the Library of Congress.  

On stage he was performed in numerous Off-Broadway productions on some of New York’s most established theaters as well regionally; George in Of Mice and Men (Urban Stage) and 'The New York Times' said his work as George was"Douglas is an unbelievably fine actor". Other Off-Broadway plays include Hard Rain (Cherry Lane Theatre), An Enemy of the People (Barrow Group Theatre), The Hairy Ape (Columbia University), Othello (The Shakespeare Project), King Lear (Houston Shakespeare Festival). He also reversed both roles of Lee & Austin in True West (New York Irish Arts Center and Edinburgh Festival Fringe) and the Edinburgh Festival Fringe and Three Weeks Daily gave him 4 out of 5 stars for his performance and said his portrayal of Austin was “a moving and stunning work by an actor”.

Add Director Biography
Director Statement

I chose to create this Landing Home project because I wanted to share what veterans and military families go through when transitioning out of the military with a much larger audience. I have been performing my Off-Broadway play The Amerian Soldier for audience and veterans for the past seven years in over 28 cities and 14 states. The play's goal is to give veterans a voice and help society have a more accurate understanding of what combat soldiers and their families go through when they come home and try to adjust to normal life.

Through my play, The American Soldier, I've been honored to meet so many veterans and military families. But I'm limited in how many people I can share their stories with because the theatre medium limits me. Having the ability to share the project as a film and on so many different platforms allows me to reach a much larger audience.

I remember after a particular show in Red Hook, New York, a veteran of the Afghanistan war who has served six deployments came up to me to share his story. He told me how close he was to take his life and thanked me sincerely for doing the play. I thought then of how can I reach more veterans like him. How can I share his story with more people throughout the country? So I went ahead and wrote and produced Landin Home.

What has been so special is having veterans and military families from all over the country write me and tell me how much Landing Home means to them. And I'm incredibly proud of my team, and my team's work and that Landing Home has over 17 veterans both in cast and crew. And I could have never done it without the support of all the veterans and military families I've gotten to know and call my friend. They have inspired me to keep going and never stop sharing their message of sacrifice and commitment.

I hope that it continues to give veterans a voice and helps us understand their challenges when they come home and transition out of the military. I genuinely believe that we can never thank them and their families enough for their service.