Private Project

Memory Lane - Director's Cut

When Nick returns home to find his fiance, Kayla, has committed suicide, the shell-shocked ex-soldier decides to take his own life. In the moments before he is resuscitated by friends, Nick experiences a series of vivid flashbacks that lead him to believe Kayla was actually murdered. Determined to discover the truth, Nick comes up with a daring plan to visit Kayla in the afterlife. The only problem is that, to do it, he'll need to kill himself again. And again. And again...

  • Shawn Holmes
    Director
  • Shawn Holmes
    Writer
  • H.K. Sathappan
    Writer
  • Project Type:
    Feature
  • Genres:
    Sci-Fi
  • Runtime:
    1 hour 11 minutes
  • Completion Date:
    June 14, 2022
  • Production Budget:
    300 USD
  • Country of Origin:
    United States
  • Country of Filming:
    United States
  • Language:
    English
  • Shooting Format:
    Digital
  • Aspect Ratio:
    16:9
  • Film Color:
    Color
  • First-time Filmmaker:
    Yes
  • Student Project:
    No
Director Biography - Shawn Holmes

Shawn Holmes is an award-winning, black, queer filmmaker who thrives in the edge-of-your-seat world of the thriller. He entertains and captivates, dragging riveted audiences through emotion-packed stories bursting with iconic imagery, break-neck pacing, and universal appeal.

Holmes’ first film was a stop-motion animation he made using Power Rangers action figures and his grandfather’s VHS camcorder when he was seven years old.

And he’s been telling stories by any means necessary ever since.

After dropping out of Loyola Marymount University’s School of Film and Television, Holmes returned home to West Virginia. Using his roommates as actors and the cheapest DSLR from Walmart, Holmes shot the thriller MEMORY LANE in his grandmother’s garage with a budget of less than $300.

Intended to be a proof of concept, Holmes’ released MEMORY LANE online for just 48 hours to show friends and family what he’d been working on. However, after receiving more than 23,000 views during that single weekend, Holmes was approached by a manager and licensed the film for worldwide distribution.

Armed with new allies and determined to tell universal stories on a larger scale, Holmes began writing his next projects. He optioned ROCKABYE, a post-apocalyptic coming-of-age thriller, to Ashton Kutcher’s Katalyst Films. His screenplay for the psychological thriller THE KNIFE SALESMAN was recognized as a finalist in the Screencraft Feature Screenwriting Competition.

Holmes’ films have toured the festival circuit with acceptances including Sci-Fi London, Razor Reel, and Mexico LGBTQ+ International Film Festival.

In 2021, Holmes became the artist-in-residence of the George A. Romero Filmmaking Program where he flaunted his range as a filmmaker. In a departure from his usual high-stakes thrills, Holmes shot the coming-of-age drama HOW TO TIE A TIE which was later awarded at multiple festivals including “Best Short” at the Silicon Valley Queer Film Festival in June 2022.

Though still early in his career, Holmes has been recognized as a finalist for the Warner Brothers Emerging Directors Workshop and the youngest nominee in history for the West Virginia Filmmaker of the Year Award. He has been twice awarded by the West Virginia Broadcasters Association for his work in television. His commercial work includes such clients as Paul Mitchell and The Leonardo DiCaprio Foundation.

Currently, Holmes is developing several original thriller projects spanning a range of genres and tones.

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