On Turning 16

A couple comes to terms with their special needs child turning 16 and milestones not being what they expected.

  • Alex Rudegeair
    Director
    Dirt
  • Sugey Cruz
    Writer
  • Alex Rudegeair
    Producer
    Dirt
  • Sugey Cruz
    Producer
    Dirt, The United States of Autism
  • Jeremy Good
    Producer
    Dirt, Big Gold Brick
  • Dylan Stern-Courney
    Producer
    Dirt
  • Alex Rudegeair
    Key Cast
    "Dad"
    Dirt, Secret Within the Sphere, Osiris
  • Sugey Cruz
    Key Cast
    "Mom"
    Dirt, Secret Within the Sphere, Loose Ends, Meridian
  • Dylan Stern-Courney
    Cinematography
    Dirt
  • Richard Everts
    Editor
    United States of Autism
  • Daniel Orama
    Musical Score
  • Project Type:
    Short
  • Genres:
    Drama, Indie
  • Runtime:
    11 minutes 59 seconds
  • Completion Date:
    December 31, 2019
  • Production Budget:
    2,500 USD
  • Country of Origin:
    United States
  • Country of Filming:
    United States
  • Language:
    English
  • Shooting Format:
    NTSC 23.976, 4K
  • Film Color:
    Color
  • First-time Filmmaker:
    Yes
  • Student Project:
    No
  • Oniros Film Awards
    Saint Vincent
    Italy
    February 8, 2020
    Best Drama, Grand Jury Award Best Acting Duo, Honorable Mention Best Indie Short, Finalists Best Actor and Best Actress
  • Best Actor Award
    New York
    United States
    March 5, 2020
    Platinum Award Best Acting Duo, Gold Awards for Best Actor and Best Actress
  • Five Continents International Film Festival
    Puerto la Cruz
    Venezuela, Bolivarian Republic of
    May 3, 2020
    Best Drama Short, Best Team Performance, Mentions for Actor, Actress, score and screenplay
  • London International Monthly Film Festival
    London
    United Kingdom
    March 5, 2021
    Best Editing, Richard Everts
  • Hatay Independent Film Festival
    Hatay
    Turkey
    September 2, 2020
    Best Editing (Richard Everts); Honorable Mention, Best Actress (Sugey Cruz)
  • New York International Film Awards
    New York
    United States
    October 6, 2020
    Best Drama, Best Acting Duo (Alex Rudegeair and Sugey Cruz), Best Producer (Sugey Cruz)
  • Eurasia International Monthly Film Festival
    Moscow
    Russian Federation
    February 25, 2020
    Best Short Film under 15 minutes
  • Veritas Film Festival
    Grove City
    United States
    April 24, 2020
    Excellence Award (Made in PA)
  • New York Movie Awards
    New York
    United States
    April 2, 2020
    Finalists for Best Drama Short, Best Actress, Best Actor, Best Original Score and Best Cinematography
  • Kosice International Film Festival
    Kosice
    Slovakia
    May 11, 2020
    Finalist
  • Independent Shorts Awards
    Los Angeles
    United States
    April 12, 2020
    Finalist Drama Short, Acting Duo, First Time Director and Original Story
  • Prague International Monthly Film Festival
    Prague
    Czech Republic
    April 23, 2020
    Finalist
  • Jellyfest 6
    Los Angeles
    United States
    January 15, 2021
    Finalist
  • Best Female Actress Award
    London
    United Kingdom
    January 23, 2021
    Finalist Best Actress in a short Sugey Cruz
  • Best Male Actor Award
    London
    United Kingdom
    January 23, 2021
    Finalist, Best Actor Short Film (Alex Rudegeair)
  • Rotterdam Independent Film Festival
    Rotterdam
    Netherlands
    May 5, 2021
    Best Actor
  • Best Director Award
    London
    United Kingdom
    August 24, 2020
    Semi-Finalist
  • Madras Independent Film Festival
    Madras
    India
    March 15, 2021
    Finalist
  • Vesuvius International Film Festival

    Officially Selected
  • Indie Short Fest
    Los Angeles
    United States
    April 4, 2020
    Official Selection
  • Gold Movie Awards
    London
    United Kingdom
    May 15, 2020
    Officially Selected
  • New York Lift-Off Festival
    New York
    United States
    July 1, 2020
    Official Selection
  • Lancaster International Short Film Festival
    Lancaster
    United States
    July 24, 2020
    Official Selection
  • Montreal International Indie Short Film Awards
    Montreal
    Canada
    Official Selection
  • 2021 Erie International Film Festival
    Erie
    United States
    November 28, 2020
    Official Selection
Director Biography - Alex Rudegeair

Alex Rudegeair and Sugey Cruz are two of the partners affiliated with Broken Tile Productions, based in Lancaster PA. The team collaborates on various projects in different genres. Sugey wrote the project, produced and starred in it and Alex directed, produced and starred in it. Their third partner, Jeremy Good, helped produce the project.

Sugey is originally from NYC, where she grew up with her family that emigrated from the Dominican Republic. She is also the co-founder and President of a non-profit for Autism and Related Conditions, The Tommy Foundation, and the Co-Founder of an artificial technology company aimed at helping individuals with Autism and Alzheimers with daily living and wandering prevention.

Alex Rudegeair can best be described as a modern "renaissance man". He is an actor, artist, athlete and an award winning entrepreneur from Lancaster, PA. Alex has been developing his skills since a very early age and is continually blending the lines between art and entertainment. Whether it being in craft or performance, Alex is always creating; always taking the path less traveled. Alex also wrote and directed another Broken Tile Productions film that is currently in the film circuit and has been well received called "Dirt".

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Director Statement

We are excited to bring you this project--inspired from Sugey's real life experiences both personally and with the families she worked with via her non-profit work--concerning individuals that grow up with learning differences and the impact that has on the family. The couple in the film try to address their fears as this big milestone approaches and what it means to each of them. In the end, we hope that the audience is moved to have a more honest conversation about special needs parenting and their goals and dreams.

Because of our commitment to having as much realism as possible in our films, many of the actors involved in this project have a diagnosis of Autism or ADHD or personally care for someone that does and can thus relate in a real way to the topic at hand.