Private Project

Short Term Rental

A young female guest, on a solo road trip, checks in for one night at an isolated Air BnB, only to find that she may be "rented" as well by the host, a lonely widow.

  • Dana Stevens
    Director
  • Dana Stevens
    Writer
    Film: Fatherhood, Blink, For Love of the Game, City of Angels, Safe Haven, Life or Something Like It
  • Sharon Graci
    Producer
    Shorts: Downturn by Rodney Lee Rogers, Lottery Ticket, The Boat by Fred Thompson, Founder and Producing Director PURE Theater Co.
  • Amy Robinson
    Producer
    After Hours, Running on Empty, White Palace, For Love of the Game, From Hell
  • Peggy Sheffield
    Key Cast
    "Donna"
    Waves, The Glorias, Recount, Walking Dead, Ozark, Homeland, Bloodline
  • Sailor LaRocque
    Key Cast
    "Mia"
    Queen of the South, Doom Patrol, Legacies
  • Project Type:
    Short
  • Runtime:
    10 minutes 8 seconds
  • Completion Date:
    August 6, 2021
  • Production Budget:
    35,000 USD
  • Country of Origin:
    United States
  • Country of Filming:
    United States
  • Language:
    English
  • Shooting Format:
    Ari Alexa Mini
  • Aspect Ratio:
    16:9
  • Film Color:
    Color
  • First-time Filmmaker:
    Yes
  • Student Project:
    No
Director Biography - Dana Stevens

Dana Stevens is a summa cum laude graduate of UCLA who has built a career in Hollywood writing features and television. She wrote the script for “Fatherhood,” starring Kevin Hart, now on Netflix. Her original script “The Woman King,” directed by Gina Prince-Bythewood and starring Viola Davis and Thuso Mbedu, is shooting now and scheduled for release in September 2022. She also adapted the acclaimed novel “The Nightingale” for Dakota and Elle Fanning to star, and is adapting “The Secrets We Kept,” a novel about pioneering CIA women, for British film company Ink Factory.

Dana’s previous screenwriting credits include “Safe Haven,” directed by Lasse Hallstrom, “City of Angels,” directed by Brad Silberling, “For Love of the Game,” directed by Sam Raimi, “Blink,” directed by Michael Apted, and “Life or Something Like It,” starring Angelina Jolie. "Short Term Rental" is her first film as a director.

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Director Statement

During this last 18 months, three themes have been particularly real for many of us; isolation, the loneliness of older people, and the fear of strangers. The lack of touch, the de-sexualization of older women in our society is something I've wanted to portray on film. During the pandemic, I saw my widowed mother sink even more into a life without touch or even human contact. In this film, the younger woman, going through a breakup, seeks isolation, but the older woman is curdling from it. AirBnB has made the words guest and host decidedly more creepy, as both put themselves in the hands of total strangers. The film brings to life those fears — Short Term Rental speaks to the uncertainty and untethered loneliness of our current moment.