Private Project

So, Boom

The night before her teenage sister Marie heads to jail, Sweet Tea must deliver a crash course on “how to jail,” drawn from her own time locked up. What begins as a chaotic evening unravels into a focused lesson: a DIY tutorial on commissary cuisine, jail makeup hacks, and the unspoken rules of life inside. But beneath the humor is urgency, grief, and the aching need to protect someone you love from the system that failed you both.

Inspired by a real conversations between co-writer Tiny Cruz and a friend facing incarceration, "So, Boom" was developed in jail-based theater classes in New York City at facilities like Riker’s Island. Many of the lessons shared were learned by Tiny when she herself was incarcerated as a teen..

  • Abby Pierce
    Director
    "Eat Your Heart Out", "Go Ahead, Grab Time by the Throat"
  • Tiny Cruz
    Writer
  • Abby Pierce
    Writer
  • Hannah Welever
    Producer
    Brown Girls (Emmy nomination), The Bear, Y2K, Soiree
  • Tiny Cruz
    Key Cast
    "Sweet Tea"
  • Marisa Razo
    Key Cast
    "Marie"
  • Eliza Ramos
    Key Cast
    "Issa"
  • Jason Chiu
    Director of Photography
    Let's Start a Cult, The Year Between, Joe Pera Talks With You
  • Project Type:
    Short
  • Runtime:
    14 minutes 23 seconds
  • Completion Date:
    September 8, 2025
  • Production Budget:
    34,000 USD
  • Country of Origin:
    United States
  • Country of Filming:
    United States
  • Language:
    English
  • Shooting Format:
    Digital
  • Film Color:
    Color
  • First-time Filmmaker:
    No
  • Student Project:
    No
  • Digital Cinema Package:
    Unavailable
  • Tribeca Film Festival
    New York City
    United States
    June 6, 2026
    New York Premiere
  • San Quentin Film Festival
    San Quentin State Prison
    United States
    October 25, 2025
    World Premiere
    Best Narrative Short
Director Biography - Abby Pierce

Abby Pierce (Director, Co-Writer) is a filmmaker and performer from New York City whose work explores personal stories at the intersection of art and criminal justice reform. For the past eight years, she has taught improvisation and storytelling in New York and Chicago jails, using theater to empower and rehabilitate incarcerated individuals. Abby has directed multiple productions with incarcerated performers, including "Area 51: The Block" at Rikers Island and the U.S. premiere of "Hopelessly Devoted", a women’s prison drama performed at Chicago’s Piven Theatre and Cook County Jail.

Her debut short film, "Eat Your Heart Out", premiered at the Newport Beach Film Festival and won multiple awards, including "Best Comedy" at the New York International Short Film Festival. Her second short film, "Go Ahead, Grab Time by the Throat", was praised by RogerEbert.com as "one of my favorite short films that I've seen in the past few years."

As an actress, Abby is a graduate of The School at Steppenwolf and has appeared on stage and television, with recent credits in "The Bear" and "Chicago Fire".

Add Director Biography
Director Statement

The first draft of "So, Boom" was written in jail, on the back of an attendance sheet, while Tiny and I waited for improv class to begin. She was telling me about a phone call she’d had the night before with a friend who was turning herself in to the police the next morning. Tiny and I have been teaching improv theater together for the past five years to incarcerated youth at Rikers Island and other NYC jails. Our job is to carve out and offer them a safe space to play. Play has the power to be as disruptive as violence. Play changes the tone of a room. Play is a radical response. It is so much fun. It's good for you.

The truth of lived experience drives "So, Boom". Tiny drew inspiration from the years when she was incarcerated. Many of Sweet Tea’s “rules” in the film come from our students, who are currently incarcerated teenagers. Through improv exercises, they explored how they would help someone on their first day in jail. For example, the rule “Be Yourself” came from a theater class of young men at Rikers Island. They spoke about the importance of being authentic when you’re living in close quarters and sharing all your time with the same people every day.

This film is also an opportunity to show these young people the art they inspired. We plan to screen "So, Boom" for youth in our program to give them the chance to see their stories reflected on screen. Making this film was also a special opportunity for many of the cast and crew to tell a story that directly impacts their lives.