Private Project

The Land Remembers

In the late 1950's as part of Urban Renewal, Philadelphia displaced over 8,000 residents from Eastwick aka The Meadows. The area was one of Philly’s only harmoniously integrated neighborhoods at a time when many racist housing policies were legal. In The Land Remembers, Nick (aka Nickel, aka Abe aka Abraham) reminisces about his last days living there.

  • Melody Tash
    Director
    Hallow Gate, Soul Catcher
  • Adrienne Mackey
    Director
  • Jacob Winterstein
    Writer
  • Melody Tash
    Producer
  • Adrienne Mackey
    Producer
  • Dylan Robinson
    Key Cast
  • Project Type:
    Experimental, Short
  • Runtime:
    11 minutes
  • Completion Date:
    January 5, 2022
  • Country of Origin:
    United States
  • Country of Filming:
    United States
  • Shooting Format:
    Digital
  • Aspect Ratio:
    16:9
  • Film Color:
    Color
  • First-time Filmmaker:
    No
  • Student Project:
    No
Director Biography - Melody Tash, Adrienne Mackey

Melody Tash has been working professionally in film and television in a variety of capacities– from directing, producing, writing, art directing, acting, editing, filming and teaching. Melody is the founder of Cinema Quilt, a full-service production company that works with clients from concept through final film.

Melody’s cinematography has appeared on ABC, CBS, NBC, TLC, Nick, CSPAN, and Billboard.com among other places.
Melody's first narrative film, "Hallow Gate," was picked up for steaming distribution by Seed&Spark. Melody has collaborated with Swim Pony on video projects since 2010.

Adrienne Mackey is a multidisciplinary artist who explores the potential of performance and play. With her company, Swim Pony, she’s created works including SURVIVE! - a 22,000 sq-ft interactive science installation;The Ballad of Joe Hill at Eastern State Penitentiary; War of the Worlds, with Drexel's Entrepreneurial Game Studio; and The End – a month-long mixed reality game exploring fears about mortality. She’s the originator of Cross Pollination, a residency program in which 32 artists took part in documented interdisciplinary collaborations and also writes for Swim Pony’s blog, boasting 50,000 views. She’s now developing Water Logged!, a wildlife card game with the Alliance for Watershed Education, and an ecological table-top role-play for Fairmount Waterworks. Mackey holds an MFA in game/theater from Goddard, has received an Independence Fellowship and two Knight Arts Challenges. She is also a classically trained soprano, former chemistry major, and teaches acting, directing and devising for University of Washington’s School of Drama.

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Director Statement

TrailOff began as a wild idea in the mind of lead artist Adrienne Mackey back in 2017 to bring technology, storytelling and nature together in a single place. Using her background in game design and immersive theater, she dreamt of creating an experience where audiences feel like characters in a story happening all around them. Through her company, Swim Pony, Mackey partnered with the PA Environmental Council (PEC) to bring interactive stories to the region’s trail systems using responsive technology and design. An incredible team of writers, actors and musicians spent two years with Mackey and sound designer/composer Michael Kiley creating the audio-dramas you hear in TrailOff.

In 2019, Melody Tash joined the project to make a trailer for the app. In 2020, Mackey and Tash decided to craft a short film for each of the 10 trails, and for the next two years they visited each trail and filmed an abridged version of each story. The film before you today, is the story from one of those 10 trails.