The Paradise Road
Two women tie the knot and embark on a romantic excursion to a west coast sea-side town for a moment of happiness and seclusion before inevitably coming to terms with a life-altering decision.
Screenplay winner of 2021 Bushwick International Film Festival, third place for 2021 Cinequest Screenwriting Competition, Finalist in Los Angeles Screenplay Awards.
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Lisa Marie TedescoDirectorSpin, House of La Reine
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Lisa Marie TedescoWriterSpin, House of La Reine, August in the City
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Lisa Marie TedescoProducerSpin, House of La Reine, August in the City
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Aracely (Shelly) Rodriguez (Ro)ProducerWhite Ink, Carly
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Mandahla RoseKey Cast"Shae"All About E, Forever Not Maybe, August in the City, BIFL
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Shelly RoKey Cast"Ellie"White Ink, Carly
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Project Type:Short
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Genres:Drama, Romance, LGBTQ, Queer
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Runtime:25 minutes
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Completion Date:January 12, 2024
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Production Budget:45,000 USD
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Country of Origin:United States, United States
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Country of Filming:Mexico
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Language:English, Spanish
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Shooting Format:Digital
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Aspect Ratio:16:9
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Film Color:Color
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First-time Filmmaker:No
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Student Project:No
Lisa (She/They) is an award-winning filmmaker and founder of Cosmic Forge Films, operating in New Haven, CT, New York, NY and Los Angeles, CA.
With the company, and production team, they strive to create content that positively represents the LGBTIA+ community, both in front and behind the camera.
Their first film, August in the City, won critical acclaim on the festival circuit from 2017 through 2020, with a screening at the prestigious Festival de Cannes.
Now at the tail end of post-production for The Paradise Road, their fourth film, Tedesco has already won accolades in screenwriting competitions globally. They're excited to bring this amazing, yet heartbreaking story, to the big screen and festivals around the world for all to see.
Next up: A queer, horror, noir, romcom vampire feature and a three part feature saga all about Joan of Arc!
What started out as friendly challenge to myself, being able to write the saddest thing to date - for a friend's production company - has developed into a full-fledged passion project that has taken several years to develop, produce, edit and finish.
When I started this journey with The Paradise Road, I was asked by Shelly Ro (Ellie) to write something sad for her. Within just an evening, I had written the saddest story I have ever penned to date. We knew instantly we had something special.
The Paradise Road is a beautiful and truthful love story of how one life ends and how we, as humans, react to that loss. There's also that notion of conflicting beliefs that so many of us have, which makes this story even more human. What comes after death? Will we be reunited with loved ones? Are we strong enough to believe or does our soulmate bare that weight?
Beyond anything I wanted to show a love story and I think my team and I accomplished that ten fold.
I am VERY proud to have entered the screenplay into many established and esteemed competitions in 2021 and 2022 with placing third, overall, at Cinequest in the short script category for 2022 and winning the Jury Award for Best Script at the Bushwick International Film Festival in 2021. It's truly an honor to see this story flourish.