Private Project

Those Who Walk Away

After Max and Avery meet on a social media app for a first date, they end up at a haunted house only to realize the trauma they share may either save them or erupt into an unforgettable nightmare.

  • Robert Rippberger
    Director
    Strive, 7 Days in Syria, Public Enemy Number One
  • Spencer Moleda
    Writer
  • Robert Rippberger
    Writer
    Strive, 7 Days in Syria, Public Enemy Number One
  • KT Kent
    Producer
    A Girl is a Gun, Alter Ego
  • Robert Rippberger
    Producer
    Strive, 7 Days in Syria, Public Enemy Number One
  • Booboo Stewart
    Key Cast
    "Max"
    Twilight Saga, X-Men, The White Frog
  • Scarlett Sperduto
    Key Cast
    "Avery"
    Strive
  • Grant Morningstar
    Key Cast
    "Phillip"
  • Bryson JonSteele
    Key Cast
    "Rudy"
    The Conjuring: The Devil Made Me Do It
  • Nils Allen Stewart
    Key Cast
    "Rotcreep"
    Space Cowboys
  • Diego Cordero
    Director of Photography
  • Todd Lundbohm
    Executive Producers
    The Collected
  • Mark Andrews
    Executive Producers
    Distant Shadow
  • Jeremy Walton
    Executive Producers
    Habit
  • David Lyons
    Executive Producers
    The Sadness of Sex
  • Jay Burnley
    Executive Producers
    The Widowmaker
  • Chelsea Tieu
    Executive Producers
  • Eric Eppinger
    Executive Producers
    A Night at the Office
  • Ge Gru
    Executive Producers
    Strive
  • Wes Hull
    Executive Producers
    Eufaula
  • Dave Lugo
    Executive Producers
    Welcome Home
  • Paula Fairfield
    Executive Producers
    Game of Thrones
  • Dmitrii Miachin
    Composer
  • Gabriel Cullen
    Editor
    Gotham
  • Project Type:
    Feature
  • Genres:
    Psychological Thriller, Horror, Social Impact Entertainment
  • Runtime:
    1 hour 34 minutes 26 seconds
  • Completion Date:
    November 6, 2020
  • Country of Origin:
    United States
  • Country of Filming:
    United States
  • Language:
    English
  • Shooting Format:
    RED
  • Aspect Ratio:
    2.39:1
  • Film Color:
    Color
  • First-time Filmmaker:
    No
  • Student Project:
    No
  • Digital Cinema Package:
    Unavailable
Director Biography - Robert Rippberger

Robert Rippberger is a filmmaker with a broad array of creative and executive experience. In 2019, Robert directed and produced the Harlem drama, 'Strive,' with Danny Glover released theatrically and through AMC's Urban Movie Channel. In the same year, he directed and produced the war on drugs documentary, 'Public Enemy Number One' from Executive Producer Ice-T.

In 2016, Robert directed/produced the documentary "7 Days in Syria," a look at the human side of the war in Aleppo. The film was championed by Angelina Jolie, screened at Britain’s House of Lords, to senior members of the U.N., and was released on Hulu and Amazon.

Robert went on to executive produce with Jason Blum the feature doc, "Alive & Kicking." The film was sold to Magnolia Films after its debut at the 2016 SXSW Film Festival where it received a Grand Jury nomination. The film is available on Netflix.

Robert is a member of the Producers Guild of America and is on the PGA's Social Impact Entertainment Task Force. In addition to being a producer/director at SIE Films and Artist's Film Group, Robert is also president of FinalMation Studios, an animation studio founded with Ice-T and others. He is currently producing the animated feature, The Inventor, by Ratatouille writer Jim Capobianco starring Daisy Ridley, Marion Cotillard, Stephen Fry, and others.

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Director Statement

Those Who Walk Away is a film loosely inspired by the Ursula Le Guin short story, The Ones Who Walk Away from Omelas, a moral predicament about living high while others suffer. What struck me most though about this story was how it looked at escapism—and particularly how it related to my own ways of escaping and coping.

When my co-writer, Spencer Moleda, and I set out to write the film, the story began abstract and like a puzzle. But the more we worked, the more personal it became until I was writing what I knew best — my very own nightmares.

The film is deeply personal and deeply fictional, and it is in that space that my safety and permission as an artist resides. We really went the distance and did not hold back, despite shooting the film in a series of continuous takes much like Hithcock’s Rope. While many would see this as sacrificing the tools of storytelling, it was really doubling down on connecting with audiences in the often more troubling moments left out between cuts in a traditional film.

As our lead in the film, Booboo Stewart, said following wrap of production: it felt as if we had gotten in a car accident. That’s how much went into it, and came out of us, for this film. It is our hope that the bearing of our souls illicits dreams both good and bad as we navigate our reality and understanding of self.

You are in for a roller-coaster ride. Strap in.

-Robert Rippberger