[In development, seeking producing partners]

Alternate Title: Welcome to the Neighborhood

Contact for Pitch Deck and Screenplay (114 pages)

Written by Eliot Galán

Logline: A troubled teen is abandoned by his mother and sent to live with his estranged father in a small Texas town, where facing his inner demons will become a matter of life and death.

Awards: Winner of Best Feature Screenplay at Light Reel Film Festival, Nashville Independent Filmmakers Festival, and Atlanta Movie Awards, 2024. Runner-up Best Feature Screenplay at Los Angeles IFS Film Festival. Placements at Flickers’ Rhode Island, Film Invasion LA, Santa Barbara International Screenplay Contest, Dallas International Film Festival, Las Vegas International Film & Screenplay Festival, Austin Spotlight Film Festival, Festival of Cinema NYC, LightReel Film Festival, Beverly Hills Film Festival, ISC Screenplay Competition, Paris Screenplay Awards, Denver Movie Awards, and Cineverse Hong Kong International Screenplay Contest.

Genre: Drama/Dramedy

Comps: Dìdi meets Go meets Dark

Synopsis: Solomon (Sol) lives in Austin, Texas with his mother Alicia, who is about to turn their lives upside down. Facing eviction and out of options, she sends Sol to live with his estranged father in a rough neighborhood on the edge of town.

It’s the mid-90s, and Cuernavaca is a little known suburb, affectionately called “the hood” by locals, for its unusually high crime rate. There, in a rundown trailer park, Sol finds love, a new group of friends, and a second chance with his father. But not everyone welcomes his presence.

Rick, the self-proclaimed ring leader, feels threatened, and does his best to assert dominance over Sol. Amidst the backdrop of an unforgiving summer heat wave, their feud comes to a boil, with a vicious chain of events leading to kidnapping and homicide. The hood will never be the same.

Writer Statement: Cuernavaca is a story of personal growth from disillusionment to survival, and while this is a period piece set in the ‘90s, the themes explored could not be more relevant today. Questions around class, race, gender and masculinity are now firmly implanted in the zeitgeist, and though advances have been made, we face increased scrutiny and pushback from established systems of oppression and their purveyors. This heartfelt story of personal growth will advance our aims of progress by inspiring individuals, and encouraging dialogue amongst communities, with any luck, impacting society and the next generation.