Hi Friends!
Most of my work lives in the world of science fiction and fantasy, but every so often, a project comes along that pulls you somewhere unexpected, out of nowhere. Sol Rise is one of those moments. It’s not a genre shift—it’s a creative detour that found me in a very organic way, and it felt worth sharing that journey with you. Because as for me, I’m still a bit surprised that this happened. Grateful… and surprised.
I’ve shared before that I’m a member of Stage 32—an online platform where creatives and entertainment professionals connect, collaborate, and develop projects. This all started with a single comment there… and led to a short film called Sol Rise, now in development.
A few months ago, director/producer Sebastian Tudores of Dacian Wolf Productions reached out after actress Juliana Philippi shared her performance background with him—opening the door to an unexpected creative conversation.
The First Conversation
When the three of us spoke, it was one of those rare creative moments where you meet someone and it feels like you’ve known them already. Juliana spoke about her deep love of dance—especially tango—and her dream of expressing it on film. Sebastian shared his developing ideas and his passion for collaboration.
Still, I questioned what I was doing there. I’m a science fiction and fantasy writer. This isn’t my lane.
Then Sebastian said, “We need to make something together.”
My internal response: They need to find someone else.
They openly declared that they wanted me to write it.
I froze.
Sebastian added, “We can either adapt Leonardo’s Homeless or create something new.”
They left the decision to me.
My short film script Homeless was ready. It had already won awards. But I’ve always found joy in helping bring other people’s visions to life. Even so, imposter syndrome hit hard. Eventually, it gave way to something unexpected: peace—and curiosity.
I chose the dance film.
Finding the Heart
In the days that followed, I asked myself what this story really needed to be about. What do creatives sacrifice? What pulls us away from our dreams—duty, obligation, family?
In one of our conversations, Juliana spoke about the pull of family. I thought of my father, who passed away from Alzheimer’s. That became the emotional core of the story.
I sent them the script and immediately reached for Pepto. Imposter syndrome doesn’t play fair. But as feedback came in, fear slowly turned into confirmation.
And just like that, Sol Rise was born.
Sol Rise is a character-driven short film that explores the tension between artistic passion and familial responsibility, told through the emotional language of dance—grounded in themes of love, loss, and memory.
My only request? A cameo. I’ve always loved Stan Lee-style appearances, so I’ll be showing up as Ray the Fruit Vendor —a small tribute to my father, whose nickname was Ray.
The Collaboration
Working with Sebastian and Juliana has been both a joy and a stretch in the best way—combining Juliana’s soulful, grounded presence and Sebastian’s thoughtful depth and generosity into a partnership built on trust, while also pushing me to deepen my character study work.
To make it even more special, my daughter Mackenzy—an actress— auditioned and was was cast as Alma, the sister of Juliana’s character Soledad. I’ve loved every part of this process.
Sol Rise is now in development and headed for the festival circuit—both domestic and international—with plans to expand into a feature. I thoroughly enjoyed the character work I did with Sebastian, and we’ve already begun discussions on future collaborations.
This is just the beginning.
More to come.
Chat soon!
~L
If you’d like to follow the production of Sol Rise and hear directly from the cast, crew, and creators behind the film, subscribe to our Substack here: https://solrisefilm.substack.com/
