Mariposa Movies LLC
It's the hottest Labor Day weekend in Delaware's history and Franny Levin, a restless teenage girl with a troubled family, is serving cranky customers at the 1979 Delmarva Chicken Festival. Franny has three wishes - to earn enough money for a car, have her mother's cancer go away, and kiss a boy before summer ends, but when that kiss comes with a betrayal and a lie, she begins a relentless and sometimes hilarious pursuit of the truth and a desperate attempt to bring her troubled family back together.
- Semifinalist, Nicholl Fellowship 2024
- The Grey List 2024
- Quarterfinalist, Writer's Lab 2023
- Second Rounder, Austin Film Festival 2023
- Finalist, CineStory 2021
- Currently Top 1% of Discoverable Scripts on Coverfly
Meet the Characters
Franny Levin (16)
An awkward and artsy teen, Franny has ambitions of being a writer and living a glamorous life in a city far from her hometown of Dover, Delaware. Current obsessions are to pass her driver’s test and have her first kiss before the end of the summer, but right now her dreams and everything else feel like they’re on hold as her mom’s cancer has overtaken everything, and she doesn’t know how to make it all okay.
Leila Levin (45)
A professional psychologist who was born and raised in New York City, Leila never imagined raising a family in a town as remote as Dover. She wants more for her daughters and has always tried to provide the opportunities and culture that she had as a child. As the cancer invades her body, Leila fights with everything she has, but she is growing tired and doesn’t know how much longer she can pretend that it’s all going to be all right.
Morrie Levin (44)
A perpetual dreamer, Morrie is convinced he can develop a way to run cars on hydrogen, though he spends his days selling clothes at his father’s downtown department store, a job he hates in a store that feels like a relic of the past. With a quick smile for everyone he sees, it’s hard to sense the darkness and fears that hide below Morrie’s happy exterior.
Jackie and Jeannie Levin (9)
Twins and partners in crime, these two are up for any adventure. Jeannie, the more practical twin, often calls the shots while Jackie, the wilder of the two, does everything she can to earn her nickname – Wacky Jackie.
Riley Denker (17)
Feeling trapped and frustrated, Riley wants more than his current life of working at his family’s McDonalds on a busy Delaware highway.
Chrissy McMillan (16)
Franny’s best friend. Fleshy with a quick and irresistible laugh, she loves boys, gossip, and trouble.
Meet the Creators
Randi Barros
Writer & Director
As the saying goes, you can take the girl out of Dover, Delaware, but you can’t take Dover, Delaware out of the girl. Growing up in a small town, Randi had the strange feeling of both being an insider and very much of an outsider and her screenplays reflect that, often focusing on misfits, rebels, and unexpected moments of beauty. Her feature screenplay, THE CHICKEN FESTIVAL, a Nicholl semifinalist, is in development. Her feature and television scripts have been honored by CineStory, The Writers Lab, Athena, Austin, The Grey List, Final Draft, and more. Randi is also an award-winning film editor. Recent editing projects include the feature documentary, HEAVEN STOOD STILL: THE INCARNATIONS OF WILLY DEVILLE, currently touring festivals and theaters worldwide and multi-award-winning films, LIVES WELL LIVED and TRUSTING CHLOE. Randi teaches Storytelling and Filmmaking at Cal Poly University, where she received the Learn by Doing Scholars Award in 2022. She attended the MFA Film Program at Columbia University School of the Arts and received her MFA in Screen and Television Writing from Stephens College.
Jennie Lew Tugend
Producer
Jennie Lew Tugend has produced some of the industry’s most memorable franchises: FREE WILLY 1, 2, 3, LETHAL WEAPON 1, 2, 3, and HBO’s TALES FROM THE CRYPT. Tugend’s producer credits also include RADIO FLYER, SCROOGED, LOCAL BOYS, STAR KID, RETURN TO ME, ONE MISSED CALL, Showtime’s MASTER OF HORROR, and she was instrumental in the development and production of THE GOONIES and THE LOST BOYS. In 2020, Tugend Executive Produced the independent feature film ALBATROSS, directed by Myles Yaksich, and is currently in development on the feature film adaptation of New York Times best-selling novel, HOTEL ON THE CORNER OF BITTER AND SWEET. Tugend is a member of the Producer’s branch of the Academy of Motion Pictures Arts & Sciences and the Producers Guild of America. She teaches a Producing course at UCLA Extension, is a Senior Creative Thesis Mentor at AFI, and an Advisor at Sundance’s Collab program.