In 1997, during their routine laundry night, best buds Kyle and Eric fall under a truth-telling spell that jeopardizes their dreams of starting a business together.

Dirty Laundry, 12 Stars Media’s first narrative feature film, had an unlikely genesis. In April of 2023, while the crew was in San Francisco working on a client project, over $20,000 worth of equipment was stolen from their car in a smash and grab theft. Director Rocky Walls needed a distraction from the chaos, so he began to write, hardly expecting the result to be the script for a 70-minute, coming-of-age film set in the 90s.

“I didn’t start writing with the intention to have anything to show for it later, but something took hold of me and I just couldn’t stop,” Rocky says. “I wrote for a week straight, the whole time still in a mild shock from the experience in San Francisco, and came out on the other side with a screenplay for a fictional narrative film.”

Script to Screen

It’s one thing to write a script, but it’s something else entirely to get it off of the page and onto the big screen. The 12 Stars Media team, while known for their award-winning documentary work, wasn’t afraid to branch out into the world of narrative filmmaking. Director of Photography Grant Michael worked with Rocky to create a consistent visual style for Dirty Laundry that immerses the audience in the story. As Grant explains, much of that work takes place in the pre-production stage, which includes planning equipment, creating shot lists, and more. “I also explored using lighting diagrams and pre-visualization discussions to ensure that our visuals aligned with the script’s pacing and tone,” he says. “This preparation allowed the team to hit the ground running and made our filming process much smoother.”

Since Dirty Laundry is set in 1997, Rocky and the team were deliberate about bringing the 90s aesthetic into every aspect of the film. “We used vintage lenses to give a subtly older feeling to the footage,” Grant says. “We also worked with a color palette inspired by 90s films, emphasizing warm tones and slightly desaturated colors.” From costumes, props, and artwork to the technical decisions made during the editing process, every component of the film was intentionally crafted to enhance the 90s feel.

Trying Something New

Creating a narrative film gave the 12 Stars team more freedom than their typical structured documentary work. While this allowed them total control of the outcome, it generated even more decisions that needed to be made. “The biggest challenge was navigating the near-complete creative freedom that narrative filmmaking offers,” says Grant. “Unlike the constraints of journalistic documentary work, where the creative box is much smaller, every choice in Dirty Laundry felt like a blank page. This freedom required a new level of intentionality in decision-making, from framing shots to lighting choices, ensuring each element served the story effectively.”

Amidst the vast differences between narrative and documentary work, some surprising similarities arose, too. "Two years ago, before making a narrative film, I would’ve said the hardest part would be directing actors in a fictional story," Rocky explains. "I naively assumed working with people 'pretending' required different skills I didn’t have. But to my surprise, directing the cast felt similar to working with documentary subjects, using skills like empathy, deep listening, and thoughtful questioning. The cast, as it turns out, are still human even when they are acting! And the things I love most about working with people still applied. It was actually a blast!" It also helped that Rocky studied like a college student the night before final exams, except he had a whole summer. Reflecting on the value of his research, Rocky's shared a list of the most valuable resources he found leading up to production:

• Making Movies, by Sidney Lumet

• On Directing Film, by David Mamet

• Directing Actors, by Judith Weston

• Scripnotes Podcast with John August and Craig Mazin

• Creative Processing Podcast with Joseph Gordon-Levitt

In addition to taking on a project in a new genre, 12 Stars continued to work on their usual documentary and client projects during the production of Dirty Laundry. “Running a business doesn’t stop because you’re working on a film,” says Executive Producer Zach Downs. “All of post-production for the film was done alongside other work.”

Bringing the Story to Life

The Dirty Laundry cast is headlined by Charlie Schultz (as Eric Hernandez) and Mitchell Wray (as Kyle Miller), two students at the Savannah College of Art and Design who grew up in Indiana. Charlie and Mitchell, who are friends in real life, play best friends who spend their nights at a laundromat planning to start their own photo backdrop business, PropPop. Tensions between Kyle, the enthusiastic dreamer, and Eric, who is concerned about defying his parents’ expectations, come to a head when a stranger’s magic trick makes it impossible for them to lie.

Although Dirty Laundry includes many lighthearted moments of hilarity and magic, Editor Glenn Johnson believes it will communicate deeper themes to its audience. “I hope it reminds people of the value of true honesty in friendship,” he says. “It’s a rare thing to trust a friend and be fully trusted, and I think seeing that on display in this film can inspire people to seek that out and initiate that within their own lives and relationships.”

Dirty Laundry  will have its World Premiere at Heartland International Film Festival on October 13th, 2024.

Learn more about Dirty Laundry here and follow along on Instagram @dirtylaundry.2024.