Director Statement

I had the initial idea for Sweet Chorus Dolores in 2017, the summer after I graduated from college. I was back at home, healing from the wounds of a toxic relationship, when “Sweet Chorus” came to me while listening to Kaleo, Cigarettes After Sex, and The Kills. I built a playlist, and then I had my characters. Originally, Johnny and Dolores were together, and Jackie was a detective character.

After years of working on drafts and trying to find a way to film it on a budget I could afford, I ended up in Boise, ID. I met some other great filmmakers who believed in me: Chance Owen, Joshua Malloy, Hailey and Dominic Boucher, Jade Jesser, Chris Bramon, Mallorie Lamb—the list goes on. They read Sweet Chorus and liked it, and we were off.

I first tried to raise money in October of ’22. I tried GoFundMe and came out with a little over $3,000. We were aiming to shoot at the end of October, but we pushed it to spring. Then in April, we had some hard discussions and pushed it again after an investor backed out on a few thousand dollars.

By June, we were off; a four-day shoot all over the Treasure Valley: across town in Caldwell, downtown Boise, Lucky Peak, then Idaho City.

We couldn’t have done it without Jennipher Dee, who offered her home to us for a robbery scene, and Cameron Lumsden, who owns the restaurant “The Fork” in downtown Boise. He gave us access to a bank vault underneath the restaurant that was about to begin construction, turning it into the now 8 Horses Lounge Bar.

Allie Morgan at Treefort Music Fest gave us access to the old Greyhound bus station that is now the Idaho Film Society. We filmed Harry’s office scenes and the big fight between Jackie and Dane here at the bus station. I’m pretty sure we did all of these scenes in one long day. Thank you to everyone who showed up to play bus station patrons.

Thank you to Wanda Palmer, whom I never met, but who gave us permission to film at the Ustick National Bank on Ustick Road in Boise. We didn’t have a location until the last minute, and Chris Bramon, who plays Johnny, hooked it up. Turns out his roommate, Corbin Palmer’s grandma Wanda owns the property. That was the film gods helping us out for sure.

Thank you to Combat Sport Supply, Justin Brown, and Chris Wishney, who not only provided the prop firearms we used on set but also helped produce the film. I should mention they bought a professional squib rig that we used for a scene in the film, but the scene was cut, unfortunately.

Thank you to Jim, the Airbnb owner who owned the cabin in Idaho City. He was incredible and a huge supporter of what we were doing.

I can’t forget the Cabani Inn. Thank you to the only motel downtown that let us set up shop for the night. They decided to have the parking lot redone the same day we were filming, so we couldn’t park the car in our shot at the motel. Also, the exterior lights turned off in the middle of a shot, and we had to reset and do the scene entirely from the curb. 3 a.m. on a Monday is busy, it turns out—the witching hour. We had many people yelling at us from the street, as well as overly friendly neighbors in the rooms around us.

Thank you to every single one of you who donated your hard-earned money to see this film made. I wish it hadn’t taken nearly three years to finish, but everything happens for a reason. Most of the reasons are audio-related. I didn’t meet our incredible composer and sound designer, Justin Marshall Elias, until 2024, and by then we had another film to make, A Hearse and a Hymn. After Hearse settled down, I took Sweet Chorus to him, and it’s been a true honor to work with him. He really made the film with his score and sound design.

Thank you to Tommy Gilstrap of Felt for giving us permission to use authentic music from the 70s in our film! I found this album years ago and fell in love with the psychedelic sounds. They were all 17-19 years old making music ahead of their time. I am so stoked to have their music in the film and Justin Elias mixed it in perfectly.

Same goes to Mark Dawson. Mark Dawson is the current lead singer of the Grass Roots and he generously gave me permission to use his cover version of “Live for Today” in our film. This song has been the so called theme song of this film long before I ever reached out. He makes incredible music and was so kind to let me use the song!

That brings me to the crew. Chance Owen was a driving force in making this happen. He not only produced it, AD’d it, and edited it, he also put money into the project to see it through. When he believes in you, he believes in you full force. The same goes for Hailey J. Boucher, who also invested her own money to bring the world to life. She produced the film along with Chance and me, and designed each set you see in the film. She’s a true artist.

Berkli Kell absolutely crushed the makeup, giving us iconic image after iconic image. She was fresh out of school for Makeup Design. She’s a genius at what she does, and she moved, and I miss having her on set. She’s also one of the funniest people I’ve ever met.

CJ Goodwin, who played the maid in an uncredited role, designed our wardrobe. We had just begun dating—only a few months into our relationship—and I threw her into the world of filmmaking. She’s been by my side, supporting me in every way possible ever since and I love her and never wanna make another film without her again.

Greg Er, my cinematographer, and Tim Wakefield, my gaffer, flew out from Los Angeles to help me make the film. I met Greg and Tim at UC Santa Cruz. Tim and I met first, bonding over our love of movies and moviemaking. Tim was there for me during one of the hardest times in my lif and you don’t forget something like that. He’s also probably read ten different versions of Sweet Chorus.  I met Greg in directing class—he was one of the only students I saw who had an idea of what he was doing. Once we met, we became friends pretty quickly. Bonding over heartbreak and movie making. They taught me more about making movies than film school ever taught me. They are both incredibly talented at what they do and deserve to be known.

Thank you to Zoe Jones, Morgan Kelly, Levi Gunderson, Joe Rodman, Isaac Nowick, Noah Riess, and the Riess family, who provided us the Doloresmobile, the blue Cadillac, and probably so much more that I have forgotten; Zack Mahar, Mia Miller, Tanner Goodwin, Lorraine Fisher, Jake Rapp, who loaned us a lot of film equipment, an area professional who believes in you goes a long way. We don’t take his opinion lightly. April Frame; Joy Moore; Braden Callis; Madison Casteel; Cheyenne Scruggs; Haven Harris; the focus-pulling machine Michael Vargas; John Bybee, the man of a thousand microphones; Phil Terry, the saint; Aidan Brezonick for his consultation and contributions to the Idaho film community.

Thank you to my cast. Mallorie Lamb was one of the first people I ever met here in Boise. She believed in me enough to shoot a short film in 12 hours in the middle of nowhere Oregon, in the mud and cold, along with Joey Ohls, who nearly froze to death, back in 2021. Her presence on screen is magnetic, and she brings an emotional weight to Dolores that can’t be matched. She’s a unique, wonderfully talented soul whom I am grateful to collaborate with.

Chris Bramon and I met working our day job, tending bar at a local brewery. When the owners mentioned another employee who worked with us was an actor. I was skeptical—until I met him. Quickly, I realized I freakin’ love this guy. Chris comes from a comedy background. He’s full of impressions, energy, and a nature that fills you with joy. I think Chris really disappears into his roles on screen, yet on set he’s laughing, lovable Chris until you say “Action,” then he locks in and snaps into character. He’s a sight to see and a man to watch.

Then there’s Mr. Joshua Malloy, whom I lived with for several years. One of the first believers in the script, it didn’t take long to realize Josh was our Jackie. He worked for months on his physique, eating an insane amount of protein and working out like an animal to gain muscle for Jackie. He’s huge. Like, damn. He truly disappeared into the role of Jackie, often not leaving character on set, living in the anger, jealousy, and rage that is Jackie. Except when Josh does it, he’s not a dickhead method actor like we often hear about. Josh just likes to fully disappear into the character, and it worked. Jackie is a complicated and often scary individual. I channeled my rage and my jealousy into this character when writing him, and Josh brought so much more nuance to the performance. 

Jade Jesser, who played Harry, we met through a self-tape on a previous film I had written. Jade has turned out to be the secret weapon. He’s the guy you need for vibes and support, and he’s the guy who can do anything. He can play any character and bring it every single time. I can’t help but cast him. I’ve been lucky enough to get to know him outside of set, and I know there’s no one else who would have my back like Jade would. He’ll help you bury a body, no questions asked, which also made him perfect for Harry.

Dominic Boucher, who played Dane, not only acted but did the stunt choreography for the fight scene, working through it with Josh on the day. We had to change our blocking the day of because of some circumstances out of our control, and Dom stepped up to the plate. He brought everything he could to Dane, and my only regret is we didn’t get to see him in more scenes. He’s an amazing performer, stuntman, actor, and friend. Lucky to have him on any set.

I usually don’t do this for my films, even though I should. I guess with Sweet Chorus, it’s just been such a long time coming. It was an incredible challenge in so many ways, and it was all worth it. I am very proud of this film and know that it has a place in the world.