Luke and Alex are stuck. 

Luke has spent years chasing after his dream and has been successful at filling up his calendar with contract after contract. But now, faced with the first real dry spell of his career, he has no clue who he is if he’s not working, and no home to come back to. 

Alex stayed in their hometown and survives day to day, teaching art lessons to local children, and running paint and sip events for townies. But every time they step up to their own easel they are frozen with the fear that they have lost all inspiration and will never be a “real” artist. 

After years apart, growing complacent in different ways, they are finally reunited for one full day. As they catch up they can’t help but recreate a nostalgic home town day, visiting coffee shops, biking down back roads, and jumping into the river at night. But, all their attempts to beat the summer heat can’t stop their fears from melting through their calm, collected fronts. 

In the end they are back at the threshold and must make a choice. Continue down the roads they’ve already started paving or try to build something new together, a home base where they can finally feel Grounded.

Why Does It Matter?
For many of us we've been non-stop sprinting on uphill waiting to cross the finish line. Waiting for that perfect moment to breathe and look around and see what it was all for. But the treadmill never stops and the view around us isn’t at all what we thought it'd be. 

On the other hand, so many of us have been caught in the struggle that is surviving. Just getting lost in the never ending cycle of bills and work and making sure we can keep our head above the water. It's hard to allow ourselves respite to get back to making the art we love. 

Finding a balance of Survival, Enjoyment, and Fulfillment is exactly what Grounded is about.

In the end, we’re making Grounded to speak to the many artists out there that feel lost. Those who have defined themselves by what they can achieve. Those who have felt like they have nowhere to go because they haven’t had a “homebase” in years. Those who have felt so alone because they have made work their lives and lost touch with friends. Those who feel like they are ready to quit because they haven’t made something that a company deems as “worthy.” We want them to see that by opening up, being vulnerable with our community around us, we can rebuild and make life not only enjoyable, but satiating and fulfilling no matter if it’s a peak or valley in our careers. 

Your donation is Everything! 

Our budget goes directly to our crew, equipment, location costs, editing needs, and festival submission costs! 

One of the nonnegotiables that we had when dreaming up this project was committing to paying our crew and taking good care of them. Especially since this entire film will be shot on location up in Vermont, Massachusetts, and New Hampshire. That means your donation doesn’t just go to their pay, it goes into our travel up, the meals we provide our entire crew, and the places we stay while filming. 

Getting a foothold in the arts is hard. Many artists, actors, technicians, and makers, have studied for countless hours and have invested so much to get to the level of professionalism they are now. In a world that regularly asks them to do totally unpaid labor in exchange for exposure, we wanted to do our best to provide a working wage! 

Your donation also goes towards getting this film into festivals! We intend on submitting this short film to many festivals to get our amazing crews work in front of more artists that it may resonate with. In the end we make art for not only ourselves, but for those who need it. Your donation makes that goal possible!

We are all passionate about the art we make and can’t wait to share updates as filming begins this summer and show all the good your donations do in real time! Thank you so much for keeping the arts alive! 

I started writing again after coming back from a contract and being hit in the face with my own fear of stagnation while between artistic opportunities.

I found myself having endless conversations with friends about what we think qualifies as success in the arts, and comparing what we do in our “valleys” between work. At the same time I had my lovely family reminding me that while I may not live there all the time, I should find comfort in having somewhere to call Home instead of just worrying where I might be shipping off to next.

All of these ruminations on what creates a life worth living became the start of "Grounded”. I wanted to capture the feeling of a perfect summer day that is laced with the anxiety of not knowing what the future holds, and if we really want the life we have started to build for ourselves all the way back in high school. KatQuinones.com

(Director)

Peter is a generative director for stage and screen whose work confronts the messy complexities of human existence, ignites the imagination through a celebration of form, and activates an audience's collective encounter with a story. His latest short film, This Means Goodnight, premiered at Regal Union Square as part of Dances With Films, and he is currently in post-production on his debut feature, Everyone's Here. Peter is thrilled to be collaborating on Grounded, and hopes audiences will connect with its search for purpose and direction in life. For more information, visit petercharney.com

Kat Quinones (She/They)

(Producer | Alex)

Kat Quiñones (She/They) is a Puerto Rican Actor/Designer/Artist. They graduated from Hofstra University with BFA in Performance and Minor in Fine arts in 2020. Previous acting credits include The Goo (New Relic Theatre), Steps (Epheverie Theatre Co), Romeo and Juliet (938 Collective), and Virgin Voyages' Happenings Cast. Costume design includes The Goblin Woman (Reverie Arts Collective’), Cuckoo (PopUp! Productions), IphigeniaMachine (Mackenzie Krestul). @Kat.Quinones | KatQuinones.com

Hunter Lustberg (He/They)

(Luke | Lights)

Hunter Lustberg is a Brooklyn based actor, lighting designer and projection designer. He is a Bard College graduate and has studied at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art in London and at John Strasberg Studios in New York. He is the Technical Director of Pop Up! Productions, a theater company made by and for interdisciplinary artists, with members in New York, Chicago, and London. Recent design credits include The Big Bad (Healing TREE/Divine Riot, Abrons Arts Center), Alexandria (Pop Up! Productions, Dixon Place), The Yellow Wallpaper (Caitlin Morley, Bedlam), Cuckoo (Pop Up! Productions, Theaterlab) and The Seagull (Emily Ann Banks, Secret Theater). For examples of Previous Work please visit HunterLustberg.com

(Production Sound Mixer)

Carlton Bruce is a multidisciplinary artist hailing from South Florida. He graduated from the Pratt institute with a degree in film, premiering work at the prestigious BAM theater in New York, and lauded by the LDub film fest in Palm Beach.

Carlton is also a published writer in Mastication Press, and exhibited in various galleries throughout NYC with his paintings and sculptures where he currently resides. He also dabbles in music from time to time; movies, writing, paintings, sculptures, what can’t this guy do? He’s Amazing! WOW!

Maralyn Quinones-Stead (She/Her)

(Co-Producer)

Maralyn Quinones-Stead is a director, stage manager, and arts leader dedicated to building collaborative, inclusive spaces where artists can thrive. With a foundation in stage management and experience spanning both nonprofit and commercial theatre, she brings a deeply organized, people-centered approach to storytelling—balancing structure with heart in every room she leads. Passionate about uplifting Latiné voices, Maralyn is especially drawn to work that reflects the lived experiences of the current generation of artists, creating space for stories that feel immediate, honest, and culturally resonant.