“Wherever You Are, I’m Here” is a New York University Senior Thesis short film proof of concept for a feature film. The short follows Connor Hill, a wrongfully convicted felon on death row who escapes prison to see his daughter and one-year-old grandson one final time. It is a contemporary look at the prison escape genre in the vein of “Shawshank Redemption”.
The script explores themes of desperation, family, and the consequences of one's choices. The tension builds throughout the script, keeping the audience on the edge of their seats. Ultimately, the story challenges viewers to question the boundaries between reality and the protagonist's perceptions, adding a layer of psychological depth to the narrative.
Dakota Ticheli was compelled to make this film because he is estranged from his biological father and wants to explore this complicated dynamic through his storytelling. “I wanted to tell a story about separation and what it means to live in a broken family. Furthermore, in high school, I took a Religion and Social Justice class where wrongfully convicted inmates came and shared their stories about surviving prison life and the brutality of solitary confinement. Fixing the unjust legal system that causes mass incarceration and divides families became important to me from that moment on. The system has many broken families and I want to tell a story so the audience can see this reality and hopefully start conversations around how to fix it."
Working in collaboration with the SEAT CENTER, a YouthBuild (an organization to empower young people to improve their lives) located in Schenectady, New York, Dakota will be working with eight to ten underprivileged students ranging in age from 18-24-year-olds to supply them with jobs as production assistants. The film will teach them the requisite skills needed to work in the professional world of film and television production.
Dakota Ticheli is a New York City-based writer-director. On commercial sets, Dakota has directed celebrity clientele such as Michael Strahan and Odell Beckham Jr. For music videos, he has directed rapper Bobby Shmurda in “On Something”, as well as Dogpark Band’s “Breaking in Brooklyn”. However, his passion is making narrative films, with three full-length screenplays under his belt and countless short films.