Mama Duck

A woman moves across the country to escape her overbearing family and chase her dream of creating an animated series. But after her brother becomes ill, each family member slowly follows her, suffocating her new life and derailing a promising relationship with her girlfriend.

Synopsis

Caeli McKee’s life has been dominated by her crazy family. Her brother, Jake, is a raging narcissist. Her father, Mason, is an insightful but detached psychologist. Her mother, Lily, is an alcoholic corporate litigator with a secret spiritual bent. Caeli has put her dreams on hold her whole life to keep her family together, but no more. After the final straw, Caeli gets in the car and runs across the country to Los Angeles.

A chance meeting reunites Caeli with Sabrina (Sab), her college sweetheart. Sab encourages Caeli to finally pursue her dream of creating an animated show based around a character she invented as a child: Mama Duck. Sab introduces Caeli to Ainsley, a Hollywood actress. Ainsley loves the idea and puts her weight behind it.

Everything’s going great for Caeli until Jake shows up on her doorstep and announces he has cancer. Caeli’s new life is thrown into chaos as she’s managing her new career and the ever-increasing presence of her family on the West Coast. Without Caeli as the natural buffer, Mason discovers he can’t stand Lily. So he takes up surfing and moves into Caeli’s apartment complex.

Lily soon follows, with her guru - Baba - in tow. Everyone rallies to support Jake in his time of need, and Caeli is expected to do what she’s always done: Be the glue that holds everything together.

Professionally, the show is taking off, but in the wrong direction. Caeli, who can’t stand up to her family, also can’t stand up to Ainsley and her own talent manager, Hugo. She allows them to make changes she knows aren’t right.

Personally, the McKee infestation in their lives drives a huge wedge between Caeli and Sab. They’re clearly in love, but Caeli has put Sab’s needs last far too many times. When she sees it starting to happen again, Sab pulls away. Caeli, increasingly desperate for something that makes her feel good, chases her, which fails spectacularly.

What Caeli needs is what so many of us do: To find a way to stand up for herself and balance her work, family, and love life.

Written and Directed by Jack Gorman & Shannon Walsh

Mama Duck is the first feature film from Jack Gorman and Shannon Walsh, a writing-directing team out of Los Angeles.

Currently, six of their scripts sit near the very top of the Coverfly rankings, and they’ve racked up dozens of awards and nominations together and separately as writers and filmmakers. Their latest short film, A Dinner, has been accepted to nearly 30 festivals and won almost 20 awards in just a few months. Jack and Shannon also have collaborated with Camrus Johnson on a script currently in development with Tribeca.

Jack Gorman

Before switching exclusively to narrative film, Jack worked primarily in the sports world as a scout and content creator. A video he produced won an Emmy, and his work has been shown at SXSW, in arenas for thousands, and on broadcasts such as the World Cup and Wimbledon. He’s directed six short films, and those films and other scripts he’s written have been nominated and/or won over 60 awards and played in more than 50 festivals.

Shannon Walsh

Shannon has acted professionally for nearly 15 years, working with the likes of Wes Craven, John Carney, and more. During that time, she’s also been a short-form content creator, writing articles and creating videos for multiple prestigious organizations. She’s one of only two people to place in UCLA’s screenwriting and TV writing contests in back-to- back years and has well over two dozen awards, nominations, and placements to her credit. Shannon was also a pre-Olympic gymnast before focusing on acting and filmmaking.

A Dinner

Mama Duck is a continuation of the story and themes of one of the principal characters from Jack Gorman and Shannon Walsh’s award-winning short film A Dinner.

A Dinner has been accepted to 30 festivals and competitions all over the world and has won 18 awards, including multiple Best Picture/Best Short Film wins.