My guest today is writer/director Virginia Root.
In 2024, she won the George R.R. Martin Screenwriting Competition with her sci-fi pilot Deserters, received a grant from the non-profit New Mexico Writers, and became a Stowe Story Lab fellow in the New Mexico New Voices program.
Virginia’s original pilot scripts, The Sisters Morrigan and Deserters, were second-round finalists at the Austin Film Festival in 2021 and 2023, respectively.
Virginia is a Telly Award-winning commercial director; the spot she wrote and directed for the New Mexico Summer Food Program was awarded a Silver Telly in 2025.
Her short film, DEAD WEIGHT, premieres at Dances with Films: this month in LA. And DEAD WEIGHT is our topic for discussion today and what a topic it is.
Ladies and gentlemen, Grace (ALEXANDRA RENZO), a solo female backpacker, unwittingly survives an apocalyptic event while in the wilderness. She resolves to live out the rest of her days in peace until she encounters Aaron (GRIFFIN NEWMAN), a fellow survivor with a very different take on the end of the world.
DEAD WEIGHT is one of those few films in which it places the audience in the shoes of the characters. Yes, you will be thinking from the start, “What Would I Do?” - And that’s a great question to ask yourself.
I hope the world doesn’t end with a nuclear blast or a plaque without a cure, but you should view DEAD WEIGHT with a positive mindset and even a bit of inspiration to toughen up. Learn how to stand on your own two feet.
I know I view film much differently than my fellow critics, but films bring different outlooks and messages for the audience to ponder and DEAD WEIGHT does that.
Virginia Root has brought us a bit of learning experience, but it also opens up more conversations about life and death, and what would you do to survive.
Be on the lookout for DEAD WEIGHT on the film festival circuit and make sure you are seated in the theater to watch this film. Believe me, it’ll leave a lasting impression on you, just as it did me.
#shortfilm #shortfilms #film #cinema #endoftheworld #apocalypse #survival #thriller #suspensethriller #cinematography #storytelling #filmmaking #filmmaker #filmdirector
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