Synopsis
In this lyrical tale told without dialogue, we explore the life of Jillian and Liam, a married couple in a funk. It's most evident in the passionless PECK exchanged each and every morning. This PECK is silent testimony of a marriage that needs fixing.
When Jillian takes an excursion to Venice beach, the place they first met, she encounters a rascally child who engages her playful side then leads her to a African drum circle that takes her emotions hostage, and expose the root of her problem. In the end she faces the real ‘demons’ holding her heart hostage.
Watch the Trailer
The Peck Situation Soundtrack
by Jongnic Bontemps
The Cast
MEHRNAZ MOHAMMADI
Jillian
Los Angeles based Actress born and raised in Iran. She graduated from USC’s Master’s in Fine Arts Acting Program in 2017 and has been very busy performing in commercials, films and theatre. She’s performed in SCORCHED, ANGELS IN AMERICAN ANTIGONE X, and recently, SUPPLIANT WOMAN at The Getty Villa in Malibu. Mehrnaz is also a writer and director with numerous multi-media projects under her belt. She’s deeply grateful to be part of The Peck Situation and looks forward to acting in more films and television. Generate Managment, Laura Gibson, (424) 645- 6111, lgibson@generatela.com or mehrnazmoh@gmail.com
Pritesh Shah
jillian’s husband
Actor and Comedian who’s appeared in dozens of hit television shows, including GRIMM, CRIMINAL MINDS: BEYOND BORDERS, and GAME OF SILENCE. He’s a recurring character on the Emmy nominated SIX on the History Channel, and has appeared in the feature films, TIE THE KNOT with Tara Reid, WIZARDREAM with Ernie Hudson, and ALL IN TIME with Vanessa Ray. In 2017 Pritesh
Shah co-starred in THE BLACK GHIANDOLA along side
JK Simmons and Johnny Depp. He’s the creator and host of the podcast, “Dark and Darker” with NFL star, Ricky Williams, and is in development on a pilot he co-wrote called, BROWN MAN PROBLEMS. 90210 Talent, Theo Caesar, (323) 544-1017, theo@90210talent.com or Thepriteshshah@gmail.com
Jaiden Alexander Mcleod
little drummer boy
Jaiden began his acting career at the age of 3 when he was featured in a “Fatherhood” Public Service Announcement alongside his real life father. Since then, Jaiden has appeared in primetime on shows such as CRIMINAL MINDS and MODERN FAMILY, as well as commercials for Under Armour, Honda and Wells Fargo. This outgoing and energetic 3rd grader spends his free time dancing, playing basketball, and has recently began to learn the violin. Jaiden lives in Long Beach, California with his parents and younger sister, Brooke.
Dawn Osbrink Dawn@osbrinkagency.com
The Filmmakers
Carmen Elly Wilkerson
Writer, Producer, Director
Carmen is a Filmmaker and Social Advocate with roots in Chicago and Detroit. Carmen’s films have won numerous awards, and been broadcast on Showtime and PBS. Her short, A GUY WALKS INTO A BAR, starring Fred Savage, won a Hollywood Foreign Press Award, a Cine Eagle Award, and a Directors Guild Award. After it’s premiere on Showtime, Variety called it a ‘mini cult classic’. CBS Television chose Carmen to participate in their Director Trainee Initiative, where she worked on NCIS and CSI-NY. As a writer, Carmen was chosen as a Guy Hanks Marvin Miller Screenwriting Fellow, and twice chosen as a Finalist in the Sundance Writer’s Lab.
In 2015, Carmen wrote and directed THE REUNION, a short film about teens and sexual assault, that appeared in over 30 film festivals and won multiple awards. The Reunion is distributed by Kanopy, and can be seen in Universities and Colleges around the world. Carmen now uses THE REUNION to lecture at schools and Mental Health/ Public Health Conferences.
Carmen has a Master’s in Fine Arts from The American Film Institute’s Directing program, but before that, a B.S. in Chemistry and a Master’s in Public Health. Carmen was just accepted into Women in Film’s Director Mentor program.
www.carmenellywilkerson.net
carmenwilkerson5@gmail.com
Peyton Skelton
Cinematographer, Producer
Peyton Skelton has worked in film for over 26 years, getting his start in Wilmington, NC as a Grip and Lighting Technician on many notable films, including The Coen Brother’s THE HUDSUCKER PROXY, THE PORTRAIT (with Gregory Peck and Lauren Bacall), IT’S MY PARTY, SCREAM II, and PRINCESS DIARIES 2. After working steadily as a Lighting Technician for ten years, he worked his way up to Chief Lighting Technician (Gaffer) on network TV shows including GREY’S ANATOMY, YOU’RE THE WORST and SELFIE.
In 2012, Peyton refocused his energies as a Cinematographer and has DP’d a multitude of celebrated short films, commercials, and web series. Some of his award-winning work includes, JUST ANOTHER DANCE WITH MY FATHER, BREAK: THE MUSICAL, and DESPERATE MANNY. He also shot the PRINCESS RAP BATTLES web series on YouTube (over 100 Million views), The World of Steam, and national spots for Careerbuilder.com.
Recently, Peyton added writing and directing to his credits with the newly completed short films, AFTERTHOUGHTS, SURFACE, and the web series THE REMEDY.
peytons@earthlink.net
Jongnic Bontemps
Composer
Jongnic “JB” Bontemps is a uniquely modern film composer, harmonizing a classical education with everything from the hip-hop infused score for the Tribeca-favorite documentary UNITED SKATES, to rousing additional music for CREED II. He’s been the go-to composer for director Steven Caple Jr., including the score for the coming-of-age drama, THE LAND, where he also produced the song “This Bitter Land” for Nas and Erykah Badu, (performed live on Jimmy Kimmel).
Other recent projects include the Toni Braxton-starring drama, FAITH UNDER FIRE, and the Sundance selection LEIMERT PARK, produced by Charles King (Mudbound). JB’s scores have been heard at Cannes, the Warsaw Film Festival, Pan African American Film Fest, and American Black Film Fest, on HBO, BET, Lifetime, NBC, Showtime, Netflix, PBS and Disney XD. Born in Brooklyn, JB learned the piano and studied music at Yale, then moved on to USC’s film scoring program, and the Sundance Film Music Lab. He apprenticed as a programmer for numerous A-list Hollywood composers, before breaking out as a singular solo composer.
jb@bontempsmusic.net
Diane Musselman
Producer
Diane Musselman is a Producer, Writer and Actor from Southern Illinois. She’s performed on stage, in commercials and in film – most notably in THE ELEPHANT MAN and THE GOOD DOCTOR. She’s worked as a Co-Producer at Chocolate Old Fashioned Productions -- best known for the films, HMMM and UNREQUITED. Diane is Executive Producer at Dancing Forward Productions, the company that created the short film, JUST ANOTHER DANCE WITH MY FATHER, that won the Gold Remi Award at WorldFest Houston. Diane Co-Executive produced the feature film, LAST CALL AT MURRAY’S, and Executive Produced the award-winning web series, CARBON DATING.
She’s also produced the 2016 music video, LOOK, for singer/songwriter Nina Paolicelli, and in 2017, Co-Produced, PASSAGE and CAT DEXX:INKOSI. Currently, Diane is the Producer and Co-Writer of AFTERTHOUGHTS, a short film co-written with Peyton Skelton, based on their feature film of the same name.
danceforward@icloud.com