About this project

CAUTIONARY TALE is an independent feature film about the conflicts between personality and livelihood; between loss and reemergence; between positivity and negativity. It's about the balancing act we are all required to do in life no matter who we are or what we do.

Our story is about Neil Kefalas, the writer and star of a popular children's TV show entitled Cautionary Tales with Safety Sam! For years he as made his livelihood as a jubilant and buoyant personality. But when we first meet Neil in the film, he's an open wound. His ex-wife and young daughter were recently killed in a car accident, and Neil is in upstate New York sorting things out with his ex's new husband and his own former best friend, Jake, whom he is still embittered by. These deaths turn Neil on end, and he begins to question whether he can "turn back on" his positive and charming personality, and continue production on the television series.

Once he returns to New York City to face network executives, Neil learns that he is under the heavy thumb of contractual obligations, swiftly informed that he will be required to travel to Bangkok, Thailand for two weeks to promote the recent sell of his show and merchandising licenses to the Southeast Asia market. This news strikes Neil as if it were a prison sentence, considering his emotional state.

When Neil arrives in Bangkok, he eventually meets a Thai girl named Cherry, who is the lead singer an all-girl cover band that performs at a popular bar in the Sukhumvit expat area of the city. Neil is taken by Cherry's constant positivity and enthusiasm, and offers to help her write her first set of original songs with English lyrics for an upcoming recording session. Neil and Cherry form a bond while they write songs, and as she introduces him to the sights and sounds of Thailand.

Over the course of the film, Neil will struggle with the complications that arise from getting too far away from your problems; the delusion that a superficial change in location can be a solution; and the danger of questioning and, even judging, the (supposed) happiness of others around him. This is something he unfortunately inflicts on Cherry, only to stumble upon a revelation that will finally allow himself to look inward, and purge his own grief and bitterness so that he might be able to return to the life he ran away from.

Echoing films such as Lost in Translation, Sideways and Once, CAUTIONARY TALE will offer a rich story full of pathos and poignancy, which we believe will translate into a rewarding experience and a viable film for the independent festival circuit and distribution.

With the first act of the film currently being shot in New York, the funds donated through Kickstarter will allow us to continue shooting in Bangkok, Thailand in April and finish principal photography.

In February, footage from the New York shoot will be available on this webpage. Please check back in with us.

Any help is warmly appreciated, and if there are any questions or concerns please don't hesitate to contact either Chris or Ted. And check out links to our other work on the bottom right corner of this page.

Thank you!

Chris Zawadzki - rearwindow.cz@gmail.com

Ted Limpert - ted.limpert@gmail.com