‘Love, Danielle’ to Premiere at Heartland International Film Festival

Poster for Love, Danielle

When Danielle, a happily married thirty-something, tests positive for a BRCA1 gene mutation, she learns that this puts her at a very high risk of developing breast and ovarian cancer. Thanks a lot, DNA. She now struggles with daily life, working at her bakery with her hubby Pat and hanging out with her clueless best buds on game night. Her older, smart-alecky sister Amy is already undergoing chemotherapy for a breast cancer diagnosis. Danielle now contemplates preemptively removing her "ticking time bomb" breasts and reproductive organs before cancer gets her, too. Her decision-making process involves flashbacks of her screwed up childhood with absent parents, bizarre anesthesia-induced dreams, and toxic confrontations with her recovering alcoholic mother and self-absorbed YEEHAW-filled 70's TV Western star father. Ultimately, Danielle must figure out how to prioritize her health and well-being by putting herself first.

(from the film’s website)

Foxtrot X-Ray provided 110 visual effects shots for this indie comedy-drama based on writer/producer/star Devin Sidell’s real-life experiences after a positive BRCA-1 diagnosis. The film boasts an impressive and accomplished team both in front of and behind the camera, including director Marianna Palka, executive producer Joanna Kerns, producer Amy Byer Shainman, and a cast that includes Jaime King, Lesley Ann Warren, Michael Roark, and Barry Bostwick.

This may not seem like the kind of movie that has over 100 VFX shots, and so the task for the Foxtrot X-Ray team was to accomplish all its work invisibly. We also animated the main title sequence!

Breakdowns of our work will be posted after the film is released, but first festival-goers can catch the film’s world premiere at the Heartland Film Festival in Indianapolis in October 2024. More info can be found on the film’s official website or on the festival’s ticketing site. Check out the excellent trailer, below!