Husband and wife creative duo Kate Cobb (Rollers, Gatlopp) and Kevin Bigley (“Animal Control”, “Upload”) have teamed up once again to deliver their latest cinematic offering, the psycho-thriller comedy drama, Okie, which has just dropped a trailer ahead of the film’s November release.
Penned by Bigley, and marking Cobb’s feature film directorial debut, Okie centers on Louie (Scott Michael Foster – “You”, “Greek”), a wealthy and acclaimed author who returns to his beleaguered hometown after the death of his father. This weathered, rundown town and its equally worn residents have long been the spiritual muses for Louie’s popular anthology of rustic, nostalgic tales. But on his homecoming, Louie is forced to confront the very people he has exploited as central characters in his pretentious novels – his childhood friends Travis (Bigley) and Lainey (Cobb).
Thus ensues a confusing swirl of nostalgia and enmity as Louie is dragged from party to party, coming face-to-face with those whose lives he has mined for his own financial and creative gain. But soon, as his grip on reality slips, he begins to wonder if these ostensibly simple townsfolk don’t have their own version of payback in mind.
The film’s journey began in 2021 when Cobb and Bigley pooled together a few thousand dollars to shoot a short in Bigley’s hometown outside of Sacramento. Titled Dandelions, the short film screened at several festivals, including USA Film Fest, We Are Films New York, and LA Indie Film Awards, and earned Cobb the Best Director award at UCLAx Fest in 2022. The short then served as a proof of concept, helping Cobb and Bigley secure funding for the feature-length version, Okie, which they executive produced and shot in just 15 days in northern Illinois.
Gravitas Ventures will release Okie on VOD this November 8th, 2024.
