The Passenger
Director: Frank Quatrone
United States, 2024, 12 min
Shooting Format:RED
Festival Year:2025
Category:Narrative Short
Genres:Comedy, Drama
Cast:Rio Finnegan, Bell
Crew:Writer: Rio Finnegan. Executive Producer: Rio Finnegan. Producer: Michael Nicholson.
Email:riofinn@gmail.com
Synopsis
A well meaning, sexually exploratory, paraplegic man in a wheelchair meets an open minded girl. Together they discover the awkwardness that comes with casual dating, particularly ones that begin in a sex shop.
About the director
Frank discovered his love for filmmaking at a very young age when he and his friends got their hands on a mini DV camcorder and started creating their homemade masterpieces/abominations. He grew up in Boise, Idaho, and moved to New Mexico after high school to attend the Santa Fe University of Art and Design. Between classes, he wrote and directed his first feature-length abomination/masterpiece with a near-zero budget. Graduating Magna Cum Laude with a BFA in Film Production, Frank quickly found work in the post-production field, working on projects for major studios including Netflix, Sony, Universal, Disney, and Warner Bros. After spending many years in Albuquerque, he now lives in Burbank with his wife.
Filmmaker's note
Shifting from awkward to viscerally honest, I wanted to put in themes that made you feel exactly what the characters were feeling. An understandable feeling of anxiety in the totally intimidating sex shop. The Passenger was a beautiful collaborative project. I wanted to help the screenwriter, Rio Finnegan tell this honest story about a topic that truly needs to be talked about more. Disability and Sexuality. I feel like this is a story that makes you understand his perspective by both abled and disabled audiences.