Sarah’s been tasked with spreading her late father’s ashes according to the bizarre specifications left in his will — but along the way she runs into a tenacious bike-riding beatnik who claims to have exactly what she’s missing.

Creative team

Writer/producer: Dylan Thompson
Director: Jordan Barnes-Crouse

Director’s statement

Jordan Barnes-Crouse says:

“In February 2012, Vancouver’s Cineworks Independent Filmmakers Society announced their first short film competition in 30 years of operation. The theme for this year was to commemorate the 20th anniversary of Bruce McDonald’s indie classic Highway 61, and so a brief section of dialogue was chosen and the call put out to local screenwriters to work it into an original short. The top four scripts were then awarded a production package, as well as access to post-production facilities.

Dancing in Ashes had the good fortune of being one of the scripts selected, but the challenge was just beginning. Despite having most of our equipment covered, there were still a number of obstacles facing this small but ambitious production. Over the next couple months, a crew needed to be handpicked, actors auditioned, specific props tracked down (including a plethora of suitcases), locations scouted and locked, and some specialized gear built.

We were able to raise some additional funds through the crowdsourcing platform Indiegogo, but scheduling and resources remained tight. Suffice to say, everyone wore several hats during production.

But in spite of the odds – including a dismal weather forecast, a location plagued by near-constant traffic (not just cars, but boats, planes, helicopters and even horses) and several equipment failures – a wealth of wonderful material was produced. The film came together with just one week of post production, and screened later that month to a sold out audience at Vancouver’s Pacific Cinematheque theatre. Seems the results were well worth it.”

About Jordan Barnes-Crouse

Jordan Barnes-Crouse is a director, editor, cinematographer and musician based in Vancouver. He attended Langara College’s Digital Film Production Program in 2008, where his grad film Locked Out was selected by the YoungCuts Film Festival in Montreal.

He’s since been freelancing as a videographer/editor as well as continuing to work on various independent short, feature length and documentary projects. Most recently he directed Dancing in Ashes as part of Cineworks’ Back Down the Highway contest, and his documentary short Rygo: The Shape of Shapes to Come was a semifinalist in the Focus Forward Filmmaker Challenge.