E. Dabrowski, the owner of The Rocky Point Residential Home for Teens, lovingly referred to as The Home, is a gifted mentor and teacher of troubled teenage boys. But he is a terrible businessman. Rocky Point, into which he has poured his whole heart and soul—not to mention his life savings—is facing foreclosure.

As the story begins, sixteen-year-old Derrick Burris—the poster boy for troubled teenage boys everywhere—is dragged from his bedroom in the middle of the night and brought to Rocky Point in the hopes that with the help of intensive therapy, 24-hour supervision, and engaging group activities, he can blossom into something other than a futureless reprobate.

When he arrives the home is in chaos: Fitz Dabrowski, E.’s older brother and a sort of unofficial lead staff working for E at the home, has just had a violent confrontation with one of the residents: Charles, a man-child with serious anger issues. As other boys show Derrick around the facility, he takes the opportunity to run. E. quickly finds him and, with as little drama as possible, brings him back.

Soon Derrick’s father, a wealthy financier, arrives. He tells E. that the fallout from Derrick’s behavior is tearing their family apart. They consider Rocky Point a last-ditch effort to save them—and their family—from utter dysfunction. He promises E. that if he can turn Derrick around, his company will make a hefty donation—a donation that would in turn rescue Rocky Point from financial ruin.

Within days Derrick runs again, but this time he’s stolen a van and has disappeared entirely, leaving E. with a difficult decision. Follow protocol by calling the police and Derrick’s parents and almost certainly losing out on the financial windfall promised by Derrick’s father. Or go in search of Derrick himself.

Against his best instincts, he chooses the second option. One of the many complications to this decision is that his daughter, Lainey, has been suspended from school for misbehavior of her own. With her mother (E.’s ex-wife) away on vacation, E. has no choice but to bring Lainey along. Together, they set out on a quixotic quest, checking every gas station and convenience store within a hundred miles for any sign of the missing boy.

Meanwhile, back at Rocky Point, things are not going well. Fitz, who has been put in charge in E.’s absence, is butting heads with practically everyone. Janice, the head therapist, who cares not at all for Fitz’s devil-may-care style of leadership, calls him out in meetings and in front of the boys. And Fitz continues to antagonize Charles, which seems to be his favorite pastime. In the upheaval caused by E.’s absence, O’Flauge, a fragile and de-pressed 13-year-old, prepares to end his own life

E. and Lainey eventually find the stolen van abandoned at the side of the road. Lainey, by following clues on social media, discovers that Derrick’s uncle lives in a nearby town. While they search for the house, E. and Lainey bicker and argue. At some point, Lainey confides to E. that she feels unwanted by him, that they never really talk to each other, that he treats her just as he treats the boys at the home: something broken that needs to be fixed. E. tries to explain himself but she shuts him out.

The irony is not lost on E. He has spent his whole career trying to help troubled teens but has failed his own
daughter.

By the time E. and Lainey locate the uncle’s house, Derrick is already there, attempting to confront his uncle for the sexual abuse he has perpetrated on Derrick for much of his childhood. E. and Lainey arrive as Derrick and his uncle are arguing, and when E. tries to take Derrick and leave, Lainey intervenes and insists that E. let Der-rick have his say. It’s only when he hears Derrick’s cathartic anger toward his uncle that E understands what has happened. He immediately removes Derrick from the house and lets the uncle know he’ll pay for what he’s done to the boy.

As this is happening, another drama is playing out at Rocky Point. O’Flauge has put his suicide plan in motion. He starts a small fire outside the home as a distraction. While the staff and residents rush to put out the fire, he slips away to the barns where he is preparing to hang himself from a rafter. In the nick of time, Fitz realizes something is wrong and saves the boy from hurting himself. In an uncharacteristic turn, he shows real emotion as he tells O’Flauge how devastated he’d be if the boy had killed himself. It’s at this moment that Fitz and O’Flauge look up to see the home burning uncontrollably.

E., Lainey, and Derrick arrive back home to a scene of devastation. The home and all of the outbuildings have burned to the ground. Rocky Point, for all intents and purposes, is gone. E. feels oddly liberated by this turn of events; he no longer has to live with the burden of trying to keep the enterprise afloat. But Fitz, who is deeply ashamed of having let E. and the staff and residents of Rocky Point down, urges E. to rebuild. He wants to try again.

Derrick’s parents arrive to pick him up, and Derrick’s father offers to pay for the rebuild if E. will keep what’s happened between Derrick and his uncle quiet. E. refuses. He’s already reported it to the authorities. He encourages the father to listen to Derrick. Now that Derrick no longer has to carry his secret alone, he has a chance.

ROB MARGOLIES - PRODUCER
Within the past 10 years, Rob Margolies has produced five feature films and is currently completing another two projects which are in post-production. Rob’s first movie “LIFELINES” stars Jane Adams, Dreama Walker, Joe Morton, and Josh Pais. It was purchased and distributed by Kanbar Entertainment (a subsidiary of the then-booming Weinstein Company) after it won several awards at various film festivals. Margolies’ second movie “SHE WANTS ME” received worldwide distribution in large part by Lionsgate, and stars Josh Gad, Hilary Duff, and Charlie Sheen. With his numerous connections in both LA and NYC, Rob is able to leverage those relationships to bring his films in on time and under budget.

​​BRADY UDALL - WRITER
Brady is the author of the award-winning novel, The Miracle Life of Edgar Mint, which was an international bestseller, translated into over twenty languages, and named the best book of the year by the Los Angeles Times, The Austin Chronicle, Publishers Weekly, The Guardian and Newsweek. His novel, The Lonely Polygamist, was a New York Times bestseller and was hailed by Publisher's Weekly as, "A serious contender for Great American Novel status." His work has appeared in The Paris Review, GQ, and Esquire, and his stories and essays have been featured on NPR's This American Life. He teaches in the MFA program at Boise State University and lives in Boise, Idaho with his wife and children.

MATT CROSBY - WRITER
Matt completed his MA in Creative Writing at BYU and his MFA in fiction at Boise State. He is the author of numerous award-winning stories and essays and an award-winning play. He was a primary reader and editor on Brady Udall's best-selling novel, The Lonely Polygamist, which received a starred review in Publisher's Weekly. He subsequently did the same work for Anthony Doerr on All the Light We Cannot See, which won the Pulitzer Prize. He lives in Cedar City, Utah, with his wife, four children, and beagle. The beagle is for sale, and he's willing to entertain offers on the children.

​​THE LEWIS BROTHERS - DIRECTORS
The Lewis Brothers possess a relentless passion for filmmaking - never was this fact more apparent than with their debut feature film, Billy Was a Deaf Kid, which played at festivals worldwide. The film received four stars from Film Threat Magazine, and landed distribution from Visit Films of New York City and Content Republic of London. Their production company has offered them the unique advantage of honing their craft for 15 plus years. They have an impressive client list, including Amazon, Microsoft and Disney. Rhett and his wife are parents of three little girls. Burke is working very diligently at remaining single.​​​

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