A WORLD AWAY
Format: Six Part Mini Series // Genre: Drama/Lo-fi Sci-Fi
WRITER | DIRECTORIn a near-future world where space travel remains brutally selective, Mary has spent two decades trying and failing to qualify for a mission to Mars. She sacrifices everything for her final chance to make the cut but as her life on Earth begins to unravel, she’s forced to confront the cost of her ambition—and finally ask the question she’s spent years avoiding: At what point do you give up on your dreams?
SYNOPSIS
As a child in southern Utah, Mary witnessed the historic first human mission to Mars. The rocket’s launch sparked a singular obsession: to one day make that journey herself. Decades later, Mary is still chasing that dream. Now working at Concordia Planetary Research, the private company leading human exploration of Mars. She hosts their flagship science podcast, watching every launch from the ground, always just out of reach.
When she’s rejected once again from the company’s competitive Extra Seat Fellowship, Mary has to make a choice. Does she give up or does she continue committing her entire life to this childhood dream that seems further out of reach the closer she gets to it.
At its core, this story is about the cost of ambition, an identity built entirely around a single goal, and deferring your to live your life for that goal.
DIRECTOR’S VISION
As a child I remember waking up before the sun rose to see the launch of the Space Shuttle Endeavour on its STS-68 mission.
As the countdown began, the engines ignited and smoke began to billow out. It was the only time in my life where counting down from 10 felt meaningful, that something eventful would actually happen after everyone in the crowd finally said one.
But nothing did.
At T1.9 seconds, the on-board computers triggered an automatic shutdown after recognizing a temperature spike in one of its pumps. Everything was set for launch but one small minor thing prevented it from launching.
PHOTO - Space Shuttle Endeavour on Launch Complex 39A with SSME plumes visible seconds after RSLS abort // 30 September 1994, 07:16:00 EDT
That moment stayed with me: everything ready, years of preparation, and yet it didn’t happen.
I’ve spent much of my creative life in a similar holding pattern. Working and waiting for something to lift off. I know what it feels like to orbit a goal for so long it becomes part of your identity.
As I’ve grown older, I’ve begun to question the cost of hope. How much of myself I’ve built around a dream that may never materialize.
It’s about reaching Mars but also everything you sacrifice while waiting to take off.
CHARACTERS
Mary is determined, adaptable, and persistent. Her lifelong dream to reach Mars has been at odds with her academic struggles and forced her to pivot in her career.
After being rejected from NASA’s Astronaut Program, she channeled her passion into launching a science podcast and earning her Master’s in Science Communication - all so that she could get a career at Concordia Planetary Research and be eligible for the Extra Mission Jump seat Fellowship, her last chance for Mars.
Year after year, she’s faced setbacks, constantly evolving to meet new challenges and devoting every waking hour of her life to reach her dream. Now, Mary has to decide: how much +longer is she willing to sacrifice for her dream?
Ami met Mary in college through a mutual friend who introduced her as “the Mars Girl.”
Most people found Mary’s obsession quirky but Ami found it cute. Their first date was spent stargazing in the mountains, Mary pointing out constellations while Ami realizing she’d found the woman she would marry.
After graduation, they moved to California for Ami’s job managing a nonprofit. Ten years later, they relocated again for Mary’s career.
After years of hearing “next year,” she’s ready to start the next chapter of their life if Mary can let go of the dream that’s defined her.
Mark wasn’t the first human on Mars, but you’d never know it from the way every Marsbound astronaut talks about him. A revered
figure in the spaceflight community, his influence is etched into nearly every step of Concordia’s modern astronaut program.
He first met Mary during her earliest application to the Jump Seat Fellowship and was amazed by her drive and passion. Since then, they’ve worked closely, co-hosting a weekly series about the research being done on Mars by Concordia astronauts.
Mark supports Mary however he can—but never sugarcoats the truth.
MISSION URGENCY
I’m not where I thought I’d be by now. That isn’t uncommon for people entering middle age who have spent years chasing a dream that never quite arrives.
But in recent years, it seems that our culture, already obsessed with achievement, has become bloated with social media influencers, Silicon Valley start-ups, and self-help stories that drill in the same message we’ve heard since childhood: if you work hard enough, you can follow your dreams.
It has become so pervasive that it feels socially blasphemous to even say that the central question of my film is, “Should you ever give up on your dreams?”
Getting to space is the quintessential childhood dream that only 781 people have ever done, which makes this the perfect way to explore this question as humanity begins its renewed interest in space exploration.
WORLD DESIGN & PHILLOSOPHY
Drawing inspiration from Gattaca which is set a future inspired by the trends of the 40s/50s - A World Away will be set in the future inspired by trends from the 80s and 90s.
The world of A World Away is built to feel tactile, functional, and believable—not futuristic in a distant, glossy sense, but like something we could step into tomorrow.
Inspired by the aesthetics of cassette futurism and 1980s industrial design, the film favors hardware over holograms: physical buttons, modular panels, and visible materials.
MISSION STATUS
A World Away was selected along with seven other filmmakers for the 2025 Utah Film Center Pitch Competition.
I created Concordia name badges for the judges, the other filmmakers competing in the pitch competition and others who had helped me get this project to this point.
I created the design of the badges for the pitch deck and for each person came up with a unique job title they would have at Concordia based on their interests or topic of their film.
Since that pitch I’ve written all six episodes of the series and they are currently receiving industry feedback.
To learn more about the project or read the pilot script please reach out.