HIGH
TISHA ROBINSON-DALY & JONATHAN MASON
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LOGLINE
In the wake of a freak accident, a nomadic telcom tower climber is forced to repair the connections he needs most--with his family.
SYNOPSIS
HIGH is a kinetic and visual drama, set in the rarely seen world of telecom tower climbers.
It’s a ROAD MOVIE -- Sometimes hanging five hundred feet in the air -- filled with equal parts dizzying acrobatics, down-to-earth humor, and relentless determination. HIGH is a rare look at the dangerous and complex work of these twenty first-century nomads with their one foot planted in the industrial age, and the other at the forefront of the digital revolution.
It’s a story about our OBSESSION with faster, cheaper, and more advanced technology, and the very real people we are sacrificing to obtain it. It’s also a story about FAMILY in America today.
BUTCH ROBBINS (40), a twenty-year tower veteran who devotes so much time to providing, that he’s become mostly absent. MAYA ROBBINS (40) an artist recovering from a debilitating battle with lupus, determined to preserve her eroding sense of identity beyond illness, and the already loaded titles of Mother and Wife. OLIVE (9), their potty-mouthed firecracker daughter, wise beyond her years and asked to grow up much too soon.
It's the story of beloved brother and uncle JAKE METZGER, who in a split second mistake, is killed when the line snaps and an 1,800 lb antenna plunges fast, yanking Jake down the tower and back up fifty feet like a carnival game.
HIGH is the story of the aftermath of this tragic accident, and the difficult road Butch, his family, and his crew endure to finish the job on deadline, to save the company, and to preserve the family unit.
LOOKBOOK
Tisha Robinson-Daly . Co-Writer & Co-Director
Tisha Robinson-Daly is based in Philadelphia. She has written, directed and produced several short films and is a SAGindie honoree, a Sundance Institute and Knight Foundation Fellow, a recipient of two Sundance/Knight Production and Development grants, the recipient of a Stowe Story Labs scholarship, and fellow of the inaugural Stowe Launch Advanced Development Program (Stowe is supported in part through a grant from the National Endowment for the Arts). A telecom worker herself, Tisha is also the writer, director, and producer of the episodic series HIGH Climber Stories, a twelve-episode series that advocates for, and chronicles the lives of tower climbers. In 2020, The Hubble Foundation collaborated with Tisha to create the six-episode series, “In Their Own Words,” which allows those who have been directly affected by the dangers within the climbing community to tell their stories. Both shows air monthly on Phillycam, a Philadelphia public access station, along with Vimeo, Facebook, IGTV and streams on the Higher Than 7 network.
Jonathan Mason . Co-Writer & Co-Director
Jonathan Mason is a French/American filmmaker based in Philadelphia. After earning his M.F.A. in film from Columbia University, he served as Creative Director for Belladonna Productions (Jim Mickle’s Cold in July) and co-founded New York-based production service company Bullet Pictures (Abel Ferrara’s 4:44). His personal work typically explores themes of fractured cultural identity, and projects have been supported by Stowe Story Labs, Sundance Institute, Tribeca, Arab Fund for Arts and Culture, and IFP/Gotham programs. His Algerian/French short L’échappée, co-directed with Hamid Saïdji, played at over 40 festivals including Clermont Ferrand and Berlin Interfilm, and was the recipient of the Canal+ Prize. Jonathan is currently co-writing a project with Oscar-nominated writer/producer Bráulio Mantovani (City of God) and a TV project with Jim Mickle (Sweet Tooth). Jonathan teaches screenwriting/film production at Rowan University.
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