THE STORM
AND THE TREE
Short Narrative • 9 mins.
The Storm and the Tree dramatizes the work of Convoy of Hope — an organization bringing disaster relief, nutrition support, women's empowerment, and agricultural training to communities devastated by natural disaster. The story follows a Dominican family whose recovery across generations is shaped by each of Convoy of Hope's four pillars of aid — anchored by a fruit tree: destroyed in the storm, replanted by a child, and standing full-grown a generation later.
Client:
Westfall Gold
Convoy of Hope
Deliverables:
Short Narrative Film
Edited Event Version
DIRECTOR’S Notes:
The assignment was to show what Convoy of Hope does. Our answer was to show what their work means — across a lifetime, across generations. I was thinking about my grandmother, whom I love deeply and was afraid of losing, and about my daughter, who was six years old at the time. The distance between them — one life nearly complete, one just beginning — felt like the truest container for this story. We filmed in the Dominican Republic in two days, casting remotely and on the fly, working across language barriers from before dawn until long after dark. The conditions were extreme. What came out of them was something quiet and true: a story about what it means to plant something for someone else's future, and to live long enough to see it bear fruit.
Credits:
Producers:
Writer & Director:
Cinematographer:
1st AC:
Gaffer:
Key Grip:
Editors:
Naomi Lee
Andy Lee
Linel Hernández
Dina Rudick
Dylan Trivette
Dina Rudick
Dylan Trivette
Xen Elmudesi
Julián Roa
Omar Hauszler
Dina Rudick
Max Partain