Past Projects

CHILD OF GRACE

CHILD OF GRACE

Synopsis

9-year-old Katie has spent her life traveling the country in an RV with her single father… until she sees her portrait on a missing child poster and realizes that the man she thinks is her loving father may in fact be her kidnapper. Meanwhile, a small-town sheriff, and the girl’s grandfather, tries to figure out the truth when new evidence surfaces.

By Willie J. Hagen and Ian McCrudden, based on the novel JUNE BUG By Chris Fabry
Directed by Ian McCrudden
Produced by Thomas Hildreth, Ian McCrudden, Athena Lobit
View Child Of Grace on IMDb.

Bio

Thomas Hildreth headshot

Thomas Hildreth is an actor/producer and owner of Sternman Productions. In late 2019, Hildreth teamed up with award-winning director Eddie Alcazar (Perfect, exec produced by Steven Soderbergh), co-founding a new company called Cure Films, producing films in the psycho-horror genre. Hildreth plays the villain opposite Bill Duke (Predator, X-Men) in the company’s first film The Vandal, a 2021 Cannes Film Festival short exec produced by Darren Aronofsky. The Vandal has since screened at some of the top festivals in the world, including Telluride and Sitges, is now streaming on The New Yorker, and a feature-length adaptation is underway with Aronofsky remaining on board as EP.

Hildreth has a 15-year track record of developing original material from screenwriters, novelists, and playwrights for film and TV. In 2020, he produced and starred in a short story-to-film adaptation, The Kinjiku, alongside Tony Denison (The Closer, Major Crimes) and Ron Canada (Cinderella Man), with award-winning executive producer Mark R. Harris (Crash, Gods and Monsters).

Previously, Hildreth produced and starred opposite Ted Levine (The Bridge, Silence of the Lambs) in award-winning feature Child of Grace now on iTunes, Prime Video, and Google Play. He also produced and played the leading role in the critically acclaimed film Islander on SHOWTIME with Philip Baker Hall (Magnolia) and Amy Jo Johnson (Felicity, Flashpoint).

A Maine native, Hildreth attended Connecticut College, New York University, and received an MFA from Rutgers University. He lives in Los Angeles and New York, grateful to be able to work bicoastally. A devoted dad and dedicated artist, Hildreth also manages to squeeze in time for tennis and golf, deep powder skiing and scuba diving all over the world.

Trailer

Starring Thomas Hildreth, Maggie Elizabeth Jones and Ted Levine.

Directed by Ian McCrudden

Watch Child Of Grace on iTunes

ISLANDER

SYNOPSIS

ISLANDEROn a small fishing island off the coast of Maine, families have lived and worked off the sea for generations. Everyone knows each other. Birthright is akin to law and men inherit their fishing territories. Eben Cole, like the other fishermen, continues his family’s legacy of harvesting lobsters from the waters surrounding the island. Every year, the lobstermen’s catch gets smaller, thanks in no small part to the Mainlanders encroaching on the local claim. Tired of watching outsiders haul in his territory, Eben turns to enforcing territorial lines himself, angering some of the other fishermen including his own father.

One morning Eben sets out to confront the mainlander who has been fishing in his territory. When he finds the fisherman and his sternman hauling traps, Eben fires a warning shot. This shot, aimed squarely at the buoy the boy was hoisting out of the water, is proof enough that Eben is serious. In a panic the fisherman hits the throttle on the boat, not realizing the boy’s foot is ensnared in a rope trailing overboard. The teen is thrown into the icy waters of the Atlantic, vanishing immediately. Shock descends over Eben’s face as the full scope of his actions settles in. He sinks down in the stern of his boat, leaving himself adrift until the coast guard arrives to take him into custody.

After serving five years on a manslaughter plea, Eben returns to the island a felon and a pariah. His homecoming is bleak: his now ex-wife Cheryl has moved in with Eben’s rival and refuses to let him see his daughter Sara; his estranged father died while Eben was in prison; and, seeing him as a harbinger of bad luck, no fisherman wants Eben anywhere near his boat. From the whispers and turned backs, it is clear no one is ready to forget the past. Humbled, he is determined more than ever to rebuild his life on the island, mend his relationships and win back the respect of his daughter.

Eben takes a job at the local dump, the only place willing to hire an ex-con, but still dreams of getting back out on the water. He slowly regains his footing in his changed community. Emily, the local doctor he meets after landing in the clinic with a nasty injury, is the first person to look beyond his past and see him for the man he has become. Popper, an old fisherman from his father’s generation, hires Eben to work as the sternman on his lobster boat, an opportunity no other fisherman would consider. This old islander is weathered and gruff but kindhearted; he shows Eben the support and affection he never received from his own dad. Though Sara, Eben’s now school aged daughter, is hesitant to reconnect with her father, ultimately her instinct to learn more about her dad is too powerful to resist.

Islander is a classic American story, portraying the gravitas in the everyday as one man learns to accept the consequences of his choices with grace. Eben discovers that self-respect is the hardest thing to earn and that in community he must find it. Islander is a authentic portrait of human weakness and human courage.

Cast & Crew Credits

Sternman Productions in association with Elan Entertainment

Thomas Hildreth ———- Eben Cole
Amy Jo Johnson ———- Cheryl Cole
 Philip Baker Hall ———- Popper
 Ron Canada ———- T. Hardy
 Larry Pine ———- Old Man Cole
 Mark Kiely ———- Jimmy
 James Parks ———- Pokey
 Judy Prescott ———- Emily
 Emma Ford ———- Sara Cole
 Zach Batchelder ———- Wyatt

Ian McCrudden ———- Director
 Ian McCrudden & Thomas Hildreth ———- Writers
 Thomas Hildreth ———- Producer
 Melissa Davis ———- Producer
 Forrest Murray ———- Producer
 Dan Coplan ———- Director of Photography
 Marc Jozefowicz. ———- Editor
 Daniel Boxer ———- Production Designer
Billy Mallery ———- Music

Buy the ISLANDER DVD

Trailer

Reviews

“Markedly superior to current Hollywood fare… Beautifully cast and well-scripted… photography is…so breathtaking”
– James Verniere, Boston Herald

“A noble entry into the real world of timeless and truly independent American cinema.”
– Ted Fry, Seattle Times

“…original story… breathtaking cinematography…  infinite appeal… acting talent… there is plenty here to love”
– WGBH’s Greater Boston

“…’Islander’ is the very best I’ve seen.”
– Marty Meltz, Portland Press Herald

“intelligent and compelling drama”
– Kirk Honeycutt, The Hollywood Reporter

Past Theatre Productions