On the edge of a nervous breakdown, Maxwell is shocked to find he has inherited a sloth sanctuary from his father. When a talking sloth (voiced by JACK MCBRAYER of 30 Rock, Wreck-it-Ralph, Despicable Me) visits his dreams, Maxwell becomes obsessed with saving the animal’s habitat in his waking life by returning to his first passion, music.
Songs for a Sloth is a film about the struggle to be both the person we want to be and the person we feel responsible to be, and about being motivated to realize that it is never too late to pursue one’s dream in life.
The film has taken home the Best Feature award at Paris Play Film Festival and Venice Film Awards amongst other accolades in the film festival circuit, and was released by Gravitas Pictures.
In 2006, I was accepted into an artist residency abroad in Italy. After living there for nearly two years I was making strides towards working in feature films - a lifelong dream of mine. When my father was diagnosed with cancer I put those plans on hold and returned stateside to be closer to him.
One thing led to another, and that dream of directing movies got pushed aside. I felt like a train had left the station and I failed to be on it.
When creating Songs for a Sloth, both co-writer Richard Hollman and I had similar feelings - like we lost our way over the years - and we wanted to make a film that discussed this theme. I didn’t realize how cathartic the process was going to be though. While I was happy to get to express some of the emotions I had over the years through the protagonist, the act of creating the film itself proved to have the real power for me. I’ll never forget that feeling I had the morning after we wrapped. While previously focusing on how slowly it was taking me to take the next steps in my career, at this moment I only felt gratitude that the first step was finally taken.
This achievement was something to celebrate, and for the first time in a decade I felt like I was finally back on track.
While we approached this topic overall with levity, I’m also hoping that the audience is moved enough by the story that they take inventory of some of their own dreams that may have been sitting dormant for years, and that watching the film inspires them to once again pursue the goals in life that make them happiest. It's never too late, even if we get there slowly.
