Donor
A grieving mother struggles to process her reality when she meets the recipient of her stillborn daughter’s heart.
Wesley Boone is a writer/director from Shreveport, LA.
After winning awards in college for his short film “Intersect”, Wesley’s next short film “Collect Call” enjoyed a successful run on the festival circuit, picking up wins in “Best Short Film” at the After Life Film Festival, along with selections in the Chicago Horror Film Festival and the Lake Charles Short Film Festival. Wesley’s next project, “Donor”, started its festival run in early 2025.
Wesley resides in Haughton, LA, and runs No Homework Productions, a small production company, with his brother, Justus. No Homework Productions has another short, “Dead Air”, with a planned 2025 release.
The idea for Donor came through the defining tragedy of my life.
My best friend took his life a decade ago. He was an organ donor. His heart went to someone in need. When thinking about the emotions of how that would make his mother feel, I couldn’t help but be compelled by this idea that a part of your child is out there, a key component now to someone else’s life, while your child is no longer here.
When I think of this in the context of my best friend, there’s contradictory emotions. Am I happy he was able to bring life to someone else? I am. Am I heartbroken that he’s no longer here? Of course. Those contradictory emotions are what I hope the audience leaves with after following Beth’s journey.
I think Beth is such a strong person, but she’s also blinded by this obsession of “what if”. What if her child wouldn’t have passed? What would her life look like? Would she still be married? Would she be a good mother? Would everything be better? That question is at the center every decision she’s making. I think there’s something courageous and dangerous about her commitment. Something admirable, but she’s become poisoned by this thought. I think seeing this world through Beth’s eyes also helps the audience truly connect with how she’s experiencing everything. Beth’s nightmare becomes our own, and then transforms into this twisted triumph at the end.
Every character in this movie represents me on my own journey with grief. Seeing how their egos clash and how their individual degrees of emotional intelligence fuel their decisions was cathartic. Julia searching for permission, acceptance. Brian burying everything, running from it all. These are all things I’ve done at one time or another as I process and learn to live with the loss of one of my favorite people. Ultimately, I do hope audiences can empathize with Beth’s experience while also seeing her journey as a cautious tale of what happens when we don’t attempt to process our grief.
I had such an incredible experience working with Gordy and Lucy in shaping these two lead characters. Both brought so much nuance to each of these women in ways I couldn’t have anticipated. They treated this story with so much respect knowing what it was rooted in. Our crew was also exceptional and game for everything we threw at them over the course of our four-day shoot.
This was the most challenging and rewarding creative experience of my life and I’m so excited for audiences to finally see the hard work our team poured into Donor!