Season 8

Play Date

Paige Morrow Kimball

When a little girl discovers a woman who's homeless in her backyard, she invites her inside for a play date while her busy parents are too distracted to notice.

Live Action

Difference Modernity

Intergenerational

Upbeat

Why we chose this film.

In the style of a fairytale, this film showcases the importance of genuinely caring for and authentically connecting with others. We hope it sparks conversations about the importance of empathy, inclusivity, and open-mindedness in addressing the modern loneliness crisis.

Filmmaker

Inspiration

The inspiration for Play Date came after a chance drive through Los Angeles’ Skid Row several years ago. I was driving on side streets avoiding traffic, on my way to a concert in Downtown LA. I saw large crowds of people who were homeless, setting up tents for the night on the urban streets. It was a heartbreaking sight. This wasn’t far from my own home and yet, I didn’t know that this vast “tent city” existed. The theme that homelessness is in our backyards and yet it’s invisible, was the springboard for this short film. Play Date explores themes of loneliness and isolation one experiences when being “other” and outcast from society.

The film also explores the distraction we face in our modern world, because of our attention to our devices, and the isolation this can create. As a parent raising young children, I struggled to stay present in a world that pulled me in so many directions. In the film, the parents are distracted and don’t see what is happening right in front of them. By the end of the film, they become present and remember what is most important.

Play Date is a modern-day fable that reminds us that every one of us has a story and that we all matter. My hope is that it will help audiences reconnect to the some of the humanity we have lost.