A short film shot during the Pandemic, whose cast includes a Watertown filmmaker and her son, made its world premier in Ireland in May and will be part of several film festivals around the United States.
Bringing “Late Fall” to the screen has been a long, meandering journey for Abigail Jean Lucas. The 18-minute film focuses on a young couple with a toddler facing the challenges of parenthood while making ends meet.
Lucas wrote “Late Fall” before she had her son, Leander, and the film went through multiple forms before the one that hit the screen.
“It’s been a long process,” Lucas said. “I’m also a little bit, like, I want to do it right. So, I wasn’t willing to compromise with, ‘This is good enough.'”
Before the finished version of the film, there was a previous effort that got as far as starting to film. A few things got in the way, such as questions over who would own the visuals, Lucas said. Also, it took her a few tries to find the right child for her film.
“I tried to film it with a friend who had a child, and it just didn’t work,” Lucas said. “The dynamic didn’t work, and then I ended up being pregnant, so I tried doing it where the character was just pregnant. That didn’t work for other reasons, the business reasons that I learned through that one. And then I ended up having a kid, and then I met Alecia (Orsini Lebeda), who became my co-director and kind of like a mentor in a way.”
The final version of “Late Fall” includes Lucas as Tina, her son as Sean, and Kyle Gregory as Tina’s husband, Danny. That combination came to life for the film, which shows the pressures facing Danny and Tina as they raise their child.
“You can see that dynamic, like in that kitchen scene where Tina is holding the toddler and they’re obviously connected, and the other actor, Kyle, is not the child’s (real-life) dad, so the toddler is kind of looking at him all skeptical,” Lucas said. “Which worked perfectly throughout the whole film, that the toddler didn’t really have a connection with the actor, whereas I clearly did.”
Lucas didn’t want the film to take sides with Tina or Danny.
“I think a lot of stories — and certainly for women — the man is the bad guy, and she’s a victim,” Lucas said. “I really wanted it to be clear that Danny was a really good guy. Neither one of them is a victim and neither one of them is the bad guy, because I think that’s really what happens in life.”
Lucas used local filming locations, including her home in Watertown, the Houghton Chemical Corporation in Allston near the Mass. Pike, and a rooftop balcony at the DoubleTree Suites on Soldiers Field Road.
“I don’t know if I could film there now because of the price point, but during COVID they had no one there, so I was like, ‘How about I throw you like $1,000,’ and they let us shoot there,” Lucas said. “Originally I wanted it at the Museum of Science, but the museum was not willing to let us, on the top of their parking lot. I used to hang out there a lot as a teenager.”
Budget was always a challenge, Lucas said.
“Most of the people on ‘Late Fall,’ they volunteered,” Lucas said. “This was a bunch of people who came together and thought the script was a really great script, and volunteered their time.”
With a limited budget, Lucas had to decide how to best market the movie, and simply get it seen by people. She decided to apply to film festivals and she got into one Ireland, where “Late Fall” made its world premier. Since then more and more festivals have accepted the film.
When she applied to the Fastnet Film Festival, Lucas used some old fashioned techniques and highlighted her heritage.
“I’ve looked at Ireland because of the Boston-Irish connection, so I literally wrote the woman at (the festival) an old school snail mail,” said Lucas.
She included photos of her Irish grandmother, and “Late Fall” was one of only two films selected from the United States. When Lucas attended the festival, she met the woman to whom she had written who mentioned that she had received the letter and read it.
Leander and her mother, Alice, joined Lucas at the festival in Schull, West Cork on the Emerald Isle for the festival.
“It was a nice festival, but it wasn’t fancy. It didn’t have a red carpet, it wasn’t any of that. And that’s more like where I am. I have a kid. I don’t have a dress to wear,” Lucas said. “(Leander) sat with me as we watched the premiere, and it was just a really awesome moment to have him there.”
“Late Fall” has some screenings coming up in Massachusetts. The film will be shown at the Shawna Shea Film Festival in Worcester on July 16, 2026 at 2:30 p.m.
On Aug. 1, the Woods Hole Film Festival will screen “Late Fall” at 5 p.m. during the Spirit of Massachusetts Block at the The Simon Center at Falmouth Academy. Lucas looks forward to this one because it has many families in the audience.
Lucas’ film will also be part of the Lonely Seal International Film, Screenplay and Music Festival, which takes place from Aug. 27-30 at the Regent Theatre in Arlington.
The week prior, “Late Fall” will be part of the MOM Film Fest 2026, an online festival featuring films directed by mothers. That festival streams online from Aug. 21-24.
“The MOM’s fest is a neat one. It happens online as that is the best way, due to all the films having a mom in leadership position,” Lucas said. “They have an opening night in NYC in August that I will attend.”
The film will also head to a couple of out-of-state festivals: the Valkyrie International Film Festival in Buffalo, New York, on Aug. 7 at 6 p.m., and the Richmond International Film Festival in Virginia, which takes place from Sept. 22-27.
Lucas said she enjoyed the multi-year venture making “Late Fall.”
“For me it’s been a whole learning process. Not only is this something creative, it’s also an entrepreneurial adventure,” Lucas said. “My goal is to understand how the art and the business collide.”
Making the film has also given her confidence.
“I’ve always loved performing arts. I danced as a kid. I have an album that I’ve done,” Lucas said. “I think the other thing this film has done for me is it’s given me belief of self. I never gave myself permission to do anything artistic.”
After she finishes screening and marketing “Late Fall,” Lucas would like to work on another film project.
“I don’t even know when — maybe next year, maybe next summer,” Lucas said. “I would like to do something again with my kid. I like having kids in film.”
Find out more about “Late Fall” at www.latefallfilm.com