A Life Changing School Project

Bruce Von Stiers

Many of us have our own stories of the recent pandemic. From stores running out of essential items to remote working to friends and loved ones dying of COVID. But some of the most impacted people from the pandemic were students. They went from in-class learning sessions to remote learning to sometimes even having classes canceled for the year. Extracurricular activities like prom and graduation were largely done away with during the first part of the pandemic.

From all this angst and chaos comes a comedy drama film titled Second Draft. It deals with a high school senior on a quest to discover why an astronaut never made into space.

Ronin, like a lot of students and adults, is stuck at home during the first part of the pandemic. He is supposed to be doing remote learning but mostly plays video games online. But this one day, he logs into a Zoom history class session. Ronin's the only one who logs into the class. His teacher, Mr. Corbin, hands Ronin a special assignment. Go out and document something that students a hundred years from now will need to know.

Ronin goes to the park and takes some photos. He meets a girl named Stevie and they hit it off. But before things get even started their interactions were stymied by two park rangers, Hawk and Raven. As this was the pandemic, there were strict, although sometimes chaotic rules about social distancing. This leads to a comic moment when Ronin meets the rangers. There is also one of those moments later in the film concerning the social distancing rule about keeping six feet apart from each other. Although these scenes were funny, they also brought back memories of how archaic life was like during that time.

With Stevie's encouragement, Ronin buys a used video camera. Inside was an SD card with documentary footage about astronaut George Alvarez. He tracks down the filmmaker who shot the footage, Aasha, who tells him that the documentary was never completed. But that Ronin should definitely work on completing the project. And in one very incredulous moment, she produces additional footage of the documentary that just happened to be sitting in a side-table drawer in her living room.

Then, through a conversation with Stevie, Ronin learns how to contact George. But going to George's house leads to a confrontation with George. It seems that George doesn't want his story to be told and just wants everyone to forget about it. There was one thing I didn't like about this film segment. The person who answered George's door acted as if he was flamboyantly gay. And his name is Bruce. Now, although the stigma of the name Bruce being associated with being gay has long since passed, I really thought it was an unnecessary plot device.

Anyway, the remainder of the film is about Ronin trying to find a way to get George to go along with him to finish the project. A twist of fate takes the project in a different direction for an even better outcome.

Trey Weekley played Ronin Spencer. He co-starred in Reckless Mercy and The Unchained.

Dawn Marie Hughes played Mrs. Spencer, Ronin's mom, who was always ready with spray cleaner to disinfect things. Dawn Marie starred in Unwelcome and Chasing Glamour.

Patrick Johnston played George Alvarez. He starred in My Mystery Romance and Haunted House of Pancakes.

Sammi Robinson played Stevie, who was a driving force behind Ronin finishing the project. Her IMDB listing shows that this film is her first screen credit.

Ian McCue played the comically over reacting Ranger Hawk. He is a screenwriter and director in addition to acting. India McCue played Ranger Raven, the calmer and more levelheaded ranger. Films she's been in include Squatters, I Can and Grief Share.

Bronwen Delanie played Aasha Khan, the filmmaker who began the documentary on George. She is a professional belly dance artist and yoga instructor. Second Draft is her first IMDB listed film credit.

Anthony Dain played Bruce, who may or may not be gay and has a hilarious double secret meeting with Ronin. Dain has been in films such as Reckless Mercy, Tears For Tasha and the horror thriller The Boy From Below.

Branden Sergent played Jet Ulrich, an astronaut whose quest for space was inspired by George. Sergent appeared in an episode of Slasherverse and the comedy American Deadbeats.

Gabriel Kirk played Kent Gabriel, an astronaut featured in the footage on the SD card that Ronin found. He has appeared in films such as the horror comedy Clay Zombies.

John French played Ed, another astronaut from the SD card footage. He has over fifty screen credits, including films such as Grief Share and I Can.

Julie Carney played Jess, yet another astronaut on the SD card footage. She has numerous film credits, including The Dinner Party and a horror film I reviewed last year, Friends Forever.

Skyler Scott played Mr. Corbin, Ronin's teacher, who got this whole thing started. Films he's appeared in include The Name of the Sun and Chasing Glamour.

Other actors in the film were Kara Wrightsel, Bryce Bosworth, Laila Kemp, Juan Mendez, and Will Meyers.

Noah Tucker was the director and cinematographer for the film. He was also the director and cinematographer for Travelers and A Series of Misunderstandings.

Nathan Weidner and Drew Adams wrote the screenplay, based on a story written by them, along with Lewis Gordon and Javier Vallejo. Gordon was the screenwriter for films such as Chasing Glamour and A Story For Winter. Vallejo provided story ideas for films such as Reckless Mercy. Adams also provided story ideas for Reckless Mercy. Weidner's other work includes writing and producing films such as Reckless Mercy and Chasing Glamour. He was also the producer of the film.

Second Draft is a fun film with a serious undertone. The chaos of the recent pandemic is treated with a slight comic flair, especially the interaction between Ronin, Stevie and the two park rangers. The reason for George not going to space and his subsequent life journey molds the dramatic elements of the film very well.

I think that Second Draft is a really good film, with great comedic and dramatic elements.

Second Draft had a casting crew premiere on March 14 th . There are ongoing negotiations for the film to be released on either the Tubi or Amazon Prime streaming services. It was just accepted to The Monthly Film Festival.

You can check out the trailer for Second Draft here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ruaDsv-kxNc

Additional information about Second Draft can be found on Nathan Weidner's Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/outsidehollywoodmovies .

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© 2026 Bruce E Von Stiers