Sweet Potato

Logline

Robyn, a successful 60 year-old attorney, receives tragic news that her estranged, conspiracy theorist, half-sister has died. She must now collect her 16 year-old closeted nephew, Dylan from Fruitland, Idaho and move the boy into her perfect post-modern glass house in Los Angeles. They soon learn that it takes a village to make a family.

The Team

Director

Angela Garcia Combs

Angela Garcia Combs studied Directing at UCLA’s School of Theater, Film and Television and is an award-winning writer/director who focuses on the female perspective with a sharp wit and accessible style. She recently directed Alfred Molina in an award-winning short film American Dream, which screened at Cannes in 2022. The Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences curated her feature Nothing Special into their Permanent Core Collection and the film is currently streaming on Apple TV. Garcia Combs’ limited series Parent Teacher is in development with CAA. She has directed film and television luminaries such as Karen Black (in her final starring role) Juliet Landau, Sean Young, Johnny Kassir, Barbara Bain, Eric Pierpoint, Sally Kirkland, Elena Campbell-Martinez, Alycia Cooper and more. She was contracted to direct Random Acts with Universal Studios and her screenplays have been optioned by Carlton America, CBS, Rainbow Films, Bonneville Worldwide Entertainment and others.

Her films have been honored by and screened at prestigious festivals around the world with multiple Best Feature and Director awards as well as many Best Actress awards for her lead actresses. Festivals include the Female Eye, SLO International, Rhode Island International, Bentonville, Breckenridge, Washington D.C. International, Newport Beach, Gig Harbor, L.A. Shorts, Iowa Independent, Philadelphia International, and the Seattle Film Festival where her film won the Grand Jury Award in 2022. Her writing has been recognized by Arts and Letters Journal of Contemporary Culture, Chesterfield Writers Film Project, New Century Writers Awards, H.E. Francis Literary Competition and has also been published in The Mississippi Review (alongside Noam Chomsky, Bill Moyers and Michael Lerner), the Huffington Post, L.A. Stage Magazine and others.

As the daughter of Mexican and Irish Southern Catholics, Angela Garcia Combs brings a rich, textured cultural sensibility to her work. She raised her three children as a single mother in Los Angeles while she attended film school, and her children went to L.A. Unified Public Schools. She now resides in Hollywood with her husband, Richard Wilson, and their cocker-doodle Henry Peaches.

“Everything is done with such loving care and sense of style that the appetite is whetted for another chapter from this talented filmmaker” – James R Wegg of James Wegg Review & Rotten Tomatoes.

Writer

Asher Huey

Asher Huey is a Washington, DC based filmmaker and activist and is widely known for his work on numerous political and advocacy campaigns around the country. He is currently the digital director at the American Federation of Teachers and has previously served as the chair of DC-Baltimore Pride at Work as well as on the national executive board. He wrote and produced American Dream, a short film about the slings and arrows of the gig economy, which screened in the Cannes Short Film Corner, and was an award winner at the prestigious Oscar qualifying film festival, LA Shorts, won the Grand Jury Prize at the Seattle Film Festival and screened at dozens of other festivals. He executive produced a short film, Cici, a trans-latino adaptation of Twelfth Night. He’s been published in numerous outlets including Huff Post, Graphic Policy, Rewire and more and helped found and organize the Washington, DC Food Truck Association. He has a degree in theater form American University and has written numerous screenplays.

Producers

Tara L. Craig

Tara L. Craig is the founder and president of The Squid Farm, which launched in 2017. The production company focuses on the creation of genre motion pictures, TV series and commercials.

Under The Squid Farm banner, Craig most recently produced Sheroes for Paramount. The action thriller stars Sasha Luss, Isabelle Fuhrman, Skai Jackson and Wallis Day and is directed by Jordan Gertner (The Virgin Suicides, Spring Breakers). She also recently produced the Neil LaBute drama Out of the Blue starring Diane Kruger, Ray Nicholson and Hank Azaria.

Past movies from The Squid Farm catalog include the feature comedy Guest House (#1 on Amazon Prime – Sept. 2020) and the sci-fi thriller 3022 (Top 10 on Netflix – March 2020). The first Squid Farm production, the psychological horror feature Shook sold to Shudder and was released in February 2021.

In 2018, Craig also served as Executive Producer on the comedy feature Friendsgiving (released theatrically and on Amazon Prime in October 2020), produced by Ben Stiller’s Red Hour Productions and starring Malin Akerman. She also produced commercials for the National Basketball Association, Goodyear and Buffalo Wild Wings.

Before launching The Squid Farm, Craig produced the features Mad Families, No Way Jose, the 2013 Tribeca film Trust Me, Balls to the Wall and April Fool’s Day.

Craig graduated cum laude at New York University’s Tisch School of the Arts and completed a screenwriting program at University of London. She is a member of the Directors Guild of America. Craig is also an adjunct professor at the Art Center College of Design and has guest lectured at UCLA and USC.

Stuart K Robinson

Stuart K Robinson is CEO/Partner of Brady, Brannon & Rich Talent and is Vice President of the Association of Talent Agents. An accomplished director/writer/producer of film, television and stage, he is author of the popular book, It All Begins With I, and is a nationally-known motivational speaker. His inspirational work stretches beyond the entertainment industry, where he coaches and consults with corporations, organizations and individuals of all walks of life.

Meredith Riley Stewart

Meredith Riley Stewart is a producer and actor, and founder of Halcyon Content. Born and raised in Alabama, Meredith now calls Los Angeles home. Her first feature film, The Greatest Inheritance, in which she stars alongside Mena Suvari and Jaleel White, was distributed by Vertical Entertainment, and is currently available on Amazon. Her most recent feature, For When You Get Lost, made its world premiere at the Austin Film Festival in 2023, where it won the Audience Award for Best Comedy. It had a theatrical run in September 2024 and will be available on VOD late in the year. Her award-winning short, American Dream, premiered at the Cannes Film Festival, won Best Acting at the LA Shorts Fest and Grand Jury Prize for Best Short at the Seattle Film Fest.

As a multimedia producer, Meredith has created numerous digital series (WIF’s Flip the Script, AutocorrectFU, Shaping Our State), short films (Orphan is the New Orange, Miss Underwater, No Backsies) and a virtual reality experience (See Me). With Aegis Creative Media, Meredith is currently in development for her next feature, Church & State, based on the award-winning Off-Broadway play of the same name. Meredith is a Television Academy member and Women In Film Peer fellow and a proud union member (SAG-AFTRA and AEA). Above all, Meredith is passionate about using media as a platform for social change.