The Other Kind

a feature film written and directed by katie cunningham

“I think it is good to live.
To pause.
To Begin Again.”

- Kenneth Patchen

still swimming in grief a year after her father’s sudden death on family vacation. When she meets the happy-go-lucky Miles, their connection sparks a journey of healing.

Told across two timelines in Kit’s life: a present-day road trip through the western United States with Miles, and memories of her fateful trip to Kenmare, Ireland one year earlier. As Kit returns to California to reunite with her family for the anniversary of her father’s passing, her days with Miles nudge her to process her understanding of death and life's disappointments, to find the peace she needs to begin truly living again.

A hopeful, tender, and often playful exploration of love and loss —- and the light that emerges in life’s darkest moments.

The Other Kind follows Kit Kennedy,

  • The last conversation I had with my father was at a coffee shop in Kenmare, Ireland. We talked about the book I was reading. 

  • That day, I was numb. I had been numb for months in the wake of my divorce. But as I explained the premise of my book, I remember my father telling me it was his favorite kind of structure: a story within a story. He called it a “container.”

  • He filled our conversation with lighthearted topics like my reading material because he knew I didn’t want to talk about my all-encompassing fear that I would never feel light again. But funny enough, in our last conversation, he gave me the guidance I would need to process the heaviest thing of all: his impending death. 

  • When I started writing The Other Kind, the first draft was heavy and admittedly one dimensional. It was only when I drew upon the full story of my last five years that I found the container I needed to tell a story worthy of the lessons my father taught me.

  • This photograph, which served as the inspiration behind my favorite scene of the script, was taken by my Miles. And while I love this picture, the most devastating and beautiful part of it is how much my father would have loved to see me smile like that again on our last day together in Ireland. 

  • But then again, he knew I would. 

For more information about The Other Kind development, send me a note at katiemaysay@gmail.com