Current Project:
Embers & flow
STORY
After the 2018 Camp Fire erased much of Paradise, California, one steady presence remained: the West Branch of the Feather River. Embers & Flow is a lyrical short that begins in the ashes of a family home and follows the river as teacher, witness, and medicine. Through archival moments, quiet cinéma vérité, and patient, immersive cinematography—including intimate river and underwater drift shots—the film traces a healing grammar written in water: connection, flow, quiet. A personal story that traces family roots to the headwaters and down river to grief, acceptance and healing. Set on location at the edge of Paradise and wilderness, the film invites audiences to feel the river’s work and to join it—by hosting community screenings, supporting restoration, and tending their own waters. In the ebb and flow between sorrow and return, Embers & Flow offers a clear, grounded truth: life moves forward with the river, and we can, too.
OUR PARTNER:
We’re proud to partner with American Rivers as sponsor and outreach collaborator. Their team supports watershed restoration, reconnects floodplains, and advances policy that keeps rivers alive for people and wildlife
PROCESS
ROOTS
For as long as I can remember, the Feather River has been part of my life—hiking from my family’s home into the canyon, my dad teaching me to pan for gold in its icy water and to cast a fly. I learned simple care: pack out trash, step lightly, leave it better. The river held the joy of my youth. I didn’t know then how much of who I am would be shaped by a river—my home river—its sound filling my body and settling my mind.
WHY NOW?
We live in a time when the data is clear and still not enough. Charts don’t move a heart that’s gone numb. Relationship does. Each of us, whether we know it or not, has a “home river”—or lake, creek, ocean, spring. What body of water made you? Why does that matter in a climate crisis? Because belonging can become care, and care can become action.
HoW We Film
This project returns to the Feather River through the seasons to listen first and then film. We work slowly and with a small footprint—early and late light, tripod and careful drifts, sound recorded like breath. We wade, dive, and film underwater where it’s safe, letting the camera learn the river’s grammar: slow · spread · sink. Along the way, we’ve fished, mapped pools, and held ceremony at my mother’s resting place near the headwaters. The process follows the river’s own pace—surprised by its unfolding.
PRACTICE
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Place before picture: earn the shot by listening.
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Natural light, minimal gear.
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Safety, consent, and respect—for people, fish, banks, and beds.
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Share back: community screenings and partner actions.
INVITATION
This film asks a simple question: What is your body of water?
If we start there—in relationship—then the work ahead is not just
a set of problems to solve, but a home to return to and tend.
Mine happens to be the Feather River.
THE TEAM
ALLEN MYERS
Writer & Director
Allen Myers is a filmmaker and photographer from Paradise, California, whose work sits where grief, ecology, and community meet. After the 2018 Camp Fire, he created the large-format portrait series Out of Ashes and the short A Message from the Future of Paradise. His practice is collaborative and place-based—listening first, then shaping stories with the people who live them. With Embers & Flow, Allen leads a river-led approach to healing: patient images, minimal narration, and hands doing the work.
TANNER STAUSS
Director of Photography
Tanner Stauss is a cinematographer focused on natural-light, location-driven storytelling. On Embers & Flow, he guides the visual language across RED principal photography and river/underwater sequences, favoring quiet, observational frames that let water and landscape speak.
EV DURÁN
Story & Post-Producer
& Additional Cinematography
Raised in Paradise, Ev is the award-winning filmmaker behind All Its Name Implies, a definitive Camp Fire documentary he launched to strong community impact. On Embers & Flow, he steers story continuity, contributes targeted cinematography distribution and outreach—leveraging his Paradise roots to bring the film to festivals, community screenings, and partner networks. See Ev's work at U.T.B. Studios.
WHAT'S NeXT
FILMING
MAY 2025 - March 2026
Seasonal returns to the Feather River for winter/spring sequences, underwater drifts, and final pickups. Safety-first, small footprint.
EDITING & SOUND
APRIL 2026 - MAY 2026
Assembly → fine cut → color + mix. Writing the final VO “letter to the river.”
Target: picture lock by end of May 2026.
FESTIVALS & OUTREACH
JUNE 2026 - AUGUST 2026
Submit to river, environmental, and art doc festivals; release a 60–90s teaser; build press kit & stills.
COMMUNITY SCREENINGS
SEPTEMBER 2026 ONWARD
In partnership with American Rivers, host screenings with a discussion guide and clear actions (volunteer, support restoration, care for your home watershed).
HOW TO PLUG IN
Follow along on our journey. Sign up to stay up to date.
