LOGLINE

In an iconic 1980s small Texas town, a high school basketball prodigy hits a wall of expectations—the community’s, and his own. And then his estranged and unwelcome gay father comes home.

The STORY

Tiny is a one-blinking-stoplight town smack dab in the center of Texas. Some residents feel like they don't belong, others thrive in its country life, while some simply persevere day-to-day – but all share memories and dreams of glory days linked to the fortunes of Tiny High School athletics.

Mitch Wimmer, a senior, is the biggest man on the little campus. When he puts on his Tiny Arrows basketball uniform, he embodies the hopes and dreams of everyone in town. Cast in the mold of the great Pistol Pete Maravich, his future is pre-ordained as hoops star whether he likes it or not.

Behind his back, Mitch’s coach (and stepfather) has tied his own dreams to Mitch's inevitable path to a major college program and likely onto the NBA. When the college coaches suggest that a New York City ballet instructor work with the team, he begrudgingly accepts. Ballet? Mitch, surprisingly, shows an untapped aptitude for dance, and even enjoys it. When he gets an invitation to further study dance in NYC instead of college, a conniving grand plan is suddenly in danger.

Mitch struggles with what a red-blooded, All-American boy, deep in the heart of Texas, should do.

Mitch's life gets more complicated when his best friend Bobby becomes increasingly and inexplicably withdrawn. Bobby has been an island in the storm that Mitch has depended on for years. Mitch blames himself for a hunting accident the previous spring that changed Bobby's life. After the two boys experience a shocking personal encounter, Bobby disappears in shame.

Mitch's father, Clayton, had also disappeared without warning years earlier, leaving to create a new life for himself in the big city. Now, the death of his partner has left him shattered and with nowhere to go but back to Tiny. The homecoming is painful for everyone. Clayton looks for solid ground while his son Mitch searches for Bobby, who has begun a journey that resembles Clayton’s flight more than a decade ago.

The struggles of this trio form the beating heart of the “Tiny, Texas” story. One will leave town bound for new frontiers and two will reunite there for a unexpected second chance.

TINY, TEXAS mixes hints of HOOSIERS and THE HOLDOVERS with BILLY ELLIOT and BROKEBACK MOUNTAIN. The story belongs to a father, son, and a best friend, and is interwoven with tragedy, optimism, and nostalgic Texana. Life in small town Texas has never been told more honestly.

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About The WRITER

David Lykes Keenan wasn't born in Texas, but he got there as quick as he could. In 1978.

In the 1980s, he befriended Jimmy, an exile from a Pecan business in tiny Gustine. In the following years, he was a regular visitor to Jimmy's rural community where he attended family events, Fourth of July parades, pecan festivals, and domino tournaments, all while following the basketball fortunes of Jimmy's son. This boy, and the friends David came to know and love, inspired this story.

David wrote and directed another 1980s story, a short film entitled “Bodies of Water” produced in 2017, that appeared in 18 film festivals. That film featured Ellar Coltrane as the lead. Ellar is famous for being the boy in the landmark film 2014 film, “Boyhood.”