In the beginning

In 2018 Mat Miller set out to start his first feature film project “Dessert Island”. He started the script in January of 2018 and by the end of the summer he was ready to launch his first fundraiser.

The Idea

“Dessert Island” was inspired by recent political and social issues in Oklahoma and Colorado. Oklahoma teachers are currently rallying for fully funded schools and a living wage, and it’s shutting down schools across the state. Not only that, but meaningful programs including art have been completely cut from our schools due to these massive budget cuts. Colorado is in its third year of legalizing marijuana, and made over $2 billion for the state of Colorado in its first year. With state and federal regulations at odds, the cannabis industry faces its own issues related to where income can be held. It is a huge cash operation and massive amounts of cash have been stolen from these businesses.

So, the concept for “Dessert Island” was born. What if a recently laid-off public school art teacher decided to rob a Colorado weed dispensary to revive the art program at the school?

By September Oklahoma had introduced medical marijuana making a big impact on our local economy. It also impacted our script. We decided to make the film all set in Oklahoma and are able to utilize all of what Oklahoma has to offer in this film making adventure.