Films
The Awakening
Where dreams don’t fade… they follow you back.
At Ascent Stories Inc, we don’t just make films.
We build them.
We carry them.
We fight for them… until they exist.
And The Awakening is one of those films that asked everything of us.
A Film We Chose — And One That Chose Us
When Drew Peardon brought us The Awakening, it wasn’t just a script.
It was a world.
A fractured, haunting, deeply personal world that explored isolation, perception, and what it means to feel disconnected from reality… and from others.
When we later received support from the Calgary Society of Independent Filmmakers through the FISH Fund, it felt like something quietly powerful clicked into place.
An independent jury.
A story judged on merit alone.
That kind of recognition doesn’t just support a film.
It anchors it.
The Story We Stepped Into
A boy plagued by nightmares.
A monster chained in a basement.
A hunger that cannot be reasoned with.
Davey dreams of a life where he is feared, hidden, and ultimately hunted.
But as the film unfolds, the question shifts:
Which version of him is real?
The boy who wakes up screaming…
or the creature who believes his world is the truth?
This isn’t just horror.
It’s perspective unraveling.
Why I Said Yes to Producing
I’m so grateful that I’ve come to realize… I truly love producing.
It’s not glamorous. Not most of the time.
It’s long days, late nights, invisible effort.
It’s carrying the weight of a vision that isn’t fully real yet… and making sure it becomes something tangible.
Sometimes it feels like pushing a rock up a mountain that never ends.
But then you get to set.
And suddenly…
Everything breathes.
You’re surrounded by people who care.
Who show up.
Who believe.
And that’s where it all pays off.
How We Built It
This project was hands-on from the very beginning.
I worked alongside Mike Migliara to bring this to life through Ascent Stories Inc and in collaboration with Screen Acting Academy.
From locking locations to shaping the script, from casting conversations to organizing rehearsals, from coordinating crew to solving the hundred tiny problems no one ever sees…
This film was built piece by piece.
Quietly.
Carefully.
Relentlessly.
Filmed in Calgary, including the raw, open landscapes of Nose Hill Park, we grounded something surreal in something real.
The People
This set was filled with people who are in this industry for the right reasons.
Not ego.
Not status.
Not the illusion of fame.
But story.
Teamwork.
Authenticity.
Craft.
From our director and crew to every cast member and volunteer, this was a group that showed up fully.
And that kind of energy… you feel it in the final frame.
Our Museum Quality Manifesto
At Ascent Stories, we talk about building museum-quality work.
Not in budget.
Not in scale.
But in intention.
Work that feels preserved.
Work that holds weight.
Work that, years from now, still says something true.
The Awakening is that kind of piece.
It doesn’t rush to explain itself.
It doesn’t hand you comfort.
It invites you to sit in the discomfort… and ask questions.
About reality.
About perception.
About what we justify when we believe something isn’t real.
Why This One Stays With Me
This film resonates with me because it reflects something I see all around us.
We’re all, in some way, living in our own versions of reality.
And sometimes…
we shape those realities to make things easier to accept.
Even when they shouldn’t be.
What Comes Next
We’ve wrapped production.
We’ve celebrated. (The wrap party energy? unmatched.)
Now, The Awakening begins its next chapter through festival submissions, screenings, and release.
And like every project…
it leaves a mark on us.
Because every time we do this, we grow.
We connect.
We build something that didn’t exist before.
This is what it means to be a filmmaker in Alberta.
To be a self-starter.
A go-getter.
A storyteller.
And we’re just getting started.
#KeepAlbertaRolling
