The Story
When a suspicious explosion leaves their low-rent, wannabe mobster boss for dead, $2M in un-cut cocaine lands in the hands of five queer besties. With nothing to lose and bills piling up, they launch their makeshift empire out of a crumbling Italian restaurant. But slinging powder in a sleepy town isn’t as low-key as they hoped.
Caught in the crosshairs of rival dealers, corrupt cops, and a mysterious power broker, these small-town gays must decide: take the cash and vanish, or go full-throttle and crown themselves the new generation of crime families. It’s lust, loyalty, ambition vs. blood, bullets, and betrayal in this darkly funny, high-stakes queer crime saga.
“Nobody wants to be born here. And as far back as I can remember, I always wanted to get out.”
Wild Ones is a feature film currently in development.
DIRECTOR'S STATEMENTMy favorite thing to do as a kid was to watch the same movies over and over again, climb up the willow tree on the side of the house and sit, drifting into fantasy for hours. Movies expanded my mind to wild realities so far away from the small town where I lived, from the conditions of my working-class upbringing. The greatest challenge, and even greater pleasure, that I have as a filmmaker is to take these reflections, dreams and memories and weave them together in an offering of truth, whatever that may be.
WILD ONES challenged me to create a cast of characters defined by their social environment and engage with how they rebel against its limitations. Five best friends who take on the most dangerous challenge they have ever known in order to make a better life. We watch them navigate new opportunities while witnessing their ruptured friendships struggle to transition from adolescence to adulthood. How can they be vulnerable? How can they confront and accept change? How can they find purpose while participating in the myriad struggles of everyday life?
This film doesn’t exist to explain a character’s queerness or offer up a didactic journey for audiences. Instead, we offer a story for all crime-action fans that dives into the enigmatic lives and messy ambitions of our anti-heroes. By allowing for the characters’ trans or queer identity to be just one aspect of their circumstances rather than the center of the whole film, we receive a new perspective on the genre, one that has been historically reserved for the “typical” leading man.
Recognizing the shared conditions of mafia families and queer chosen families was a breakthrough for me as it provided the landscape in which to explore this story. It’s here that we pose the idea that as queer people, our lives have value and that value is worth fighting for. This film traces its way through questions and themes of freedom, belonging, oppression, power and success. At the heart of it, WILD ONES is a film about family, the conflict between pain and healing, and how we learn to accept and grow with one another.
SUPPORTPrincipal photography for a proof of concept short film was completed in November 2024. The short is now making it’s rounds in domestic and international festivals. Keep an eye on our news section to catch a screening near you! Rarely do we seen nonbinary and trans representation in the genre, in front of and behind the camera, and we are long overdue for a film like this to be made by the people represented in its story. There is incredible value in knowing that your support is the reason that Wild Ones is able to achieve its mission, thank you!
THE TEAM
Leone DiSantis - Writer & Director
Leone “Leo” DiSantis (they/them) is a transgender filmmaker making their directorial debut with WILD ONES, executive produced by Lilly Wachowski. Their genre-driven narratives explore identity, class, and queerness as lived experience.
A 2023 Sundance Development Track finalist and a 2021 Sundance Creative Producing lab finalist, their work has been featured in Rolling Stone, Vogue, and The New York Times. They have previously produced film and video content for artists including Brittany Howard, Remi Wolf, Kali Uchis, Wallows, and The Rolling Stones.
DiSantis co-produced the documentary feature WE ARE PAT (Official Selection 2024 Tribeca Film Festival) and the narrative short FRAUD (Official Selection 2022 Tribeca Film Festival). A WILD ONES proof of concept short film is currently on the festival circuit, most recently holding it’s New York premiere at the 25th annual Tribeca Film Festival.
Maddy Talias - Cinematographer
Maddy Talias (they/them) is a cinematographer based in New York, Los Angeles and London, emerging as a dynamic force in visual storytelling. In 2023, Maddy’s striking cinematography caught the attention of Beyoncé Knowles-Carter, leading to their work on the Renaissance World Tour film.
Maddy is a 2025 ReFrame Rise Fellow (sponsored by Sundance, Netflix, WIF, and ReFrame). They are also a 2022-2023 ASC Vision Mentee, a Local 600 DP and was recently invited into the AFI Cinematography Intensive for Women cohort. Their work has been showcased at the Tribeca Film Festival—winning Most Moving Narrative in 2024—as well as MoMA, The New Museum, and MOCA Cleveland.
Maddy’s artistry is defined by a keen eye for emotion, movement, and light, shaping the future of cinematography.
Lilly Wachowski - Executive Producer
Lilly Wachowski (she/her) is a trans woman and lifelong Chicago resident. She holds a half-finished BA as well as an almost completed Post Baccalaureate certificate from SAIC. Lilly has worked as a Building Maintenance Technician’s Assistant, self-employed carpenter and Writer/Producer/Director for Warner Bros, Netflix and Showtime among others. She also paints; sometimes she paints ducks.
Cookie Walukas - Producer
Cookie Walukas (they/them) is a queer filmmaker driven by obsession with cinema, art, photography and pop culture. Harking from alma mater University of Southern California’s School of Cinematic Arts, they live, laugh, love and work in Los Angeles and New York City sometimes. Clients include: Beyoncé, Prince Harry and Meghan Markle, Mariah Carey, Apple, ABC, Disney, and all of the major record labels.