We are traveling across the United States to film roughly twenty people extensively, with about ten ultimately appearing in the finished feature. Every conversation begins the same way: we sit down and listen.
Image brief — production still
Behind the scenes: a two- or three-person crew filming in a lived-in home, subject 80+ mid-conversation, camera visible at the edge of frame. Natural window light. Avoid: large sound stages, hero shots of equipment, anything that looks like a commercial set.
I’ve always been drawn to real stories, the kind that may never make headlines but reveal something profound about what it means to be human. Some of the most extraordinary stories belong to ordinary people who have built careers, raised families, endured loss, fallen in love, made mistakes, started over, and accumulated a lifetime of experiences worth preserving.
Through this film, we will travel across America and spend meaningful time with people over 80 from different regions, professions, cultures, and circumstances. We want to understand not only who they once were, but who they are today. What gives their days purpose? What do they miss? What still excites them? What would they do differently? And after eight decades of living, what have they learned?
These perspectives matter because they offer something younger generations cannot yet possess: the ability to look back across the long arc of a life and understand which things ultimately mattered, and which did not.
I also see this project as an act of preservation. Every participant carries memories, experiences, voices, and family histories that exist nowhere else.
Ultimately, the Beyond Retirement project isn’t simply a film about growing older. It’s a film about how to live. By listening to people who have already traveled most of the road ahead of us, perhaps we can see our own lives differently: what deserves our time, what we should let go of, who we should hold closer, and what we might regret if we keep waiting. Their stories are about the lives they’ve lived, but the lessons may belong to all of us.
Drake Shannon
Director
“Their stories are about the lives they’ve lived, but the lessons may belong to all of us.”
Drake Shannon
Director
