Dakota

Dakota’s life wasn’t always at a stalemate. Two years prior, Dakota had been offered a full-ride scholarship to a New York City graduate program for vocal performance, and her musical collaborations with her best friend Robert were gaining traction online. When Dakota meets Logan after a performance, she falls for him hard and fast, seemingly choosing him at the time over her musical ambitions. Logan supports Dakota’s music, but is skeptical of Dakota and Robert’s friendship. The night before her grad school audition, Dakota goes on a drunk bender in Brooklyn with Robert. When she awakes the next morning, she has completely lost her voice and bails on the audition and grad school altogether. Dakota returns to DC to find Logan waiting to break up with her – livid about a social media post, featuring Robert and Dakota cuddling in the same bed together during her New York trip. In the present, Dakota works a dead-end job, lives at home with her mom, and struggles to cut ties with Logan, even two years after their breakup. Estranged from Robert and constantly arguing with her mother, Dakota is desperate to prove that she isn’t a failure. Feeling like she’s losing control of her life, Dakota decides to give music another chance, and sets out on a new path – albeit, not a straight one. (Washington D.C. Independent Film Festival)