Miles away

LOGLINE

A bolt of lightning throws a photographer at the top of his game into a surreal underworld, where he must sacrifice his facade or be damned to the Second Death.

Synopsis

The story begins with commercial photographer Miles Monroe, an exacting formalist who uses perfection as armor. He thinks intimacy is a threat. After losing a big gig, Miles forces a shoot to continue during a storm. He reaches for a light stand and CRAAACK. He’s hit by lightning.

We enter a dreamy alternate reality now. Miles finds himself in the office of ACKERMAN, the cryptic editor of Esoterica. Ackerman tells Miles he's trapped in the underworld and on trial for his life. Ackerman gives him an assignment to photograph director LEONORA MOON and her immersive theatre troupe as they rehearse a play about the Egyptian myth of Osiris. To get back to the living, Miles must find his Eye of Eyes, a new way of seeing the world. If he fails, he's damned to the Second Death.

Miles embeds in the production, hiding behind his lens while Leonora draws him close and helps him search for his emotional truth. Miles discovers a Mausoleum that he thinks may lead to a way home, but a menacing neighbor, JONES, guards it and warns he isn't ready. When Miles finally delivers his photos, Ackerman rejects them as beautiful but lifeless, and kills the story. Devastated, he turns to Leonora, who long ago chose this world over the living. She offers him an opportunity to stay with her, but Miles chooses to risk entering the Mausoleum and the weighing of his heart on the scale for the chance to reunite with his mother. Inside the Mausoleum, Miles surrenders his camera, and earns passage.

When Miles wakes from his coma, his mother greets him with tears. Back home, he opens his heart and begins his new lease on life. MILES AWAY is about a photographer who thinks he’s doing his job, but discovers the assignment is about dropping his facade and connecting with people.

TEAM BIOs

WRITER/DIRECTOR/PRODUCER - MICHAEL LAVINE is an award-winning filmmaker and acclaimed photographer, known for visually compelling narratives and striking imagery. His latest short film, The Wanderer, a gothic noir fantasy starring Alice Kremelberg, is currently on its festival run, including a prestigious screening at the 72nd Sydney Film Festival in June 2025. Michael has devoted recent years to creating The Dark Odyssey, an acclaimed series of metaphysical sci-fi stop-motion animated shorts screened at over 100 festivals worldwide. Alongside his filmmaking, he has authored multiple feature-length screenplays. Earlier in his career, Michael became internationally renowned as a rock photographer, capturing iconic portraits of musicians such as Kurt Cobain, Notorious B.I.G., and Cher. His influential photography books, Noise from the Underground (Simon & Schuster)—featuring bands like Nirvana, Sonic Youth, and Soundgarden—and GRUNGE (Abrams), documenting Seattle’s punk scene of the 1980s, remain essential visual chronicles of the era. Michael resides in New York’s Hudson Valley.

PRODUCER - RAJ TRIVEDI makes films because he believes stories have the power to change how people see themselves and the world around them. Miles Away is the project he didn’t know he’d been preparing for. A film about finding honest authenticity in creative work feels as universal as it is timely with the advent of so many tools that aim to take over the creative process. Producing it alongside Michael Lavine, a photographer who didn’t just document a cultural moment, he created the way we remember it — feels like exactly the right story, with exactly the right collaborator.

Raj’s work has taken him from directing a Bollywood feature starring legendary Paresh Rawal and Amit Sial in Mumbai to directing and producing seasons of true crime television, including a two-hour special of 20/20 for ABC News. Raj has been fortunate to work alongside Academy Award nominated Ramin Bahrani as his assistant, and was also part of the first cohort of Salon’s mentorship program under Aneesh Chaganty. When not making his own work, he teaches undergraduates at NYU Tisch and graduate students at Feirstein Graduate School of Cinema in Brooklyn. He holds an MFA in film directing and screenwriting from Columbia University’s School of the Arts.

PRODUCER - LISA M. THOMAS has been producing in film and television since moving to NYC.  Some of her more notable producing credits include: Teenage Euthanasia, The Shivering Truth, Zoolander Supermodel, One Percent More Humid, Thirsty and the MTV series, Wonder Showzen.  She is the president and co-founder of Thin Edge Films and has worked for Adult Swim, PBS, NBC, PFFR and Augenblick Studios.

CASTING DIRECTOR - LOIS DRABKIN is a Casting Director who has worked extensively on a range of projects, most notably in independent film, including: the Sundance premieres NANCY, LISTEN UP PHILIP, RESTLESS CITY, NIGHT CATCHES US, and THE MISSING PERSON; the Independent Spirit Award acting-nominated features COLEWELL (Karen Allen), NANCY (J. Smith Cameron) and GLASS CHIN (Marin Ireland); and the future releases of Indiewire Young Filmmaker to Watch Jack Fessenden’s FOXHOLE, and FARAWAY EYES, with Christina Ricci and Andy Karl. Additional credits include the first season of the Emmy-winning Showtime documentary series investigating climate change, YEARS OF LIVING DANGEROUSLY, and as part of the casting teams for Steven Spielberg’s WAR OF THE WORLDS, the acclaimed HBO series THE WIRE, and Michael Mann’s PUBLIC ENEMIES. A member of the Casting Society of America, Lois has been nominated for five Artios Awards for Outstanding Casting.