SHORT FILM
Hard, on the outside

Screening RSVP

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LOCATION: Los Angeles TBD
TIME: October 2025
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Story

Hard, on the Outside — a fiction short film about Eastern European immigrants living in Los Angeles.
The title refers to an old expression "with people, there are peaches and there are coconuts".

Eastern Europeans tend to be coconuts — hard on the outside, but soft on the inside.
People from the Western world tend to be peaches — soft on the outside, but with a hard center.

Our characters Anya, Mila, Aleks, and Maksym are Russian and Ukrainian immigrants settling into their new lives. We experience their everyday struggles to acclimate to life in the West while we learn with them that "a smile goes a long way" in America.

Crew

Director, Writer, Producer, Editor
Trevor Clifford
Co-director, Co-writer
Daria Shustova
Director of Photography
Cory Warner
Casting Director
Aaron Schoonover
Production Sound Mixer
Ivan Shirshov
Assistant Camera
Kiko Sweeney
Grip / Gaffer
Will Dobak, Reed Barcellos
Production Designer
Joanna Cabalquinto
Hair & Makeup Artist
Alona Ksenofontova
Production Assistant & Swing
Jayadeep Reddy
Special Thanks
George Barbakadze

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