Isabel (Feature | Story & Script Development)

Isabel tells the story of a Dallas lawyer whose carefully structured life starts to feel off course. In the midst of a quiet early midlife crisis, he turns to fly-fishing in the Texas Hill Country, hoping the quiet will help him make sense of things. There, he meets Isabel, a woman whose honest questions and steady faith slowly shift the way he sees the world. What starts as a search for clarity becomes a deeper journey into love, grace, and the discomfort of not having all the answers. Based on a short story from Radney Foster’s For You to See the Stars, and inspired by the song Raining on Sunday, Isabel is a thoughtful, soulful look at what it means to reconnect with yourself, with someone else, and with something greater.

01. The Story Behind the Work

Being part of the creative development team on Isabel was an opportunity to help shape a story that feels both intimate and universal. At its core, this project matters because it speaks to a moment in life when certainty fades and we begin searching for something more meaningful. The spark came from Radney Foster’s song Raining on Sunday, where a simple image in the lyrics—a glimpse of milagros on doorways—opened up a world of questions about faith, love, and the quiet struggles of midlife.

Our challenge was to take that poetic moment and build it into a fully realized story that captures the emotional depth of the song while grounding it in real life. Working closely with Radney and his wife, we explored how a Dallas lawyer’s journey through fly-fishing could become a metaphor for finding purpose and grace. It was about balancing honesty and hope, doubt and connection, without ever losing the heart of the story.

What drew me to this project was its willingness to embrace complexity. It does not offer easy answers, but it invites the audience to sit with the questions. Isabel became a chance to tell a love story that is layered and true, one that reflects how messy and beautiful the search for meaning really is.

02. What I Did

• Brought a culturally grounded lens as a Latina storyteller to ensure the female characters, particularly Isabel, were emotionally layered, spiritually authentic, and resonant beyond cliché

• Advised on emotional and thematic nuance from a woman’s perspective, helping shape a story that honors vulnerability, inner questioning, and non-linear paths to healing

• Led cultural and emotional research to support the development of a narrative rooted in faith, identity, and place, especially as they intersect with love and midlife transition

• Supported the adaptation of a lyrical moment from Raining on Sunday into a story that reflects the complexity of female wisdom and emotional labor

• Worked closely with the writers to deepen the intimacy of the dialogue and the dynamics between characters, emphasizing moments of emotional honesty and quiet transformation

• Helped guide the tone and rhythm of the story to reflect not only the poetic nature of the source material but also a lived-in feminine sensibility

• Advocated for a portrayal of faith that felt spiritually sincere and culturally specific, rather than prescriptive or abstract

• Contributed to overall story strategy with a focus on emotional resonance, audience connection, and authenticity, particularly through a lens of gender and cultural identity

03. The Impact

Working on Isabel made the story stronger in ways that felt both creative and personal. It already had a beautiful emotional core, but through development, the characters became more fully realized and the emotional stakes more grounded. The team leaned into the quiet power of the story, especially around themes like faith, grief, and the kind of love that doesn’t always come with clear answers.

There were important conversations throughout the process that helped shift the way we approached the characters—especially Isabel. We focused on deepening her presence and agency, making sure she felt lived-in and emotionally complex, rather than just a guide for someone else's growth. That shift helped the story feel more balanced and more human.

Now that a production team is attached and the project is in the financing stage, it’s clear the work has already begun to resonate. The story is sparking early conversations around vulnerability, masculinity, and how people search for meaning in a messy, beautiful world. It’s the kind of film people remember not just for what happens, but for how it made them feel. And that’s always been the goal.