Saluda

“Saluda” opens with a drug bust in a trailer park on the outskirts of town. Two million in Cartel cocaine seized, and rumors swirling about who the rat could be. At the same time, the Governor’s drug addict wife checks herself out of rehab and is soon found dead from a “hot dose.” Two events, seemingly unrelated, like stones thrown into opposite sides of a lake. But the ripples from each will crash against the people of Saluda, resulting in a terrible, tragic loss even this town will be struggle to deal with. With Chief of Police Brandon Stokes and FBI Agent Deandrea Gibbs at the helm, SALUDA follows a medium-sized, ensemble cast of characters as they come to grips with the unimaginable deaths of ten middle school students whose bus disappears on an afternoon field trip, only to be found at the bottom of a lake a day later. When the bus driver is found shot in the head, what appeared to be a tragic accident soon becomes a homicide investigation. And when an extra body is found on the bus, the cause of the tragedy takes on a more sinister aspect. For the body is that of a young woman named Ruby Darling, the one person who can tie the drug bust to the Governor’s dead wife. Despite dash cam video which records the events leading up to the accident, both Chief Stokes and Agent Gibbs struggle to determine a motive and catch the killer. This story, much like the town itself, weaves together the lives, loves, sins and kinships of its characters – pulling the audience into the real life crossroads of small town America. It seems everyone has ties to either the children at the bottom of the lake or the crime that sent them to their death. And one thing is certain: every answer begins with Ruby Darling. Saluda is a 2016 ScreenCraft Fellowship Semi-finalist.