Grapes

A romantic comedy with a couple of twists by Jane C. Rosen

A woman finds love and the perfect pinot in the vines of a well-aged man.

Kate McMinton has mastered the technique to make crops grow in hostile environments. And after 20 years of tackling problems all over the world, Kate is ready to take on her biggest challenge yet – create a GMO crop that can grow in oil-damaged soil. She has the seedlings to prove it and now, a giant oil company is ready to finance the work. But Kate’s seedlings go up in flames, along with her house, taking the proof she needs to close the deal.

Desperate to recreate the seedlings, Kate accepts her friend’s offer to move into a vacant cottage at her parents’ biodynamic vineyard. However, upon Kate’s arrival, the parents are shocked to see that their Irish guest is a 40-year-old black woman who works with GMO’s. Kate is ready to bolt, until Pamela reasons with everyone and brings enough calm for Kate to feel okay about staying.

Yet, despite the parents warning to “keep her GMO work away from their paradise,” Kate becomes obsessed with a dying block of the vineyard. This begins a passionate war with her friend’s dad, Frank. The two pit their beliefs against each other and eventually their relationship evolves from opposition to curiosity to something unexpected that ignites deep within them, and Kate is faced with the complicated mess of loving a married man.

Grapes won the Creative World Awards, (first runner up), earned second round status in the Austin Film Festival, quarter finalist in the Richmond International Film Festival, and placed in the top 30% of the Academy Nicholl Fellowship in Screenwriting.

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