A Still, Small Paw is a feature film currently in the works, with the goal to have it completed and ready for national distribution before the 2028 U.S. Presidential election. This project is being created with a clear purpose: to offer support, visibility, and hope to trans and LGBTQ youth at a time when the cultural and legislative climate can feel hostile toward their very existence.

The film is written and will be directed by James Lantz, an Off Broadway playwright and award-winning filmmaker who has spent decades telling stories that matter.

The story:

In the near future, small-town America is shaken by a chilling new government mandate: the eradication of all small dogs. Amid loud applause in Congress, the bill’s sponsor thunders:

“A country is never made great on trembling legs, nor lifted by whining, nor empowered by empathy — and never, ever on a leash!”

On his 14th birthday, a boy named Hank fights to protect his beloved dog, Tip, while his father — a conflicted veterinarian — is pressured to enforce the new law. As tensions escalate, the family must decide whether to submit or resist, while Hank, caught between survival and self-discovery, faces a choice just as profound: embrace who he truly is, or deny it.

Praised as “absolutely genius” by The Black List, the script has been hailed by film industry coverage reviewers for its “endearing protagonist,” “wonderful characters who could draw marquee names,” and “a chilling depiction of fascistic gaslighting.”

Evoking the urgency of Children of Men and the allegorical power of 1984, A Still, Small Paw is a bold, deeply American story of identity, defiance, and moral courage.

The title draws from the Old Testament verse: “…then came a still, small voice.”