A Still, Small Paw is a dystopian family thriller — a planned feature film project anticipated to be completed and ready for national distribution before the 2028 U.S. Presidential election.

Our film 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 is hostile toward their very existence.

For backstory on the film’s goals, read James Lantz’s essay for The Black List series, “Why We Write.”

In January 2026, the screenplay was evaluated by a reviewer at The Black List and gave it a score of 8 — fewer than 5% of all projects on the site have received an overall score of 8 or above. You can read two full Black List evaluations here.

In March 2026, Greenlight Coverage scored it at 8.2, ranked it in the 99th percentile, and gave it a “Recommend.” In the film industry, most scripts receive a "Consider" or "Pass." A "Recommend" is a distinction awarded to only a small percentage of scripts evaluated and means the industry considers it ready to be made.

During the summer of 2026, the production received a $10,000 grant from the Vermont Film Production Economic Impact Pilot Program.

To read the screenplay of “A Still, Small Paw,” click here.

To check out the Lookbook, click here.

The screenplay is 100% human written (James Lantz is the human).

Filmmaker:

The film is written and will be directed by James Lantz, an Off Broadway playwright, award-winning filmmaker, and activist who has spent decades creating activism-fueled projects.

In 2024, James was arrested, jailed, and convicted of protesting a MAGA anti-LGBTQ state senator who ignored the suicide deaths of five trans youth in his own country. More info at James’s Angry Gay Grandpa web series.

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

The title draws from the Old Testament verse: “And after the fire a still, small voice.”