YOYOs

Lexi and Michal met in 2023 at Naked Angels Theater Company’s weekly cold reading series Tuesdays @ 9. Both go-getter creatives, they were attracted to working on a project together. The parameters were simple - brainstorm something they could film on Michal’s new property in rural southwestern Virginia. What blossomed was a deeply personal script about political divides, family, and growing up - no matter what age you are!

In January of 2025, they hired their director Lynda Reiss and they were off to the races, growing their team and fundraising along the way to reach their goal of filming by July.

The title “YOYOs” is a survivalist term that stands for “You’re On Your Own.” Throughout the film, our characters find out the ways in which this is, and isn’t, true.

Lexi and Michal dove into the survivalist community for research, meeting so many lovely people along the way who taught them about their skills, their journeys, and their products - several of which made it into the movie! Humungous shoutout to homesteader Scott Vernon, who began as a consultant and ended up an Associate Producer on the film.

Principal photography is now complete! The film is in post production and the team will have more updates soon.

YOYOs is proudly supported by the Virginia Film Office. We are a SAG film. We have fiscal sponsorship through RAI and Cinefemme.