Part self-help nightmare and all comedy, WAKE UP, LEONARD follows a man failing miserably to "stay on his vibe." It's the story of a broken-hearted seeker with a tenuous grasp on wellness and too much faith in the Universe.

We open on Leonard moving into a new apartment with help from his perpetually stoned sister Orla. An out-of-work actor & overworked assistant, Leonard rushes to his boss's house to hang Christmas decorations...and receives an unexpected text from his ex that gives Leonard all the false hope and a little direction.

An improvised feature shot during the pandemic, WAKE UP, LEONARD explores themes of mental health, queer love, and self acceptance that asks, "It's a wonderful life?"

Director Kat Mills Martin

Director's Statement:

Wake Up, Leonard draws inspiration from my experience working in the wellness industry for over ten years, while pursuing a career in filmmaking. Through my journey, I’ve acquired a deep and meaningful relationship to meditation, yoga, tea ceremony, traditional healing modalities, and indigenous ceremonies. Moving to LA, and being faced with the reality of having to make a living as an artist, I spent many years working in what I would consider to be the capitalist wellness industry.

The stark contrast of my genuine connection with the indigenous practices and lineages in which I studied against the billion (trillion?) dollar wellness industry greatly influenced what I taught and how I practiced. During the pandemic, I witnessed how this industry preys upon folks with vulnerable mental states and broken hearts. In the privileged circles of Los Angeles, where some may pay $21 for a smoothie, it becomes easy to think we can buy our way to happiness.

Even for those of us who cannot afford the $21 smoothie, a wellness “lifestyle” functions as a backdrop in this city, a haunting reminder to constantly pathologize ourselves. This dichotomy is something that we explore in Wake Up, Leonard.

Through Leonard’s eyes, we see that his unique journey to wholeness isn’t something he can manufacture or purchase despite his efforts -- constantly reciting affirmations, attempting to meditate in his car, and desperately enlisting the help of a very expensive metaphysical healer.