Filmmaker Statement

Zachary Levi (Shazam!, Chuck) and Adrianne Palicki (Quasi, Friday Night Lights, The Orville), co-star and executive produce Thoughts and Prayers, a short film centered on an all too frequent and tragic occurrence in today’s America. The film was helmed by Evan Miller, who directed, produced, and co-wrote the script with Hardy Janson. Though Miller and Janson had developed the idea together, it was during lockdown, when Miller and Palicki, longtime friends and Austinites, decided it was too important to wait to be told, and could be filmed entirely in their hometown of Austin, TX. The inspiration for the film came from Miller who felt the need to show school shootings not as a political issue, but as a public safety crisis where the different sides of the aisle don’t matter. It has unfortunately only become more relevant with the events in Uvalde, TX, along with the over 40 mass shootings that have happened in 2023 alone.