Adverse Effects

The story of Adverse Effect exposes a truth in a system where disabled people are used as a novelty or as marketing props by doctors and big corporations.

This creeping thriller taps into our fear of losing autonomy. It’s about finding your voice in a world that makes us all feel small.

Imagine GET OUT from a disabled person’s perspective.

Wes is disabled man who uses a wheelchair and wins a dream job at a pharmaceutical company. When Wes arrives at Pharmagen, he’s assigned a huge ADA compliant office. His coworkers are helpful but he’s creeped out by their obsessive tolerance of his disability. His boss, Dr. Byron, is a seemingly well-meaning man, but Wes soon discovers his ulterior motives.

Wes and his fiance, Kelly, meet an ex employee, Jonathan, also confined to a wheelchair. Jonathan uses a ventilator and can't speak except through a computer speech box (like Stephen Hawking). Jonathan meets with Wes privately and types “HELP ME,” but the words are quickly erased and replaced with a common greeting. Someone is overwriting his voice.

Later, Wes discovers secret archival security camera footage of the company testing drugs on unwilling subjects, including Dr. Byron's own son. Wes is next. Desperate, but determined, Wes discovers evidence in Dr. Bryon’s files that points back to Nazi research nearly a century old… as Wes tries to escape, he is knocked out.

Wes wakes up on a surgical table. Dr. Byron is about to cut him open, as part of his research on human genomic purity, as in Nazi-Germany, and he sees disabled people as a burden to society. Including his own son. Dr. Byron believes he’s creating a “healthier” society and thanks Wes for his support in this research. After all, they are changing humanity for the better.

Just as Wes is about to be sliced open, he is saved by his fiancé Kelly. Now, they must try to free the other disabled people.

Will they be able to escape Dr. Bryon in time?

Wes is confined to a wheelchair due to cerebral palsy, but stays positive, witty and sarcastic. A nearly perfect photographic memory helps him navigate through potential physical and social pitfalls. He is smart, relatable, and sexy. Just ask his fiancé. Years ago, Wes underwent a traumatic surgery. He was awake while the surgeons worked on him. The nightmares still plague him.

Charming, yet sinister. A sociopath great at mirroring emotion, but feels no empathy. His charm masks his dark secret. Head of an advanced pharmaceutical company, his drugs bring cures to the market, but at a steep price. They test their drugs on disabled people. This is making him rich, but he projects that it’s all in the name of “research and advancement of the human race.”

Whip-smart and creative. Independent, but shows her vulnerabilities. Kelly strives for the best but struggles to define that. She has a physical prowess and is compassionate enough to care for her disabled fiancé. She doesn’t want to be seen as some "nursemaid," and she makes that known, frequently. Kelly is humble. She sees taking care of Wes a noble. She paints fantastic 60's pop-art.

Neurotic and compulsive, and a bit neurodivergent. While she is calm and collected on the exterior, her inner turmoil is obvious. Her affection is a bit much, particularly with her disabled co-workers, which can be patronizing. Olivia means well, but she’s been drugged into this overly friendly stupor. And at any moment, she can also straddle the line between villain and clown.

A surgeon with a twisted past. Years ago, his son showed signs of Parkinson's. He sought to find a cure, but the testing process was slow. Desperate, he engaged the help of a secret enclave of underground, former Nazi doctors. He began testing on his own son. This yielded short term results, but he needs more patients with disabilities. He works with Dr. Byron's company to gather his human lab rats. He loves his son and would stop at nothing to save him.

In 2018, Michael wrote and directed the independent TV pilot “Manny Fantasma”, which premiered at the Santa Monica Film Festival that year, garnering the Emerging Director Award. It has since screened at over a dozen festivals worldwide, picking up several awards, including the Los Angeles Film Awards' Best Web/TV Pilot. The following year, Michael directed the feature length drama “The Forbidden Wish", starring Sammi Rotibi (Django Unchained) and Johnny Berchtold (Gaslit). It was distributed by Conduit Now in 2021, available on Amazon and other major streaming platforms.

Michael was born with a rare physical disability which confines him to an electric wheelchair. His work is often centered around the themes of disability awareness and the human experience of being a minority. He often highlights disability, LGBTQ+, and race inequality using empathy and deep self reflection of the human spirit.

Originally from North Dakota, Kirk has been working in film and TV for 25 years, starting as an actor, then writing and producing. He has a passion for finding unique NEW VOICES. Roos is the founder of Northern Lights Films, Badlands Features and Heartstrings Media Capital (HMC) and newly launched, Streamline Pictures.

At HMC, Roos is part of a team building a library of independent content. He recently produced/acted in SANTA’S COUSIN (Eric Roberts and Jonathan Stoddard), which shot in New Mexico, where he plans to film ADVERSE EFFECT. Some of HMC’s other titles coming soon include: GUARDIANS (Eric Roberts), HISTORY OF WESTERN SWING and BREWMANCE.

Some of his past producing credits include: 3 DAYS WITH DAD (Brian Dennehy, Tom Arnold, Lesley Ann Warren and JK Simmons), THE BRASS TEAPOT (Juno Temple and Michael Angarano), directed by Ramaa Mosley, Voltage Picture’s BEDEVILED, (Saxon Sharbino), directed by Nicholl Fellow winners, The Vang Brothers, HIGH ROAD, (Dylan O’Brien, Ed Helms and Lizzy Caplan), and A BETTER YOU, (Brian Huskey and Erinn Hayes), both directed by actor Matt Walsh, PAINKILLERS (Colm Feore), which Roos also co-wrote. Roos is also actively writing and developing new materials of his own and for clients. He is also acting in BREWMANCE this spring, directed by Keagan Karnes. Kirk has directed documentaries AMERICAN HERRO (PBS) and GOLD BLOODED (Amazon), and was a Co-EP on Discovery Channel’s GOLD RUSH: WHITE WATER and BROTHERS IN BLUES: JIMMIE AND STEVIE RAY VAUGHAN, distributed by HMC/Heartstrings.

Chelsea is a Canadian-American Producer and Line Producer. A member of the Producers Guild of America, Chelsea was born in Toronto, raised in Dubai, and is now based in Los Angeles.

To date, Chelsea has produced nine feature films, multiple short films, music videos, and branded content, with budgets ranging from $50,000 to $5,000,000. She has successfully navigated production logistics such as working with a bear, cast/crews of 200+ people, aerial filming with helicopters, and working within various states to acquire tax credits and rebates towards production. In addition to producing, she has an extensive background in production management and support.

Her feature film credits include “Namaslay” currently in production, the documentary feature “Sacred Soil: The Piney Woods School Story”, which premiered on Hulu in February 2024 (Hulu Original/ESPN+), upcoming narrative feature “Grizzly Night” starring Brec Bassinger, Charles Esten and Jack Griffo, “The Mattachine Family” starring Nico Tortorella, Emily Hampshire and Heather Matarazzo (Outfest, Seattle International Film Festival, Frameline), along with “MFA” (SXSW World Premiere) starring Francesca Eastwood and Clifton Collins Jr., and “Café Americano” (Virginia Film Festival). She has multiple features currently in development.

Chelsea has also produced for companies such as BuzzFeed, Funny or Die, and Ripley’s Believe It or Not, in addition to production managing for Annapurna Interactive’s “Telling Lies”, who’s leading actor Logan Marshall-Green received a BAFTA Nomination. Chelsea has also worked on multiple music videos, including “Run It” with DJ Snake, Rick Ross and Rich Brian, which was released in tandem with Marvel’s Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings. Chelsea continues to champion projects that capture unique perspectives through a lens of entertainment.

Gabriel is an award winning queer Cinematographer based in Los Angeles, and working globally, focusing most of her time in LA, NYC, NC, Ohio, and Boston. Gabriel attended graduate school at Chapman University's Dodge College of Film and Media Arts and received her Masters degree in Film Directing in 2016. She believes firmly that art can change the world, and is the best way to communicate with the public at large. Her goal is to make social justice films that move people to activism and inspire youth. She has shot feature films, short films, commercials, documentaries, and music videos. She is a writer and poet, who has been published in magazines and books, and attended The South Carolina Governor's School for the Arts and Humanities for Creative Writing.

After that she went to Ohio University where she studied Film (with an emphasis in cinematography) and History. She cares greatly about each story she works with, and this love is what drives her decisions. She strives to make the films she needed when she was young.