LOGLINE:
When a harried, single mom discovers her elderly mother is passionately stalking a young opera singer, she realizes her own life has gone flat and it's time to get brave and get out there.
Written and directed by Samantha Shaber, adapted from her 3-time Best Screenplay-winning feature script PEEPING MAUREEN.
STATUS:
Film completed, currently being considered for festival placement.
Starring:
Rhiannon Hansen……………Brunie Murray
Madonna Young-Magee……Maureen Murray
José Manuel Sarmiento…….Christopher Murray
Gabriel Brown………………..Peter Williams
Executive producers: Samantha Shaber and George Strayton
Line producer: Luiza Botelho
Producer: Daniel Marovitz
Director of photography: Idan Menin
Editor: Ilya Polyakov
Production designer: Hanna Woltz
Hair and makeup artist: Crista Llewellyn
Script supervisor: Ronak Shah
Colorist: Dan Swierenga
1st AD: Lada Egorova
1st AC: Spencer Wood
2nd AC: Averi McHugh
Gaffer: Christian Armada
Key grip: Hayden Smeltzer
Best boy electric: Vincent Valentin
VFX: Aleksei Komarenko
Production assistants: Ash Beard and Alejandra Mena
Sound recordist: Daniel Hernandez
Original score by: Meiro Stamm
Music consultant: Arianna Zukerman
Audio post production: Scott McCrorie, Dudley Scott Audio Post Group, Inc.
Foley artist: Alex Mine
Aria "Il mio tesoro" sung by tenor Lunga Eric Hallam
Composer: Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
Arrangement: Barenreiter
Piano: Tessa Hartle
Engineer: Edwin Stephens
Recorded at First Presbyterian Church, San Antonio, TX
“All I Want” performed by Sam Shaber and The Happy Problem
Written by Samantha Caplane Shaber (BMI)
From the album “Birth,” 2016 Brown Chair Records
Casting assistance:
Pam Koppel at Closeup Crew Productions
Breakdown Services
Special thanks to:
Stacey Ackman
Lolly Caplane & Marvin Aronoff
Katy Dore
Film Independent Indielink
Filmmakers Forum LA
Justin Kerenyi
Anna Koukouli
Rachel Raimist & The People's Film School
Genevieve Riutort
Marc Schapiro & Ipecac Recordings
David Shaber
Remy, Kevin, David & Josie Shabergoza
Darwyn Strayton-Shaber & Hattie Shaber
Rachel Smith
Emmeline Summerton
Jojo Villanueva
Stacy Wallen-McCarthy
Adam Waring, Don Cummings & Maude the Dog
Patricia Westley
Joanie Woehler
Christopher's t-shirt courtesy of Mr. Bungle
ABOUT
LOGLINE:
When a harried, single mom discovers her elderly mother is passionately stalking a young opera singer, she realizes her own life has gone flat and it's time to get brave and get out there.
Written and directed by Samantha Shaber, adapted from her 3-time Best Screenplay-winning feature script PEEPING MAUREEN.
STATUS:
Film completed, currently screening by festivals and donors. Stay tuned for updates!
Starring:
Rhiannon Hansen
(Brunie Murray)
Madonna Young-Magee
(Maureen Murray)
José Manuel Sarmiento
(Christopher Murray)
Gabriel Brown
(Peter Williams)
Executive producers: Samantha Shaber and George Strayton
Line producer: Luiza Botelho
Producer: Daniel Marovitz
Director of photography: Idan Menin
Editor: Ilya Polyakov
Production designer: Hanna Woltz
Hair and makeup artist: Crista Llewellyn
Colorist: Dan Swierenga
1st AD: Lada Egorova
1st AC: Spencer Wood
2nd AC: Averi McHugh
Gaffer: Christian Armada
Key grip: Hayden Smeltzer
Best boy electric: Vincent Valentin
Script supervisor: Ronak Shah
VFX: Aleksei Komarenko
Production assistants:
Ash Beard
Alejandra Mena
Sound recordist: Daniel Hernandez
Original score by: Meiro Stamm
Music consultant: Arianna Zukerman
Audio post production: Scott McCrorie, Dudley Scott Audio Post Group, Inc.
Foley artist: Alex Mine
"Il mio tesoro" sung by:
Lunga Eric Hallam
Composer: Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
Arrangement: Barenreiter
Piano: Tessa Hartle
Engineer: Edwin Stephens
Recorded at First Presbyterian Church, San Antonio, TX
“All I Want” performed by:
Sam Shaber and The Happy Problem
Written by:
Samantha Caplane Shaber (BMI)
From the album “Birth”
2016 Brown Chair Records
Casting assistance:
Pam Koppel at Closeup Crew Productions Breakdown Services
Special thanks to:
Stacey Ackman
Lolly Caplane & Marvin Aronoff
Katy Dore
Film Independent Indielink
Filmmakers Forum LA
Justin Kerenyi
Anna Koukouli
Rachel Raimist & The People's Film School
Genevieve Riutort
Marc Schapiro & Ipecac Recordings
David Shaber
Remy, Kevin, David & Josie Shabergoza
Darwyn Strayton-Shaber & Hattie Shaber
Rachel Smith
Emmeline Summerton
Jojo Villanueva
Stacy Wallen-Mccarthy
Adam Waring, Don Cummings & Maude the Dog
Patricia Westley
Joanie Woehler
Christopher's shirt courtesy of Mr. Bungle
DIRECTOR’S STATEMENT
MY MOTHER THE STALKER is a 9-minute adaptation of 3-time Best Screenplay-winning feature script PEEPING MAUREEN, based on the true story of my friend’s 83-year-old mother who's been turning their lives upside-down stalking a 33-year-old opera singer like a crazed fangirl. One night, she even Facetimed them from his driveway.
When I heard that, I knew I had to write and direct this story. As a musician and a confessed former superfan, (Duran Duran my poison), who had a complicated relationship with my own mother, I feel a kinship with all of these characters and yearn to share them with the world.
I’ve been a singer-songwriter for decades, but I never “got” opera. Thankfully, I got some help from my good friend Arianna Zukerman (daughter of Pinchus) who runs the opera programming at esteemed venue Wolf Trap. Among the many genres, eras, and singers she sent me, one stood out by a mile: soaring South African tenor Lunga Eric Hallam. His voice was my gateway drug, and quickly became the inspiration for the opera singer character of Peter Williams. And then Lunga himself came in to sing an aria just for this film, which makes it all the more special. (You’ll hear his agile voice coming from the car radio as the grandmother sits outside the singer’s house.)
MY MOTHER THE STALKER is also a story about aging – not just old age, but middle age and adolescence. Getting older is a mean trick time plays, but at every stage, it's up to us whether we fight it, embrace it, hate it, or conquer it. I’m thrilled at what's happening in entertainment right now; with actresses of middle age and beyond carrying record-breaking films such as DEVIL WEARS PRADA 2, winning awards with EVERYTHING EVERYWHERE ALL AT ONCE, "The Crown," "Grace and Frankie" and so many others. The characters in MY MOTHER THE STALKER – mother, son, and grandmother – are each facing age differently, and have a lot to teach one other.
I, myself, am a woman whose pivot into filmmaking was not a huge surprise, as my dad was screenwriter David Shaber (THE WARRIORS, HUNT FOR RED OCTOBER), but more notable as it’s happening in my 50s after years as a singer-songwriter with 12 albums and over 200,000 miles under my belt, plus performing as a live storyteller with The Moth, UCB, and an award-winning solo show Sam Shaber: Life, Death & Duran Duran at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival. In addition, I’m the creator/host of punk-rock fertility podcast IVFU about the pain, joy, angst, and love of trying to make a family “the new-fashioned way.” All of these experiences intersect in my passion for filmmaking.
I’m also a hopeless optimist; driven to bring some of that optimism into this dark moment. My goal with MY MOTHER THE STALKER (and ultimately PEEPING MAUREEN) is to remind us all what it feels like to be defiant, passionate, and just…adorable. There’s been a serious lack of adorableness lately – let's bring it back.
Samantha (Sam) Shaber
West Hollywood, CA
May, 2026
