The Story

During the summer of 2007, CNN reported on a cat named Oscar who can accurately predict the deaths of the residents in the nursing home where he lives.  Intrigued, Jocelyn Rish used this phenomenon of a death-predicting cat as a springboard to imagine a woman at the end of her years learning to accept the loss of her loved ones as well as her own impending death.  The resulting short story, Saying Goodbye, was named a 2008 winner of the South Carolina Fiction Project.

Jocelyn and her brother, Brian Rish, decided to turn the award-winning story into a short screenplay.

Saying Goodbye tells the story of Alma, a woman in her eighties who arrives at a nursing home lost and depressed after losing her family unexpectedly.  Eunice, a saucy fellow resident, befriends Alma and teaches her how to enjoy life again.  Now years later, the nursing home’s mysterious cat predicts Eunice’s death, and Alma learns that having the chance to say goodbye doesn’t make loss any easier.  And before it is Alma’s own time to go, she is determined to find a way to bring happiness to a kind-hearted nurse who is like a surrogate daughter. 

The SC Film Production Fund

Saying Goodbye is being made as part of the SC Film Commission’s Film Production Fund. 

"The goal of the Production Fund is to instill collaboration between filmmakers and our institutes of higher education that have film production programs resulting in the professional development of our students and professionals alike,” said Jeff Monks, South Carolina’s Film Commissioner, “The final projects should be capable of competing in film festivals around the country.”

Saying Goodbye is partnering with both the University of South Carolina (the “real” USC) and Trident Technical College.

The project brings together local professionals who partner with nationally credited professionals to give the college students involved in the production an opportunity to work with experts on a real movie set.

The Siblings

Brian Rish is a 1999 graduate of USC, where he earned a BA in Advertising and a minor in Film production through the Media Arts School.  He got involved with producing while working for the South Carolina Education Lottery during its start-up phase.  From dancing Powerballs to resurrecting Bishopville’s infamous Lizard Man, Brian enjoyed following the Lottery’s mantra of “gaudy is good!”

Brian currently works as an Advertising Strategist for SCE&G.

Jocelyn Rish graduated from Duke University with a major in psychology and a minor in computer science. She earns her paycheck testing software for Blackbaud, a technology company in Charleston; however, her true passion is writing. 

Saying Goodbye was her first published short story.  She then won the 2009 Highlights fiction contest with a story called A Little Honey, which will be published in a future issue of Highlights. 

Together, Jocelyn and Brian have written several feature length screenplays including a creature feature and an action thriller.   They have been fortunate to have their screenplays finish well in several writing contests.  

The Production Partner

Brian worked with Cliff Springs, the owner of Genesis Creative, on several past projects. Genesis Creative is a marketing firm that offers full-service creative and strategic planning, as well as a complete spectrum of high-end media production services in-house from their impressive studio.

When Brian asked Cliff if he wanted to be part of the project, Cliff jumped right on board since it complimented his plan to launch Emergent Films, a program to grow the film industry in South Carolina. Cliff will direct the film and his employees will lend their expertise in many of the key roles. 

The Promise

Working with our team of experienced professionals, we will create a touching short film that will demonstrate the high quality work the Palmetto State is capable of producing while helping to train the future filmmakers of South Carolina.