OUR HAPPY PLACE
Director: Paul Bickel
Raya, a lonely woman caring for her bedridden husband, is haunted by terrifying nightmares.  She wakes up each morning in the forest, falling deeper into freshly dug graves beneath her.  As supernatural forces torment her and the line between dream and reality collapses, she unearths a horrifying secret buried within the woods—and herself.

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Paul Bickel had an early interest in filmmaking, directing stop-motion and clay animation shorts on Super 8 with his brothers in Indiana. He began screenwriting feature scripts upon moving to Los Angeles, where he has enjoyed a career as an art director and working props in the art department for shows like New Girl, Last Man on Earth, and Shrinking. He directed his first screenplay, Marigold: Portrait of a Hooker, followed by his award-winning psychological thriller, Hollow, which held the top 50 most downloaded live-action short films available on iTunes for its first three years. His films have showcased at festivals throughout the world. Paul’s comedy short, Turning Japanese, has won 16 awards, including the jury award for Best Film at the American Pavilion Emerging Filmmakers Showcase at Cannes Film Festival. Paul has enjoyed directing commercials, including spots for Beats by Dre and Fox Sports. Our Happy Place is Paul’s debut feature film. Contact: pbickel@mac.com

Raya Miles grew up singing and performing in musical theater programs across Los Angeles. As a young actress in the LA community theater scene, she trained extensively in dance with Madilyn Clark and at Debbie Reynolds Studios and acting at the Stella Adler Academy of Acting in Hollywood. As a singer-songwriter, Raya spent over a decade performing with her band, Pearl, as part of the local LA music scene. For more than 20 years, Raya has collaborated with Paul Bickel as a producing partner on his film projects. Our Happy Place marks her feature film debut as an actress.

Tracie Thoms began studying acting in her hometown of Baltimore at age 9. She attended high school at the prestigious Baltimore School for the Arts. Later, she received a bachelor of fine arts degree from Howard University and a graduate degree in acting from New York City’s renowned Juilliard School. Tracie starred on Broadway most recently in the acclaimed production of James Lapine’s Falsettos. She also starred opposite Dulé Hill and Mekhi Phifer in Stick Fly, and opposite Alfre Woodard in Drowning Crow. Tracie realized a long-held dream when she starred as ‘Joanne’ in the final weeks of the historic Broadway run of the iconic musical, Rent. She played the same key role in Sony’s film of Rent opposite Rosario Dawson and Idina Menzel. She was seen opposite Bruce Willis and Joseph Gordon-Levitt in Rian Johnson’s Looper, and with Denzel Washington in Safe House. She starred with Kurt Russell in Quentin Tarantino’s Grindhouse: Death Proof and opposite Anne Hathaway in David Frankel’s The Devil Wears Prada. She was featured in Columbia’s remake of Annie with Jamie Foxx and Quvenzhané Wallis.

Tracie was a series regular for six years on CBS’ Cold Case. She starred for Fox in Wonderfalls and recurred on Hulu’s The First, WGN’s Gone, Lifetime’s UnREAL, Netflix’s Love and NBC’s Lincoln Rhyme: Hunt for the Bone Collector. She’s guest starred on Veep, Person of Interest, Suits, The Shield, The Good Wife, The Mindy Project, Criminal Minds, The Affair, The Good Doctor, Grey’s Anatomy, Mad About You, Run, Curb Your Enthusiasm and NCIS: Los Angeles. Tracie’s currently a series regular opposite Oscar winner Octavia Spencer on the Apple series, Truth Be Told, while at the same time recurring on Fox’s 9-1-1 and ABC’s Station 19. She’s also been featured in dozens of indie films throughout her career.

Eugene Byrd is a Los Angeles based actor and producer originally from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.  He moved out west to pursue his goals in the entertainment industry. He is known for his work in Anacondas: The Hunt for the Blood Orchid (2004), Sleepers (1996), Dead Man (1995), and 8 Mile (2002). Eugene has appeared in over a hundred film and television projects including True Blood, American Horror Story, Law & Order, Law & Order: Special Victims Unit, The Outer Limits, Third Watch. Crossing Jordan, Arrow, Heroes, Bone, Quantum Leap, Secrets of Sulphur Springs, and 9-1-1: Lone Star.

David Ho

Jim Holdridge

David Hernandez

When quarantine began, Paul and Raya relocated from their small LA apartment to their home in Big Bear Lake. To help Paul channel his energy, he started thinking of a film project they could shoot under the circumstances. Armed with filming equipment from a previous project, Paul wrote a script that suited the mountain setting and required a minimal cast—just the two of them in person, with Tracie Thoms and Eugene Byrd joining via FaceTime. The outdated décor of their “grandma-style” house and the vast forest wilderness provided the perfect backdrop for a psychological horror movie.

Filming became part of their daily routine, with Paul handling everything from directing to sound, lighting, and practical effects, while Raya assisted with special effects makeup and even helped work the camera. Despite the technical challenges, they enjoyed the creative problem-solving process, especially as Paul had to engineer elaborate rigs to film while also acting in scenes.

As Covid restrictions eased, they were finally able to film scenes with other actors, both in the mountains and in LA. Once the shooting was wrapped, editor Jim Holdridge helped refine the cut. David Hernandez was hired to create the immersive score. Producer David Ho worked tirelessly to shape the final edit, post sound, picture, and music with Paul to get the film ready for an audience.