An ostracized young man faces his past when he revisits his rural Florida hometown to provide caregiving support for the family he left behind before they reach their breaking point.
Directed by Drew Lewis Brown
Baby Tooth
Baby Tooth is now fundraising, and your contribution is tax-deductible through our fiscal sponsor, Film Independent (a 501(c)(3)). Learn how to support the project below.
Help fund the film with a tax-deductible donation.
Read details on the project’s story and economic impact.
Fund the project and explore ownership.
Provide goods/services and volunteer on set.
The Making of Baby Tooth
Inspiration
2018 | Growing up queer in conservative rural Florida, writer/director Drew Lewis Brown learned early what it meant to feel out of place. Years later, returning home to visit his ailing grandmother resurfaced those same tensions, revealing how grief and caregiving can both strain and strengthen the bonds within a family.
Writing
2019 | Brown first drafted Baby Tooth in 2019, a few months after his grandmother passed away. Over the next four years, the screenplay underwent numerous rewrites and title changes as Brown honed the story to reflect his personal experiences. Each revision deepened the characters and explored the nuances of identity, caregiving, and family dynamics, ensuring the script captured the raw, lived-in truth of the story. The process also included incorporating feedback from peers and collaborators, which helped sharpen its focus and emotional impact. The script was locked in 2023.
Development Consultant
2022 | World-renowned choreographer/producer Trey McIntyre joined the Baby Tooth team.
Trey has worked over 30 years as a freelance choreographer and producer, creating more than 100 pieces with companies including American Ballet Theatre, New York City Ballet, and Queensland Ballet. In 2005, he founded his dance company, Trey McIntyre Project, achieving great audience and critical success. For the company, Trey raised $2M annually, created over 23 original dance works, and produced numerous film projects, interactive site-specific works, and photography collections. Trey’s feature-length documentary Gravity Hero premiered at the Dance on Camera Film Festival at Lincoln Center.
Staged Readings
2023 | Two staged readings of the Baby Tooth screenplay were held in Jacksonville, Florida, at performing arts spaces and featured local actors. The events served as a platform for feedback and a way to formally introduce the project to the northeast Florida arts community. To promote the film and the staged readings, Brown appeared on WJXT4’s The Morning Show, where he shared his vision for Baby Tooth and highlighted its significance to the region. These engagements not only shaped the screenplay but also built anticipation and support for the film among local audiences.
Proof of Concept
2024 | Brown collaborated with northeast Florida filmmakers and actors to produce a proof-of-concept short for Baby Tooth (published at the top of this page). The short showcased vignettes drawn from key scenes in the screenplay, capturing the film’s tone, imagery, and emotional depth. By highlighting pivotal moments that shaped the characters, scenery, and central conflicts, the project brought Baby Tooth to life in its earliest form. The proof of concept not only conveyed the film’s narrative and visual style but also served as a critical tool in building support and excitement for the project.
Casting
2024 | Two exceptional cast members joined the production of Baby Tooth; Judith Ivey and Tenea Intriago
Judith Ivey (“Frances”)
Veteran stage actress Judith Ivey is a two-time Tony Award winner for Best Featured Actress in a Play for Steaming (1983) and Hurlyburly (1985). Her performances in Park Your Car in Harvard Yard (1992) and The Heiress (2013) were both nominated for Tony Awards. Ivey's television and film work extends over four decades; she is often associated with her one-year run as B.J. Poteet on Designing Women (1986). She also appeared in The Devil's Advocate (1997), What the Deaf Man Heard (1997) for which she received an Emmy nomination, Will & Grace (1998), Nurse Jackie (2009), Grey's Anatomy (2005), and Law & Order: Special Victims Unit (1999).
Tenea Intriago (“Apple”)
Tenea Intriago is a Portuguese-American actor who was just called the DAVE (FX) Breakout Star by the Hollywood Reporter, where she held her own opposite Brad Pitt in 2023. Prior to this, Tenea was best known for her recurring role on Hulu’s Castle Rock (2019), a Series Regular on YouTube’s Overthinking with Kat and June(2018). Other credits are Claws (2017), Law & Order: Special Victims Unit (2017), Preacher (2017), NCIS: New Orleans (2017), and Universal’s Happy Death Day (2017) and Happy Death Day 2U (2019).
Fundraising & Development
2025 | A New York-based production company will partner with the film to secure funding and cast the remaining principal roles. In November 2025, Brown hosted The Baby Tooth Variety Hour, a fundraising event in Jacksonville, Florida that kicked off an end-of-year giving campaign to secure a seed fund for the project.
Help fund the film with a tax-deductible donation.
Read details on the project’s story and economic impact.
Fund the project and explore ownership.
Provide goods/services and volunteer on set.