IRON DAN.
Service
Full Production.
Genre
Road Drama.
Year
2026.
Logline
A long-haul trucker haunted by his past forms an unlikely bond with a woman on the run, forcing him to confront the wreckage he left behind.
Director’s Statement
Iron Dan isn’t a film about truck driving, it’s about the people who inhabit that world. At its core, it’s a story about us: the way we carry our past, our regrets, and the hope of becoming better versions of ourselves.
I’ve lived in several countries and experienced different cultures, and that’s taught me to see people as layered and contradictory, never just one thing at a time. With Iron Dan, I wanted to tell a redemption story that leads with honesty rather than convention, one that finds its tension in silence, in the moments between words, in the meditative quality of the road. As an outside living in the United States, I can’t help but have a fascination for the expression of its culture seen across its landscape, from truck stops, to churches, to bars and motels and gas stations… It’s that world that I want to explore.
Visually, the film draws from quiet road dramas and the work of Kelly Reichardt, as well as the Americana photography of William Eggleston, Stephen Shore, and Jeff Brouws: stories told through stillness, space, and the beauty of the everyday. The spectacular found in the mundane.
At its best, art should be a reflection of the times we live in, a reflection of us. My hope is that the film invites audiences to see themselves in people they might otherwise pass by.
Key Credits
Writer / Director / Editor
Thomas Simon
Producers
Clayne Crawford, Kiki Crawford, Thomas Simon
Director of Photography
Joel E. Schaeffer
Starring
Clayne Crawford, Reina Hardesty, Colton Crawford, David Cade
Production Companies
Go South Films, Back40 Pictures
Genre
Road Drama
Format
Color / 4:3 / Alexa Mini / ProRes 4444
Location
Alabama
Production
December 2025
Production Note
A character-driven road film blending naturalistic performances with intimate cinematography. Themes of solitude, redemption, and quiet resilience set against the modern American South.
