Indie Feature 'My Kids' Sets New Orleans Shoot for October 2026, Now Casting

A faith-tested family drama with a dark, morally charged premise is heading to New Orleans next fall, and with casting and pre-production now underway, this is the moment for crew and talent to get on the radar. My Kids, a feature film produced under the My Kids Film LLC banner, centers on Lily, a devout Black Christian mother in New Orleans who uncovers a haunting and devastating secret about her teenage children during the Christmas season. The film asks a question that is as old as storytelling itself: how far can a mother's love stretch when confronted with a truth that defies her deepest convictions? Principal photography is scheduled for a tight seventeen-day window, October 5 through October 21, 2026, entirely on location in New Orleans.

The film is a solo creative endeavor in the most complete sense. Luke Harris is credited as director, writer, producer, and casting director on My Kids, wearing all four hats simultaneously. That level of creative consolidation is a meaningful signal for prospective crew. It typically means a singular, highly personal vision at the center of the project, a lean decision-making structure on set, and a filmmaker who is deeply invested in every aspect of the production. For crew members who thrive in environments where communication is direct and the director has an intimate command of the material, that can be an appealing setup. Harris's background and previous credits are not widely documented in major trade databases at this time, suggesting this may be among his earlier feature productions, though the specificity and emotional depth of the premise point to a writer-director who has been developing this story for some time.

Also attached is intimacy coordinator Kayla Alvarez, a credit that speaks directly to the nature of the material. The logline's references to a sin in God's eyes and the film's exploration of moral ambiguity among teenagers during the Christmas season suggest the story likely touches on sensitive subject matter requiring careful, professional handling on set. The presence of an intimacy coordinator in pre-production, before cameras even roll, signals a production that is approaching that material thoughtfully and with crew and cast safety already a priority. For actors and crew navigating projects with complex or sensitive content, that early commitment is worth noting.

My Kids Film LLC is the producing entity behind the project, and based on available information, this appears to be a newly formed production company built around this specific film rather than an established banner with a multi-picture slate. That is common in the independent feature space, particularly for passion projects driven by a single filmmaker. The budget tier has not been publicly disclosed, but the seventeen-day shoot, single-city location plan, and independent structure all suggest a lean, efficient production rather than a large-scale studio picture. Crew considering this project should approach it with the expectations appropriate to an indie feature: creative collaboration, compressed scheduling, and the kind of close-knit on-set culture that smaller productions tend to foster.

New Orleans is a genuinely compelling place to shoot a story like this one. The city carries its own atmosphere of spiritual weight, cultural complexity, and visual richness that a Christmas-season drama about faith and family secrets can draw from in ways that few other American cities could match. From a practical standpoint, Louisiana's motion picture tax incentive program has long made the state one of the most competitive filming destinations in the country, offering productions a transferable tax credit on qualified expenditures that continues to attract both independent filmmakers and major studios alike. New Orleans proper has a well-established local crew base built up over decades of production activity, with experienced professionals across most departments. For a seventeen-day shoot of this scale, the production will likely draw on that local talent pool heavily, making this a genuine opportunity for New Orleans-based crew to pursue.

Genre-wise, My Kids sits at the intersection of family drama and psychological suspense, with clear spiritual and moral dimensions running through the narrative. Productions in this space often require a strong hand in the art department to establish the visual grammar of a devout household during the holiday season, as well as a cinematographer capable of balancing warmth and dread within the same frame. The teenage cast members at the center of the secret will need to be cast with care, which makes the casting process particularly important to watch. With Harris handling casting himself, talent agents and independent actors in the New Orleans area should be paying close attention for any open calls or submissions as the project moves deeper into pre-production.

With filming still roughly nine months out, the production is in that valuable early window where department heads and key crew are typically being identified and brought into conversations. If you are a New Orleans-based filmmaker, department head, or crew member whose sensibilities align with intimate, morally complex drama, this is the right time to make contact. The full listing for My Kids on ProductionList.com includes available production contacts and will be updated as the crew list develops and office information is confirmed. Bookmark it now, check back regularly, and position yourself ahead of the October start date.

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