Wade is a small-time dealer holding a winning lottery ticket. That's the good news. The bad news is that everyone around him knows it. The Ticket, co-written and co-directed by Jayla Hodge, Jaylin Hodge, and Jerah Milligan, follows Wade and his best friend across an escalating, fast, funny fight to reach the prize before friends, enemies, and assorted bystanders take it off them.
Built in a four-day create-shoot-edit window for the Easterseals Disability Challenge, the film is ambitious on purpose. Two of its leads have visible disabilities, the cast and crew span visible and invisible ones, and none of that is the conflict. The conflict is the ticket.
Key Takeaways
- Three co-directors shared the film without splitting its vision, leaning on each other's strengths and putting the best idea ahead of any ego.
- A four-day turnaround left no room to second-guess, so the team trusted their instincts and moved.
- The film casts diverse in ethnicity and ability while keeping the story squarely about friendship, greed, and one very bad day.
Milligan spoke with us about the origin of the chase, the community that showed up for it, and where the world of The Ticket goes next.
Interview
What drew you to make this film, and why this story, why now?
Jayla had participated in the Easterseals Disability Challenge as a crew member and wanted to direct her own project for the 2026 challenge. She and Jerah knew they wanted to do something with action with a diverse cast and crew. Jaylin had a great idea about a rat race for a winning lottery ticket, which we morphed into something a little more action heavy.
We all have loved ones who lived with disabilities, so we wanted to show that we could create a film with folks living with visible and invisible disabilities in front of and behind the camera while not making the film about those disabilities. It was really important to make this project a positive experience for everyone involved.
What surprised you most about the filmmaking process, creatively or logistically?
We were so honored and humbled by the support our community had for us. From the stunt performers donating their time to our gear, editing, to our DP, all who came on board for the love of the project and us.
Two of our leads have visible disabilities, and watching our crew learn in real time how to communicate and work together was priceless.
What was the hardest creative decision you made while making the film?
The hardest part of making this film was getting it done in time. Because of the four-day create, shoot, and edit window, we had to trust our guts and move. No time to second guess things.
What moment in the film feels most like you, or like something only you could have made?
This film is like a perfect collection of our talents. We were able to combine great action and visuals with jokes and good storytelling. Those were some of the things that were really important to us.
What tool, technique, resource, collaborator, or mindset shift helped most during production?
Collaboration was probably our greatest resource. Having three directors could easily have meant three different visions, but we learned quickly how to lean into each other's strengths, communicate, and put the best idea ahead of any individual ego. That extended to our entire cast and crew. We surrounded ourselves with talented people who cared about the story and brought ideas and perspectives that made the film better.
The biggest mindset shift was realizing that you don't have to have every answer yourself. Directing is just as much about creating an environment where other people can do their best work as it is about having a strong vision. Once we trusted that, the film became bigger than anything the three of us could have created individually.
What is the greatest strength of independent filmmaking, and what lesson would you share with others?
The greatest strength of independent filmmaking is the freedom to take chances and tell stories the way you want to tell them. On The Ticket, we leaned into that freedom by creating something ambitious, funny, action-packed, and centered on people with disabilities and diverse talent both in front of and behind the camera.
Independent filmmaking also forces you to be resourceful. You may not always have the biggest budget or unlimited resources, but you have your creativity, your collaborators, and the people who believe in the story. Our biggest lesson from The Ticket was to embrace those limitations instead of letting them define what the film could be. Find great people, trust them, and don't be afraid to swing big. Sometimes figuring out how to pull off the impossible is where the best filmmaking happens.
What do you hope audiences take away from this film?
More than anything, we hope audiences have fun. The Ticket is about friendship, loyalty, and how quickly people can lose their minds when they think their lives are about to change. Underneath all the action and chaos, it's really about two best friends trying to make it through an absolutely insane day together.
We hope people laugh, get caught up in the ride, and leave wanting to spend more time with these characters. And maybe think twice about telling anybody if they ever win the lottery.
What does it mean to have your film selected for The Reel Champions Shorts Fest, and where does the film go next?
Having The Ticket selected for The Reel Champions Shorts Fest is incredibly meaningful because this film was built through collaboration. We co-directed and co-wrote this film, and to see its success has been great. The work we created together is celebrated by a festival committed to championing underrepresented voices behind the camera.
For us, festivals are also about community. It's an opportunity for our film to find a new audience, to meet other filmmakers doing exciting work, and hopefully to build relationships that extend far beyond one screening. We made The Ticket to entertain people, so getting to sit in a theater and experience it with an audience is always the best part.
The Ticket reinforced our desire to tell stories centered on people with disabilities and diverse talent, and to give those characters the opportunity to be at the center of stories that are bold, funny, exciting, and cinematic. We want to tell our stories in ways that reflect the full range of who we are, without always making identity or disability the conflict. Our film shows that it is easy to cast diverse in ethnicity and ability, so if we can, so can Hollywood.
We are currently developing a feature version of our short. We're excited to dive deeper into the world that we created.
Main Cast & Crew
- Directed and Written by Jayla Hodge, Jaylin Hodge, Jerah Milligan
- Director of Photography: Isaiah Salery
- Edited by Tony Pape
- Stunt Coordinator: Toni James Dickens
- Cast: Tatyana Guchi, Jerah Milligan, Samantha Tokita, Harold Fox, Gabrielle Fisher, Jaylin Hodge, Jayla Hodge, Carli Meacham, Nichole Meacham, Toni James Dickens
- Stunt Performers: Toni James Dickens, Sheridan Swayngim, Jack Khounthikoumane, Lexie Kay, Michael Magl Edmeier, Carey Osimo, Joshua Williams, Joshua Wilkins, Hannah Urgino, Miguel Montano, Jessica Culberson, André Walker, Dale Hise, Claudia Hinsdale, Joseph Olmedo, Cullen Arboleda, Kellen Gold, Xavier Garcia, Alex Montiel, Joshua Muro, Colin Houghton, Ricky Romanek
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