BYU Department of Design Professor’s Short Film & Feature-length Screenplay Accepted at 2025 Sundance Film Festival
BYU Photo and Lens-based Design professor Robert Machoian Graham had two works accepted into the 2025 Sundance Film Festival. Only about one in fifty submitted films are accepted into this highly competitive festival. These are Graham’s sixth and seventh submissions that have been shown at the Park City event.
Graham wrote the screenplay for “Omaha” over a decade ago, but it wasn’t produced until BYU alumni Cole Webley and Paul Meyers pursued the project. With Webley as director and Meyers as cinematographer, this Utah-based group created a moving family drama.
“The script touched me so deeply,” Webley told SLUG Magazine. “It felt like the right project for my first film, something we could truly accomplish while staying authentic to the material. Meyers and I knew this was a story worth telling.”
Shot across northern Utah and the I-80 corridor, this was the only film in the festival with such strong ties to the state.
Graham and Webley hosted a forum with BYU students on the process of creating “Omaha.” Speaking on the impact of the forum, Media Arts Administrator Kyle Stapley said, “Having Cole and Robert come and speak with our students is exciting as it helps them understand that success in this industry is not out of reach. It’s definitely demanding and requires tenacity, but it is achievable. It was also great to hear how they wove their own spirituality and empathy into their storytelling.”
Along with “Omaha,” Graham’s 15-minute short documentary “The Long Valley” also premiered at Sundance Film Festival. Graham drew inspiration from his childhood growing up in King City, California to create this portrait of the Salinas Valley.
“My hope for the documentary was to share the poetry of the people there, and the beauty of the land,” said Graham. “When people think of California they often think of Los Angeles or San Francisco, and are unaware of the Salinas Valley, even though it produces 80% of our fruits and vegetables.”
“The Long Valley” is the second in what Graham hopes will be a series of short documentaries on rural America.
"Omaha” — Sundance Description and Summary
After a family tragedy, siblings Ella and Charlie are unexpectedly woken up by their dad and taken on a journey across the country, experiencing a world they’ve never seen before. As their adventure unfolds, Ella begins to understand that things might not be what they seem.
Omaha has a stripped-down intimacy that forgoes overly written dialogue and plotting, instead providing space for the deep emotional depths experienced by this family trudging along their pained road trip across America. Director Cole Webley’s first feature shines in its care for quiet humanity by bringing a loving touch to the screenplay from filmmaker Robert Machoian (The Killing of Two Lovers, 2020 Sundance Film Festival). The filmmakers lean heavily on the cast to provide the film’s biggest power in the performances of John Magaro (Past Lives) and newcomers Molly Belle Wright and Wyatt Solis. As Magaro fights to perfect the illusion of a fun family vacation for the free-spirited Solis, the knowing eyes of Wright keep careful watch and become the emotional core of the entire film.—Charlie Sextro, Sundance
Media Coverage
“Omaha” has received critical acclaim and has been covered by multiple news outlets.
- Salt Lake Tribune “Sundance 2025: Made-in-Utah Movie Premieres, Earning Applause for its Two Child Stars”
- The Guardian “Omaha Review — John Magaro Leads Lean but Affecting Family Drama”
- Variety “‘Omaha’ Review: Intimate Road Trip Drama About a Father in Crisis Exudes Visual Lyricism and Emotional Honesty”
- Deseret News “Utah Natives and BYU Alums Come Together to Bring ‘Omaha’ to Sundance Film Festival”