Luke Barnett & Tanner Thomason, Filmmakers Behind Viral Short ‘The Crossing Over Express,’ Sign With Kaplan-Stahler

EXCLUSIVE: Off the success of their viral short film The Crossing Over Express, writing duo Luke Barnett and Tanner Thomason have signed with Kaplan-Stahler for literary representation.

Amassing nearly two million views and an outpouring of messages from people around the world since its release last month on X, the short tells the story of a man seeking one last conversation with his late mother. The project came together 20 years after Barnett’s own mom passed away when he was just 17. With only “a handful of pictures and zero videos” of her, on his birthday a couple of years ago he received a text message from an unknown number which simply said “Happy Birthday” and contained a YouTube link.

More from Deadline

• Mykelti Williamson Signs With More Medavoy Management

• ‘Peacemaker’ Star Jennifer Holland Signs With Strand Entertainment

• Destin Daniel Cretton Boards Oscar-Qualified Live-Action Short 'In The Garden Of Tulips' As EP

“I clicked it, and my heart stopped. It was my mom,” Barnett recalled on X. In the video, she was “telling me how proud she was of me and how she wondered what I’d become.” The director later found out the clip was from a 1999 school event, sent by his friend’s father. After this surprising experience, Barnett couldn’t shake the thought of what he would say if he had the chance for one final conversation with his mother. He took this idea to his writing partner, Thomason, and together they crafted the short film as a response to that universally relatable question.

Currently, the duo are in the process of expanding the short, which they directed together.

Barnett and Thomason’s first feature collaboration, Faith Based, a comedy starring Jason Alexander and Lance Reddick, which Vincent Masciale directed, premiered at the Santa Barbara Film Festival in 2020. As a producer, Barnett’s credits also include the Angus Cloud-led thriller Your Lucky Day and Loitering with Intent. His first feature, Fear, Inc., also directed by Masciale, premiered at Tribeca.

The pair currently have projects in development with multiple productions companies, including Todd Garner’s Broken Road. They continue to be represented by Stride Management and attorney Chris Abramson.

Best of Deadline

• All The Surprise Songs Taylor Swift Has Played On Her Eras Tour So Far

• 'XO, Kitty' Season 2: Everything We Know So Far

• James Mangold's 'A Complete Unknown': Everything We Know About The Bob Dylan Biopic So Far

Sign up for Deadline's Newsletter. For the latest news, follow us on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.