SHOOT IN 29 PALMS!

SHOOT IN 29 PALMS IS NOW LIVE!

We’re excited to announce that the festival's Shoot in 29 Palms initiative is now live, offering 19 captivating stories from authors attending the Twentynine Palms Book Festival, many of which are ideal for filming in and around Twentynine Palms. With its diverse landscapes, short-term accommodations, growing pool of production talent, and proximity to Los Angeles, Twentynine Palms offers filmmakers a perfect backdrop for cinematic storytelling.

The unique desert environment, adjacent to Joshua Tree National Park, combined with a culturally diverse community blending Native American, Mexican, and Anglo influences, provides a rich setting for a wide range of stories. These 19 properties from both established and emerging authors—many local to the Mojave Desert—offer compelling narratives ready for adaptation.

Screenwriters, filmmakers, and producers interested in developing these properties into feature films, TV series, or documentaries will have the opportunity to meet with the rights holders during the festival. Meetings will take place in the Meet the Authors zone inside the Twentynine Palms Community Center by Freedom Plaza, where most festival activities are held.

The catalog includes the following stories ideal for screen adaptation:

Cary Baker – Down on the Corner: Adventures in Busking & Street Music

  • Barret Baumgart – China Lake: A Journey Into the Contradicted Heart of a Global Climate Catastrophe

  • Barret Baumgart – YUCK: The Birth & Death of the Weird & Wondrous Joshua Tree, Yucca brevifolia

  • Camaray Davalos – The Daguerreotypist

  • Karin Hallen – Silence Speaks Your Name

  • Gabriel Hart – On High at Red Tide

  • Sean Jacques – Doe Run

  • Dan Jawitz – Witness in the Desert

  • Laurie Kaye – Confessions of a Rock 'n' Roll Name Dropper

  • S. Kensington – Just Another Girl on the Road

  • Nevada McPherson – The Eucalyptus Lane Novels

  • Dr. Oolong Seemingly – Gasp!

  • Susan Rukeyser – The Worst Kind of Girl

  • Deanne Stillman – Desert Reckoning: A Town Sheriff, a Mojave Hermit, and the Biggest Manhunt in Modern California History

  • Deanne Stillman – Mustang: The Saga of the Wild Horse in the American West

  • Deanne Stillman – Twentynine Palms: A True Story of Murder, Marines, and the Mojave

  • Brian Townsley – Wicked, Wicked Rain, Tango with the Darkness, Funhouse

  • Brian Townsley & Daniel Pyne – Missing Body

  • Michael G. Vail – Mojave Gothic

The festival’s closing party, Hollywood Meets the Desert, held at Mas o Menos, will offer a dynamic opportunity for producers and filmmakers to connect with authors and local production talent.