Please Don't Feed the Children

Please Don't Feed the Children is an upcoming American psychological thriller film directed by Destry Allyn Spielberg and written by Paul Bertino.

Premise
A group of orphans head south in search of a new life after the country's adult population is wiped out from a viral outbreak. Soon they discover a dangerous secret from a deranged woman.

Cast

 * Michelle Dockery
 * Zoe Colletti
 * Regan Aliyah
 * Andrew Liner
 * Joshuah Melnick
 * Emma Meisel
 * Dean Scott Vazquez
 * Vernon Davis
 * Giancarlo Esposito

Production
In March 2023, it was reported that Destry Allyn Spielberg would make her feature directorial debut with Please Don't Feed the Children, from a script by Paul Bertino, with Michelle Dockery being cast in the lead role. In May 2023, Regan Aliyah, Zoe Colletti and Andrew Liner were cast. The following month, Joshuah Melnick, Emma Meisel and Dean Scott Vazquez joined the cast.

Principal photography took place in Santa Fe, New Mexico in July 2023. The production was granted an interim agreement allowing the actors to continue working on the film during the 2023 SAG-AFTRA strike.

The film had a troubled production, and after filming had wrapped in November 2023, several crew and vendors that worked on the film had still not been paid into May 2024. The film was eligible for $750,000 in New Mexico tax credits, but the production could not receive it until all vendors had been paid. Lead producer Jason Dubin took responsibility for the missing payments and had to seek additional financiers several times in order to pay the outstanding debts.