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Ashley Bower’s career as an entertainment creative is on the rise – thanks recently to the tale of two young women who, well, aren’t moving at all.
The 2009 Amador Valley High School alumna who works as a medical researcher on the TV show “Chicago Med” is making the rounds on the film festival circuit with her debut short as a solo writer and executive producer: “Stuck”.
Inspired by her own experience with loss, the fictional story follows “a teenage girl named Aria who’s on her way to her sister’s post-funeral reception when she gets stuck in an elevator with a newly single woman in her 20s named Hailey. While confined, the two strangers begin to bond as they realize that their biggest obstacle isn’t that they’re stuck physically — but emotionally,” according to Bower.
The 11-minute film directed by C. Fraser Press was screened at the 2024 LA Shorts International Film Festival on July 17, in the wake of appearances at events in New York and Vail, Colo., last year and with dates at festivals in Sacramento and Edinburgh, Scotland on the calendar next month (during which she’ll also celebrate her 33rd birthday).
“All of the film festivals I have attended with ‘Stuck’ thus far have felt so surreal, but especially LA Shorts International Film Festival as it’s the biggest festival ‘Stuck’ has screened at yet,” Bower told me on Monday.
“I never imagined getting to see my film in a theater that big, and to know that that many people were going to see this thing that I worked so hard on and was so proud of was one of those core life memories that will be sticking with me forever,” she said by email. “It was an honor to be in the company of so many talented filmmakers and to have my film shared among theirs.”
The origins of Bower’s professional life in entertainment can be traced back to her time growing up in Pleasanton.
Multiple terms working on Amador’s yearbook, including as editor-in-chief when she was a senior, taught her about content production and a fateful first viewing of “Grey’s Anatomy” as a freshman helped her “realize that what I really wanted was to write about doctors.”
She pursued a bachelor’s degree in creative producing with a minor in psychology from Chapman University but found it very difficult to break into the TV industry after completing college.
“I ended up moving to the East Coast for about a year and a half to get some more internships on my resume. In 2016 I moved to LA and ended up landing my first job in the industry as a set (production assistant) on an ABC show called ‘How to Get Away With Murder’,” she said.
“I loved every second of working with them. They taught me so much,” Bower added.
Her list of ensuing PA credits is impressive: “Station 19”, “GLOW”, “Speechless”, “Lucifer”, “Everything’s Gonna Be Okay”, “9-1-1”, “The Expanding Universe of Ashley Garcia” and “Twenties”.
Bower was a showrunners’ assistant to Dave Hoge and Dan Cross on the Netflix show “Julie and the Phantoms” when the pandemic hit. She landed her gig on “Chicago Med” during Season 8 (the 10th season has been underway for about two months now).
“It’s the best job I’ve ever had,” Bower said. A particularly proud moment was earning her first “Story by” credit on the show last season.
She’s always had her eye – and heart – on writing. One motivation to press those creative buttons came up three years ago after the death of her aunt.
She started writing “Stuck” in October 2021, filming took place during a single day in June 2022 and post-production wrapped in March 2023. Bower financed the endeavor through crowdfunding.
With “Stuck” beginning its journey on the festival circuit last October at the New York Shorts International Film Festival, the momentum continues to build for Bower’s debut passion project. She is excited to release it publicly on YouTube or Amazon once its fest run ends.
“The short has really seemed to resonate with people at festivals,” Bower said. “At each one I’ve had at least one audience member come up to me and share a story about someone they’ve lost. One even cried and gave me a hug, and that’s truly all I’ve ever wanted as a writer — to write things that make people feel seen and less alone.”
Editor’s note: Jeremy Walsh is the editorial director for the Embarcadero Media Foundation’s East Bay Division. His “What a Week” column is a recurring feature in the Pleasanton Weekly, Livermore Vine and DanvilleSanRamon.com.
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