An Idu House feature film · Based on a true story

Like Father, Like Sons

Some fathers leave their sons money. This one left them each other.

Every gift is tax deductible through our 501(c)(3) fiscal sponsor, BAVC Media.

The Story

Three strangers.
One urn. One last trip.

When Tracy Smith dies, he leaves behind three sons by three different mothers. A touring rapper. A hotel manager. A college athlete who did not even know his brothers existed.

His will has one condition: to settle the estate, they have to drive his ashes from Kansas City to a beach back home in Rhode Island, so he can see the country one last time. Over diners, motels, bad decisions, and the 90s hip-hop that raised them, three strangers slowly become a family.

Three brothers walking down train tracks toward the sunset

The Brothers

Same father. Three different lives.

A vintage microphone in a spotlight on an empty stage

Charles

The Rapper · 24

Touring as Midnight Conquerer, chasing the breakout that keeps not coming. The oldest, and the most like the man he swears he is nothing like.

A brass service bell and room keys on a hotel front desk

Damon

The Manager · 23

Runs a hotel, holds everything together with a smile, and keeps the peace whether the peace wants keeping or not.

A football on a field under stadium lights at dusk

Aaron

The Athlete · 21

A college star with a short fuse who found out he had brothers the same week he found out his father was gone.

The Sound

The music that raised us scores every mile.

De La Soul on the tape deck. The era bleeding from 1992 into 2013. In this film, 90s hip-hop is not the soundtrack. It is memory, and it is the engine that carries the whole road trip.

Why We Are Making This

“This story is ours. Two of the three brothers on the page wrote this film. We are telling it because the world is full of stories that flatten Black men and absent fathers into a single tired headline, and the truth is so much bigger, funnier, and more tender than that.” Aaron Caldwell & Damon M. Smith · Writers and Producers

Proof, Not Promises

We did not just write it. We shot it.

The opening of the feature already exists as a companion short film, “Like Father,” now finishing post-production. Watch it and you will feel the exact tone, look, and heart of the feature before a single new frame is shot.

Teaser drops here soon. Follow along on Instagram for the premiere.

Made in Columbus

Shot in Ohio. Rooted in community.

We are hiring local crew, mentoring emerging Black filmmakers, and keeping the work and the opportunity close to home. Your support funds artists and jobs, not just a movie.

Ride With Us

Every dollar moves us from script to screen.

Raised so farGoal: $75,000

$50

The Passenger

Feeds the crew for a day on set.

$250

The Road Crew

Helps license a piece of the 90s music that gives the film its soul.

$1,000

The Family

Puts a local Columbus crew member to work.

$5,000+

The Producer’s Circle

Names you among the supporters who made this film possible, with recognition in our credits.

Donate on Givebutter

Like Father, Like Sons is fiscally sponsored by BAVC Media, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit. Your contribution is tax deductible to the fullest extent allowed by law, and it goes directly toward the making of the film.

Idu
House

The Studio

Idu House is a storytelling studio building culture with intention, not extraction. We develop original, character first work about Black life and the families that shape us, and we keep full ownership of the stories we tell. Like Father, Like Sons is our flagship feature.

Visit iduhouse.com →

Like Father, Like SonsLike Sons

Three strangers.One urn. One last trip.