A western that evokes Sergio Leone and Sam Peckinpah. A gritty, cinematic journey into the western imagination. It is classic, epic and new.
Limited Series
The Pitch
Watch the short film, proof of concept
A desperate young ranch hand's search for hope in the American wilderness pulls him into a deadly game of gold, violence, and survival — forcing him to choose between the man he is and the outlaw he must become.
Logline
Crossroad is a gritty western thriller about desperation, destiny, and the moment innocence dies. Set against the brutal landscape of the American frontier, the story follows Johnny, a quiet young ranch hand struggling to save the woman who raised him. With no money left and only a treasured family locket to sell, Johnny rides into the wilderness searching for hope — and instead stumbles into the aftermath of a violent gold robbery.
After crossing paths with a wounded outlaw carrying stolen gold, Johnny finds himself face-to-face with Julias Jones, a ruthless bandit whose charm is as dangerous as his trigger finger. What begins as a chance encounter spirals into a deadly game of deceit, survival, and grit, culminating in a tense duel that changes Johnny forever.
Meanwhile, wealthy gold baron Roy McKinnon unleashes a terrifying campaign of vengeance to reclaim his stolen fortune, leaving a trail of blood across the frontier. As hunters close in from every direction, Johnny is forced to navigate a world where morality is blurred, violence is currency, and every man eventually reaches a crossroad between who he is — and who he must become.
Blending the slow-burn tension of classic westerns with the brutality of modern frontier dramas, Crossroad is a cinematic tale of greed, fate, and the birth of an outlaw.
Synopsis
Characters
Roy McKinnon
A ruthless and eccentric gold baron who clawed his way out of poverty and built an empire through violence, intimidation, and an unrelenting obsession with wealth. Refined on the surface yet savage underneath, Roy rules Tucson like a kingmaker — feared as much for his cunning unpredictability as for the armed men who enforce his will. Gold is more than currency to him; it is power, salvation, and proof that the world belongs to the merciless. Charming one moment and monstrous the next, Roy carries the scars of humiliation and hunger like old scripture, shaping him into a man who believes compassion is weakness and brutality is the natural law of the frontier. When his gold is stolen, he unleashes a campaign of vengeance that turns the desert into a hunting ground.
“I still remember the way it tasted. That magnificent golden yolk just melted right on my tongue. It was like the heavens opened up and a thousand shining angels descended into my mouth for one last celestial celebration.”
Julius Jones
Julias “Jones” Jones is a legendary outlaw whose charm, wit, and easy smile conceal a lifetime of violence. A drifter, thief, and consummate survivor, Jones moves through the frontier with the confidence of a man who fears neither the law nor death itself. Beneath his rugged exterior lies a sharp and calculating mind that delights in testing the character of others, often turning every conversation into a game of manipulation. Jones believes that every man eventually arrives at a crossroads where his true nature is revealed, and he takes a particular interest in pushing people toward that moment. Taken in by a hidden band of Apache, Jones undergoes a powerful healing ceremony and mystical vision that forces him to confront the ghosts of a lifetime spent killing, stealing, and surviving without remorse. Equal parts mentor, predator, and philosopher, Jones serves as the catalyst that awakens the dormant gunfighter within Johnny, setting him on a path from which there may be no return.
“Destitution is the greatest purveyor of sin, they say... how sad.”
“I come by some things with great ease. Things that others only find with great difficulty... like that yellow on your fingers.”
Johnny
Johnny is a young ranch hand whose quiet kindness and strong moral compass were forged by the woman who rescued him from a violent childhood. Raised by his adopted grandmother after the death of his outlaw father, he has spent his life working the land, caring for others, and trying to become a better man than the one he was born to be. Honest, determined, and fiercely loyal, Johnny is driven by a deep sense of duty to those he loves. But beneath his humble exterior lies a natural gunfighter with instincts he has spent years trying to bury. When tragedy strips away everything he holds dear, Johnny is forced to confront the darkness within himself and decide whether vengeance will consume him or define him.
“Besides, that boy went away a long time ago. It’s just me now, the man you raised.”
Maribel
Maribel is a compassionate and strong-willed young woman whose kindness endures despite the hardships of life. Intelligent, resilient, and unafraid to speak her mind, she serves as Johnny's emotional anchor and moral compass as he is drawn deeper into a world of violence and vengeance. Where others see survival as an excuse for cruelty, Maribel believes a person's character is defined by the choices they make in the face of suffering. More than a love interest, she represents the humanity, hope, and future that Johnny risks losing as he walks the dangerous path before him.
Sheriff Hollis
The Sheriff is an aging lawman caught between duty and survival in a town already owned by more powerful men. Worn down by years of violence, compromise, and frontier politics, he understands that justice in Tucson is often dictated by gold rather than the badge on his chest. Though outwardly calm and measured, the Sheriff carries the quiet exhaustion of a man who has seen too many good people buried and too many ruthless men prosper. Beneath his stoic exterior still flickers a fading sense of morality, but standing against Roy McKinnon may require more courage than he has left.
Trailer
Austin Ellsworth
Austin Ellsworth is a writer, director, and NYU Film graduate whose work spans narrative filmmaking, broadcast, and music. He has received multiple Emmy Awards for his work in television and broadcast production, and also composes original music. A lifelong student of cinema, Ellsworth brings a filmmaker’s eye for tone, performance, visual storytelling, and atmosphere to every project he develops.
Crossroad is limited series comprised of eight cinematic pieces or episodes. It is a naturalistic, but stylized Western. It is grounded in the dust, danger and physical reality of the frontier, while embracing a heightened visual and dramatic language. The world is sparse, darkly funny and occasionally surreal—where violence can be visceral one moment and absurdly theatrical the next; where a ruthless gold baron listens to Tosca, an outlaw speaks like a frontier philosopher, and an old-fashioned airship can suddenly fall from the sky over a gun duel. The series favors bold images, strange details, long silences and bursts of operatic intensity without abandoning emotional or historical realism. Its characters are larger than life, but remain recognizably human. Crossroad takes the mythology of the classic Western and filters it through something more eccentric, cinematic and unpredictable, as the old frontier begins colliding with the modern world.
What sets Crossroad apart is its collision of the dying Old West with the modern world. Set in 1908, the series explores industrialization, new technology and growing corporate power alongside an escalating class struggle between men like Roy—who builds his fortune by exploiting miners and controlling those beneath him—and outlaws like Johnny and Jones, who gradually become folk heroes by turning that power back against the powerful. Beneath the gunfights and frontier mythology is a story about who owns the West, who pays for its wealth, and what happens when ordinary people decide they’ve had enough. Crossroad is about a person’s choice to let their past define them, or to become something new.