THE MAN WHO CAME AND WENT

From an Academy Award® nominated writer comes a magical tale set in a small desert town. Something new and strange - and yet achingly familiar - begins to unfold when a cook transforms the lives of locals and visitors.

The Man Who Came and Went is a magically realistic story that will tease your understanding and beliefs and draw you into the mysteries of the universe. The Academy Award nominated co-writer of Shrek, Joe Stillman, tells the story of Belutha Mariah, the oldest of three kids from three different fathers. Belutha's life's goal is to keep her dysfunctional mom, Maybell, from procreating yet again and to leave the coffin-sized town of Hadley, Arizona the moment she graduates high school. But then along comes Bill, the new grill cook at Maybell's Diner. He's a mysterious drifter with the ability to mind-read orders. As word spreads in Hadley and beyond, the curious and desperate pour into this small desert town to eat at Maybell's.

Some believe Bill knows the secrets of the universe.

Belutha figures he's probably nuts. But his cooking starts to transform the lives, and she finds her angry heart opening as Bill begins to show her the porous boundary between this life and what comes after.

Joe Stillman co-wrote Shrek for Dreamworks, which earned him an Academy Award® nomination for Best Adapted Screenplay and the Annie and BAFTA Awards. Other produced features are Beavis & Butthead Do America, Shrek 2, Gulliver's Travels, Planet 51 and Joseph King of Dreams. In television, he was co-producer and writer on King of the Hill, for which he received two Emmy Award® nominations. He was a writer and story editor for Nickelodeon's The Adventures of Pete and Pete and a writer on MTV's Beavis and Butthead. He worked on Nickelodeon's Sanjay and Craig and Kirby Buckets for Disney. Other TV credits include Albert for Nickelodeon, The War Next Door for the USA Network, Clueless, Doug and Danger and Eggs for Amazon. He's currently working on a Curious George feature for streaming on Peacock.