He Lived It. He Wrote It. Now You Get to Watch It. “YALE”

What began as Van Billet's real-life experience has now become a film — one that he would later give actors to recreate for the screen. For actor Kevin Dunn, bringing that story to life meant stepping into a character whose experiences were rooted in the screenwriter's own life. Billet never expected his grandfather’s double-life love story to become a story told on the big screen. But years later, those experiences became the foundation for “YALE,” a film now coming to the Philadelphia Film Festival.

“YALE” is a comedy-drama film, based around a real-life event from Billet’s family. The story follows Mac, a mother desperately searching for a rare kidney donor to save her son's life, while also dealing with unhealed wounds from her childhood. To her own despair, her only hope is to locate her father, Yale, who abandoned her 30 years ago, because he  shares her son’s rare blood type. The film was primarily shot in the City of Brotherly Love, making it a must-see at this year’s Philadelphia Film Festival. 

For Billet, writing the story meant more than simply recounting the events: It gave him the opportunity to explore the love he knew he had for writing. “I’ve had this story in the back of my mind for a long time,” Billet says, “so, using it to display my love for the arts seemed like perfect timing.” Turning real life into a screenplay also meant deciding which parts of his experience would remain true to what happened and which would need to be changed for the story. Billet explained that it being a true story made keeping it accurate the most difficult. “Letting the reality of the story soak in, not only for me but for the actors too, made it all the more delicate.”

The process of adapting his own life allowed Billet to view the experience from a different perspective. Rather than simply recreating the past, the screenplay became a way to explore forgiveness, cleansing his mother of the blame she carried through these events and gaining a willingness to connect with his extended family.

“I hope the audience gets to see the raw emotions represented towards my bizarre,  sociopath grandfather and display these string of events in a way that my mother will see she is not the cause of what her father did.” Billet says. 

Kevin Dunn, who plays Billet’s real-life grandfather Yale, expressed his enthusiasm and views on the scenes he played. “The parking lot scene was so emotional and gutwrenching. Being able to properly display the emotions Van wanted conveyed meant a lot to me,” Dunn expressed. “The driving scene's end result was more than I was hoping for, so I think that gives you an idea of how the creative process flowed.”

Audiences can see “YALE” during the 35th Philadelphia Film Festival, which runs Oct. 15–25. The film will screen Oct. 16, 2026, 7:30 p.m. at Philadelphia Film Society East and Oct. 24, 2026, 5:15 p.m. at Philadelphia Film Society Center. 

Billet and Dunn hope that this film will bring a community together by allowing a space for audiences to express their truths in trauma, recognize the city in its beauty and connect with family; just how Billet hopes to.

From lived experience to screenplay to festival screen, “YALE” proves that sometimes the best stories are the ones life writes first. Billet’s life may have inspired the story, but once the lights go down, the audience gets to decide what it means to them.

Written by: Laila Carter