You Are Here: An RV Adventure Film in Bar Harbor

From West Point to Hollywood to Small-Town America in an RV with a Stowaway Cat, ‘You Are Here’ Motors to Finds Its Audience in Bar Harbor

Carrie Jones

Jun 19, 2026

The Bar Harbor Story is generously sponsored by Coastal Kayaking Tours and Acadia Bike.

BAR HARBOR— For most filmmakers, finishing a movie marks the end of the journey.

For Claire Rose and Jack Kennedy, and their family, it was really just part of the beginning.

And moviegoers in Bar Harbor?

They get to be a part of that journey, too.

It involves dogs, a Winnebago, a stow-away kitten, movie stars, and brilliant, funny writer and director and their kids.

Their groups travels—and your opportunity to watch their movie and be part of their adventures—will bring them to Bar Harbor’s historic Criterion Theatre, June 29.

After completing their first feature, You Are Here, the husband-and-wife team loaded their three children and three dogs (Love, Ghostbuster, Scotch) into the same 32-foot Winnebago featured in the movie and set out to bring it all directly to audiences, embarking on a cross-country tour that doubles as a celebration of America’s communities and stories during the nation’s 250th birthday year.

For Claire Rose, the stop on Mount Desert Island is something of a homecoming. A childhood friend of Southwest Harbor’s Alex Newell Taylor, Rose spent summers visiting the island and later returned with her own family after a house fire displaced them for a time.

“I used to visit Alex sometimes in the summer when we were younger, and it’s such a gorgeous part of the world,” Rose said. “We came to Bar Harbor and had the most wonderful couple days.”

They were moments, like many others, where community, friendship, and humor all mesh. Viewers will see a lot of that mesh in You Are Here.

Blending romance, comedy and drama, You Are Here follows Ping Bodie, a struggling writer whose journey from California to New York is interrupted when his car breaks down in the small town of Yucaipa. Forced to live in a vintage Winnebago behind an auto shop, Ping gradually becomes part of the quirky community surrounding Ray, the mechanic whose repeated attempts to repair the car leave the writer unexpectedly stranded.

The story grew from Jack Kennedy’s own life.

Years ago, the West Point graduate and actor found himself stuck in a Southern California town, living in a 1968 Winnebago while a local mechanic repeatedly tried to fix his vehicle. The experience eventually became his first screenplay, which was named a semifinalist in the prestigious Academy Nicholl Fellowships competition.

Directed by Claire Rose, who spent years working behind the scenes in Hollywood and learning from filmmakers including David Fincher and Joe Kosinski, the movie stars John Ruby and Jack Kennedy and includes a special appearance by actor Judd Nelson.

“I’ve spent a long time working alone. Sure, I write with people but not physically. I’ve worked from home over 10 years and it’s easy to get isolated without realizing it. Making the film reminded me how much I genuinely like working with people,” she said.

The film has been described as a modern-day It’s a Wonderful Life, though Rose said her relationship with the classic movie is complicated. Instead, she said, what resonates most with her is its emphasis on community.

“I think about community a lot,” she said. “It is a big part of the film and also our experience of making it. The people who show up and those who don’t. Also, just making a movie demands a community.”

After spending more than a decade largely working from home, Rose said making the film reminded her how much she enjoyed collaborating with others.

“When you’re in the groove, everyone sharing the same vision and purpose, giving your everything to make it happen, that’s pretty great,” she said.

That purpose was the creation of a movie that’s poignant and fun, quirky and resonating.

Now they have a new purpose. It’s to sell out the theater, June 29, so Jack will get a You Are Here tattoo on stage.

“When my husband said we were going to make a movie, I, like everyone else, told him he was crazy. We have kids and dogs, and the house is a mess! But this story had been inside him for years now, screaming to get out, and it was time,” she said in a press statement about the film.

“The truth is, the movie’s story of it never being too late, of deciding to follow your dreams even when it seems foolish, that is our story. We’ve been in Hollywood a long while now. Jack has been on more TV shows than you can watch in a week, and I’ve worked with literally hundreds of directors. But we had not done what we went to Hollywood to do: make a movie for the big screen. And so, we finally did,” she continued.

“The house, however, is still a mess,” she said.

The road trip itself has become part of the experience. Along with screening the movie in 20 cities, the family has been exploring local history, visiting historic theaters, and documenting their travels through a podcast.

“Being on the road and seeing old friends and making new ones is another sort of community. The hope is that we can bring together a community around the film and keep it going, and evolving as the film’s journey does,” she said.

Traveling with three children and three dogs in a vintage RV has provided no shortage of stories.

“Every day it’s something,” Rose said, recounting dogs having accidents in the RV, a runaway awning during a rainstorm and a propane alarm she didn’t even know existed. “But that’s the stuff that memories and good stories are made of.”

“When it hits just right, and you’re cuddling in bed, toasting marshmallows, singing and driving, there’s nothing better than that,” she said.

Although You Are Here centers on missed opportunities and second chances, its creators say the story ultimately reflects their own decision to pursue a dream long deferred.

“The truth is, the movie’s story of it never being too late, of deciding to follow your dreams even when it seems foolish, that is our story,” Rose wrote in a director’s statement.

These days, Rose said, she’s less interested in changing the world than in bringing people together.

“The older I get, the more I just sort of want to, like Jimmy Durante put it, ‘make someone happy,’” she said. “I think making people laugh is sort of sacred.”

And ultimately, she believes that’s what stories are for.

“That’s what movies and stories are,” Rose said. “They’re about jumping into dark places and sharing the journey back to the light.”

MORE INFORMATION ABOUT THE MOVIE

“You Are Here,” a genre-blending independent film, reimagines the romance drama.

A romantic dramedy, the story follows a down-and-out writer stuck in a small town who finds an unexpected muse in a dying mechanic who’s on his fourth marriage.

The film includes Judd Nelson on its impressive roster, and the script was an Academy Nicholl Fellowship semifinalist.

Independent filmmakers Claire Rose and Jack Kennedy bring their unique vision to cinema with the public screening of their debut feature, “You Are Here,” at screening events in 20 cities across the United States, 10 in partnership with Alamo Drafthouse. A poignant film of resilience, “You Are Here” explores themes of missed opportunities, the fear that problems follow you like a loyal dog underfoot, and the search for redemption.

Ping Bodie has writer’s block. He decides to leave California for New York in search of the woman he believes is his muse, only to have his car break down in the small town of Yucaipa. Ray, the mechanic who can’t seem to fix Ping’s car, lets him crash in his vintage Winnebago behind the shop. While stranded, Ping finds himself becoming a part of their quirky community and learns it’s never too late to become who you’re meant to be.

Described as a modern-day “It’s A Wonderful Life,” the movie is a tribute to the small towns and communities that both stifle and uplift. It’s also about possibilities: those you have and those you squander and how there are always more to be found, if you have the heart to pursue them.

With an acclaimed ensemble cast including a special appearance by famed actor Judd Nelson, “You Are Here” stars John Ruby (Ping), Jack Kennedy (Ray), Eileen Grubba (Lucinda), Jamie Kaler (Manshower), Gale Hansen (Joe Donald), Dendrie Taylor (Karen), Adam Lazarre-White (Brett), Marabina Jaimes (Molly), Ron Roggé (Mike), Kelly De Darla (Susan Gretchen), Kim Kimbrough (Rhonda), Tim Abell (Benny), Austin Basis (stan), Sam Ameen (Dr. Hansen), Rob Mukes (Sixshooter), and Brenda Garcia (Doris). Rounding out the cast is Scotch, a Doxie terrier, and Lola, a heritage chicken.

A deeply personal project, “You Are Here,” is also a cross-country journey.

Jack and Claire Rose Kennedy, the husband-and-wife filmmakers, decided the best distribution strategy would be to pack up their three kids (Jack, Calleigh, Quinn) and three dogs (Love, Ghostbuster, Scotch) in the 32-foot RV from the film and personally deliver the movie to cities and small towns across the United States. The culmination of the movie also prompted a podcast, exploring America during her 250th birthday—getting into the local history of movies and the grand theaters that show them, sampling local pastries, and chatting with local luminaries about what makes them love where they are.

About the Filmmakers:

Director Claire Rose started out as a grip, working her way through various departments before settling into a behind-the-scenes role as a writer. Over the years, she’s written treatments, shorts, and features for hundreds of directors, creating her own sort of Directing Master Class, learning from the greats, including David Fincher, Joe Kosinski, Ellen Kura, Johan Renck, Harmony Korine, Nicolai Fuglsig, and Sam Hargrave.

Writer Jack Kennedy. Once upon a time, Jack was a down-and-out actor managing a seedy apartment building in the heart of Hollywood when he finally decided he needed a change. Flipping a quarter and hitting the road, he crapped out in a little town about two hours east of downtown Los Angeles, and there he stayed, stranded, living in a semi-functional ‘68 Winnebago watching a floppy angel of a mechanic flail around trying to fix his car.

From that experience, You Are Here was born. A romantic dramedy, an ode to small town America, and an exploration of the truth that problems follow you around like a loyal dog always underfoot.

A proud graduate of West Point (Go Army Beat Navy), Jack Kennedy has been on every TV show this side of the Mississippi including, Shameless, Castle, Ray Donovan, Animal Kingdom, and Perry Mason but this is his first screenplay, and it was an Academy Nicholl Fellowship semifinalist. It’s an even better film.

LINKS TO LEARN MORE

All images courtesy of Claire Rose.

Watch the feature trailer here: