Just us chickens

This report chronicles the development and production of the short film, Just Us Chickens, written, directed, and produced by Erin Randall. The film is based on several true stories told by a Diane Hill James, who grew up in Smithville, Texas during the 1950s. The script weaves together Ms. James’s experiences growing up near the famous Texas brothel, The Chicken Ranch, located in the neighboring town of La Grange. Diane and her friends would frequently spy on the brothel and once a stranger, new to town, mistook her family home as the brothel and her as a prostitute. The film, Just us Chickens, considers how these experiences could inform and influence the sexual identity of a young woman, and aims to clarify the contradictory expectations put upon female sexual development both then and now.