In the far future after a climate disaster and mass migration of humans from Earth, Fisher sails through a flooded urban wasteland and joins his lover, Cameron, to ensure their mutual survival, hope and love.

Director Biography - Riley Heath

Riley Heath is a 22 year old animator and motion designer. He graduated from University of Maryland, Baltimore County in Spring 2026 magna cum laude with a Visual Arts B.A. in Animation, minoring in Gender & Women's Studies. He has been passionate about animation from a young age and is grateful for the opportunity to start getting his animated work off the ground. His personal style is strongly influenced by a wide variety of interests, from independent artists to pieces of media that motivate him to build a similar portfolio of original work.

Director Statement

Survival, Forever is a project of love that seeks to find hope in a world that feels like it's falling apart. In the face of constant adversities including climate change and the political scapegoating of marginalized people, I wanted to make a story that could speak to the past, present, and future resilience of my queer and transgender siblings in arms.

The film's core message of queer resilience is represented both literally by the lovers Fisher and Cameron, and metaphorically by the rescuing of the coelacanth, a prehistoric fish species from the Devonian period that still exists to this day. Much like the coelacanth, and hundreds of other yet undiscovered ancient scientific marvels, I believe that queer people have the power to keep living and loving, no matter how much the world changes. We will always exist.