A desperate woman carelessly takes in seven foster kids to help ressurect her family business - but she ends up ressurecting her life as well as the lives the kids.

“Eight City Acres” is a comedy feature that was work-shopped by integrating teens from both the foster care system and one of the nation’s premiere children’s theatres, Milwaukee First Stage Children’s Theatre. First Stage is a nationally acclaimed company drawing annual audiences of more than 145,000 people and is one the largest programs in the nation. Two of the teenagers that participated are from foster care; one is from First Stage Children’s Theatre.

Karen Erbach got her B.A. in film from Columbia College Chicago and then attended the American Film Institute as a directing fellow. She currently has two produced screenplays: “For Hire,” a feature film starring Rob Lowe and Joe Mantegna and “Mask of Fear” for ABC Television, MGM/UA. Her directing work has rewarded her with the CINE Golden Eagle Award for her short dramatic film, “Lisa” shot by Academy Award winner Janusz Kaminski, ASC, which aired on PBS. Past recipients of CINE Golden Eagles include Steven Spielberg, George Lucas, Ken Burns, Martin Scorsese, Robert Altman, Spike Lee, and many others distinguished for their work with the moving image. She also received the Special Merit Award at the Illinois Film Festival for her short film, “In Bed.”

Karen was a top five finalist in the Walt Disney Writing Fellowship Competition for her screenplay, “Just Blame Jim.” She has also been a freelance writer for American Cinematographer, L.A. Weekly, Eyespeak, and Dog Fancy and has contributed to the works of several best selling authors, including Cynthia Kersey’s Unstoppable, Unstoppable Women and biographies by George Mair about Barry Diller, Bette Midler and Rosie O’Donnell.