Before Burbank’s Rose Parade float glides down Colorado Boulevard, there is a final stretch when months of planning, building and decorating come down to just a few critical hours.
Thousands of volunteers work against the clock. Flowers are placed, details are perfected, judging begins and the massive creation must somehow make its way from the decorating site to the parade route.
Those pressure-filled moments are the focus of The Last Eight, a new documentary directed by Burbank filmmaker Bryanna Reynolds. The film will make its world premiere on Aug. 30, 2026, at the Angeles Documentary Film Festival at The Broadwater in Hollywood.
The documentary takes viewers behind the scenes during the weeks leading up and the final eight hours of preparation for the life-size pirate ship created by the City of Burbank’s Rose Parade float team. But Reynolds’ film is about much more than the finished float seen by millions on New Year’s Day. It is about the volunteers, community, and the friends and families whose hands and hearts bring it to life.
“The Last Eight came from the idea that the last eight hours before the float arrives at the Rose Bowl ahead of the parade are the most stressful moments,” Reynolds said. “There is judging and hundreds of people working to an incredibly strict timeline to not only finish the float, but to get it on the street.”
Reynolds has lived in Burbank for the past four years and in Los Angeles since 2019. Originally from Australia, she began her career in sports broadcasting and live television news as a producer and reporter. After moving to Los Angeles, she worked in entertainment news and red carpet coverage before transitioning into documentary television.
Her work has included producing for the History Channel series The Curse of Oak Island and spending the past three years traveling across the country with Warner Bros. Discovery on treasure-hunting programs, most recently Filthy Fortunes. While Reynolds has long wanted to direct, The Last Eight marks her independent filmmaking and directorial debut.
Her introduction to Burbank’s float-building tradition came through Terri Coomes, a director for the City of Burbank Rose Parade float team. As an immigrant who has since become an American citizen, Reynolds said she has always been drawn to the history and traditions of her adopted home.
“In Australia, we do not have a parade like the Rose Parade,” Reynolds said. “Then I met Terri Coomes. She introduced me to the team, and I knew immediately that the story behind their pirate-themed boat was one that needed to be told.”
The documentary centers on Burbank’s 93rd Rose Parade entry, “All Paws on Deck,” created by the all-volunteer Burbank Tournament of Roses Association and designed by Dave Lowe, winner of the organization’s annual float design contest. The playful pirate ship showcases the journey of animal aboard on a journey to find the greatest treasure of all: a loving forever home. Covered in flowers, bark, grass, coffee, cinnamon sticks and other natural materials, the float brought the parade theme, “The Magic in Teamwork,” to life.
After Reynolds attended a documentary film festival in Kalamata, Greece, where she helped create and screen a documentary as part of a team, she knew she wanted “It showed me that with a dream and a vision, anything is possible if you have a support team,” she said. “Upon returning to Los Angeles, I immediately started to put together a team, or a family as I like to put it, of people who I felt could help bring this story to life.”
Preproduction began in 2025, with most of the documentary filmed during the final week of decorating around Christmas. Archival footage and photographs supplied by volunteers helped Reynolds tell the broader story of a project that requires a full year of work. She described stepping into the world of the Burbank float team as “opening the door to Narnia.”
“The entire experience working with the team on the float and documenting them was incredible,” add Reynolds who found herself tearing up with joy during filming while hearing the impactful stories and meeting the people who give so much of themselves to the project.
Behind the flowers and spectacle, she discovered generations of Burbank tradition. Some volunteers told her about relatives who travel from other states to spend Christmas working on the float. One of the stories featured in the documentary follows a daughter who returns every year to help her elder mom decorate the float together. “Forever, they will have that memory of spending Christmas time together, surrounded by the extended family, creating something that is celebrated by people around the world,” said Reynolds. That sense of family became the heart of the film.
The final day of filming brought another challenge when the rains began, breaking a 20 year dry spell on the parade. Reynolds had no rain gear but continued filming, while additional members of her crew captured footage from other locations along the route. Despite the weather, crowds remained in place as the float made its way down Colorado Boulevard.
“I was so empowered by the turnout of people at the parade who stood there getting drenched to watch it,” she said. “More impactful were all the people who were in the parade, marching through with smiles on their faces. Not even the rain could stop people from attending.”
Through the filmmaking process, Reynolds said she found an even deeper connection to Burbank and the people who make its traditions possible. “I felt like I discovered a new love for the city I live in,” she said. “People should know more about this beautiful city, and I hope that’s what people find out with this documentary.”
Reynolds plans to take The Last Eight onto the film festival circuit, with the hope of sharing Burbank’s story with audiences around the world. She also hopes the film encourages other women to pursue filmmaking and reminds viewers that it is never too late to follow a creative dream. Most of all, however, Reynolds made the documentary for the people who built the float.
“I want them to know that from dedicating hours of their lives to creating a pirate ship, they created joy and memories for years to come,” Reynolds said. “We should continue to celebrate family and tradition, and that is exactly what they are doing.”
The Last Eight will make its world premiere Aug. 30, 2026, at the Angeles Documentary Film Festival at The Broadwater in Hollywood. Additional screening and ticket information is available through the Angeles Documentary Film Festival.
