Sullivan's first feature,
Cold River, a drama based on a novel by William Judson about orphaned children surviving a winter in the wilderness, was the first full-length film made in the Adirondacks in 50 years; Sullivan explained that his intent was to depict the "real danger and uncertainty and challenge" in the region's dense forests.
Cold River received poor reviews and few showings, however, and was described as "the worst wilderness film of the year" in
The Baltimore Sun. Originally released with the title ''Sullivan's Pavilion
, the movie was retitled after a sluggish opening and released in 1988. This time, Sullivan managed to score a seven-week run at a theater in Burlington, Vermont, where Beer-Drinker's Guide
did well enough to earn a two-week run at the Bleecker Street Cinema in New York. The film was well received; Janet Maslin described it in The New York Times'' as "a real delight", noted that the film expresses Sullivan's doubts about "whether he's got what it takes" to be a good filmmaker, and remarked that it was "nice to be able to report that he does." ==Later life and death==