Garden DayZe
New York City, New York | Film Short
Drama, LGBTQ
Garden DayZe is a short film that explores the "daddy issues" that manifest between the daughter of a gay man & his young lover in the face of unexpected tragedy.
Garden DayZe
New York City, New York | Film Short
Drama, LGBTQ
1 Campaigns | New York, United States
Green Light
This campaign raised $11,525 for post-production. Follow the filmmaker to receive future updates on this project.
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Garden DayZe is a short film that explores the "daddy issues" that manifest between the daughter of a gay man & his young lover in the face of unexpected tragedy.
About The Project
- The Story
- Wishlist
- Updates
- The Team
- Community
Mission Statement
The Story
OUR STORY
Imagined yet informed by personal experience, Garden DayZe explores the “daddy issues” that manifest between the daughter of a gay man and his young lover in the face of unexpected tragedy.
UNIVERSAL EXPERIENCE / UNIQUE LANDSCAPE
Having received a call that her father has been in a terrible accident, Esme returns home to find not only changes made to the house where she grew up, and where her other father passed away, but Jack, a new, young love in it.
Set in one location, we follow Esme and Jack, thrown together, navigating their exhaustion in the space between long hospital days, waiting for calls from doctors, struggling to understand their place and significance in the home and life of the man they both love and are terrified of losing.
As the daughter of a gay man, writer and director Evie Hammer was curious about examining the rather universal experience of longing for approval - wanting to be the “apple” of a parent’s eye - in a unique landscape, and under the stress of trauma that can reduce even the best of us to our most childlike and arrested selves.
“Growing up between divorced parents and two daddies, and losing my other father to AIDS, vulnerable questions of inclusivity and visibility in terms of our family’s loss have come up for me now and then. And I wanted to start a conversation from that point of view and need."
Gone may be the days of the child of a gay parent referring to their other parent as “dad’s roommate” or “mom’s partner” without “partner” prompting the question “Oh, what business are they in?” but I suspect there are generations of children of gay parents that we haven’t heard from or thought about, children who have wonderful, funny, and heartfelt stories they’d like to share.
I hope they and we will! Let's keep talking, writing, shooting, collaborating....sharing our stories.
Unique but the same.
xoxo,
Evie & Team Garden DayZe
Wishlist
Use the WishList to Pledge cash and Loan items - or - Make a pledge by selecting an Incentive directly.
Editor
Costs $5,000
We need the services of a rock star editor to help us weave all the magic together!
Color Correction
Costs $1,500
Are we blue??? The water was cold but not that cold! We need a great eye to bring out the balance!
Audio Mixing
Costs $1,500
A squawking bird or two, that barking dog, and a swishy vintage dress? We need a PRO to mix us up!
Score
Costs $1,750
Come blow your horn! We need some music, old and new, to encompass us and add that magic layer.
Marketing & Festival Fees
Costs $1,750
Gotta get out there! Need a professional boost to market our piece and help with festival fees.
Cash Pledge
Costs $0
Direct link:
Share this update!
About This Team
The Gals Getting It Done!
While we are an all inclusive cast and crew, of course, our lead members are female.
Our goal on set was to foster open and organized collaboration.
MEET our KEY PLAYERS:
Director of Photography
Cailin is a New York City-based narrative and documentary cinematographer. In 2011, she partnered with director Ani Simon-Kennedy to start Bicephaly Pictures, one of just a few female production companies in NYC - shooting narrative films, music videos, web series, and commercials.
Cailin shot her first feature film DAYS OF GRAY with Ani Simon-Kennedy on location in Iceland in 2012. She is currently in pre-production for Ani Simon-Kennedy's second feature film THE SHORT HISTORY OF THE LONG ROAD, and in production for award-winning director Cynthia Lowen's (BULLY) feature documentary NETIZENS on women and online harassment.
Coming to Garden DayZe through Cinematographers_XX , Cailin was a champion of our story from the start contributing not only her fierce expertise on set, but her generous spirit and style overall.
Assistant Director / Associate Producer
Co-Founder and Executive Producer of Instaminiseries, Nikki is an actress, director and producer. At the end of 2015, Nikki executive produced and directed, UNBOUND, a sixteen part Instaminiseries for David Bowie's final album, “Blackstar”. Most recently she’s directed Chris Rock, Tariq Trotter, and Questlove for a series of commercials that she also produced.
Upcoming projects include her roles in the feature film Elsewhere and in IFC’s new series, Commuters, as well as several new and exciting musical collaborations through IMS.
As AD on Garden DayZe, Nikki brought her infectious passion, purpose and creativity to set keeping our team spirit high and our schedule on-time! A true powerhouse!
On-Set Acting Coach / Cast-Member "Officer Miriam"
Liz is an actor, comedian, and writer, living in Brooklyn. A graduate of Yale School of Drama, she has appeared on Broadway in Other Desert Cities, off-Broadway in The Servant of Two Masters (TFANA), and regionally across the country at such theaters as Yale Rep, The Guthrie, Seatlle Rep, Old Globe, Shakespeare Theatre Company, Two River, and Williamstown. She recently appeared as Sherlock in Baskerville: A Sherlock Holmes Mystery (Dorset Theatre Festival). Upcoming projects include The Winter's Tale (TFANA), and Kate in Taming of the Shrew (Hudson Valley Shakespeare Festival).
Liz came to Garden DayZe as a cast-member, joining further as acting coach, assisting director Evie Hammer transition from her writer / producer / director role to actor role in front of the camera, collaborating with Nikki and Cailin behind it.
"Esme" / Writer / Director / Producer
Evie Hammer is a NYC based actress, writer and producer. She has written one feature and two short films developing and producing Garden DayZe over the spring and summer of 2017. Bringing truth and personal perspective to her writing and performances is a guiding priority, as is attending each project with creative openness and collaboration.
Evie is immensely grateful to the talented team she assembled for this story especially her key players Cailin, Nikki and Liz, who facilitated the solid on-set partnership that allowed her to fully embrace the vulnerability of "Esme" and her relationship with co-star Mathew Dunlop's "Jack."
CAN'T HAVE THE DAUGHTER WITHOUT THE FATHER AND...HIS LOVER
MEET our OTHER PLAYERS:
MATHEW DUNLOP
"Jack" / Associate Producer
A dear friend and beautiful talent, the character of "Jack" was created specifically for Mathew Dunlop. Matt is an artist and actor working between Los Angeles and New York City. He shared his personal experience and perspective in the Garden DayZe script development stage and worked hard as an Associate Producer to connect the project with key contributors.
STEVEN SKYBELL
"Harris"
With numerous Broadway, Off-Broadway (Obie Award), film and television credits, welcoming Steven to the Garden DayZe cast in the role of "Harris" was an exciting prospect for the project. Drawn to the script and story, Steven was one of the first artists to join the team and we are grateful to have had him aboard.
AND WHAT WOULD WE HAVE DONE WITHOUT...
DREAM TEAM MEMBERS:
JOE ORLANDI
Gaffer / Master Moonlight Maker
JAMES GRISSOM
Best Boy / Swing
JOSEPH WATSON
Sound Mixer
RAMZI SHATARA
Assistant Camera Operator / "MVP"
HELENA BURGUENO
Production Assistant Extraordinaire
JASON MOSKOWITZ
Still Photographer / Producer
CAMILLE YOUNG
Trailer & BTS Video Editor
ANNA LAUREN TUFEKCI
Consulting Producer
Current Team
Incentives
- The Story
- Wishlist
- Updates
- The Team
- Community
Mission Statement
The Story
OUR STORY
Imagined yet informed by personal experience, Garden DayZe explores the “daddy issues” that manifest between the daughter of a gay man and his young lover in the face of unexpected tragedy.
UNIVERSAL EXPERIENCE / UNIQUE LANDSCAPE
Having received a call that her father has been in a terrible accident, Esme returns home to find not only changes made to the house where she grew up, and where her other father passed away, but Jack, a new, young love in it.
Set in one location, we follow Esme and Jack, thrown together, navigating their exhaustion in the space between long hospital days, waiting for calls from doctors, struggling to understand their place and significance in the home and life of the man they both love and are terrified of losing.
As the daughter of a gay man, writer and director Evie Hammer was curious about examining the rather universal experience of longing for approval - wanting to be the “apple” of a parent’s eye - in a unique landscape, and under the stress of trauma that can reduce even the best of us to our most childlike and arrested selves.
“Growing up between divorced parents and two daddies, and losing my other father to AIDS, vulnerable questions of inclusivity and visibility in terms of our family’s loss have come up for me now and then. And I wanted to start a conversation from that point of view and need."
Gone may be the days of the child of a gay parent referring to their other parent as “dad’s roommate” or “mom’s partner” without “partner” prompting the question “Oh, what business are they in?” but I suspect there are generations of children of gay parents that we haven’t heard from or thought about, children who have wonderful, funny, and heartfelt stories they’d like to share.
I hope they and we will! Let's keep talking, writing, shooting, collaborating....sharing our stories.
Unique but the same.
xoxo,
Evie & Team Garden DayZe
Wishlist
Use the WishList to Pledge cash and Loan items - or - Make a pledge by selecting an Incentive directly.
Editor
Costs $5,000
We need the services of a rock star editor to help us weave all the magic together!
Color Correction
Costs $1,500
Are we blue??? The water was cold but not that cold! We need a great eye to bring out the balance!
Audio Mixing
Costs $1,500
A squawking bird or two, that barking dog, and a swishy vintage dress? We need a PRO to mix us up!
Score
Costs $1,750
Come blow your horn! We need some music, old and new, to encompass us and add that magic layer.
Marketing & Festival Fees
Costs $1,750
Gotta get out there! Need a professional boost to market our piece and help with festival fees.
Cash Pledge
Costs $0
Direct link:
Share this update!
About This Team
The Gals Getting It Done!
While we are an all inclusive cast and crew, of course, our lead members are female.
Our goal on set was to foster open and organized collaboration.
MEET our KEY PLAYERS:
Director of Photography
Cailin is a New York City-based narrative and documentary cinematographer. In 2011, she partnered with director Ani Simon-Kennedy to start Bicephaly Pictures, one of just a few female production companies in NYC - shooting narrative films, music videos, web series, and commercials.
Cailin shot her first feature film DAYS OF GRAY with Ani Simon-Kennedy on location in Iceland in 2012. She is currently in pre-production for Ani Simon-Kennedy's second feature film THE SHORT HISTORY OF THE LONG ROAD, and in production for award-winning director Cynthia Lowen's (BULLY) feature documentary NETIZENS on women and online harassment.
Coming to Garden DayZe through Cinematographers_XX , Cailin was a champion of our story from the start contributing not only her fierce expertise on set, but her generous spirit and style overall.
Assistant Director / Associate Producer
Co-Founder and Executive Producer of Instaminiseries, Nikki is an actress, director and producer. At the end of 2015, Nikki executive produced and directed, UNBOUND, a sixteen part Instaminiseries for David Bowie's final album, “Blackstar”. Most recently she’s directed Chris Rock, Tariq Trotter, and Questlove for a series of commercials that she also produced.
Upcoming projects include her roles in the feature film Elsewhere and in IFC’s new series, Commuters, as well as several new and exciting musical collaborations through IMS.
As AD on Garden DayZe, Nikki brought her infectious passion, purpose and creativity to set keeping our team spirit high and our schedule on-time! A true powerhouse!
On-Set Acting Coach / Cast-Member "Officer Miriam"
Liz is an actor, comedian, and writer, living in Brooklyn. A graduate of Yale School of Drama, she has appeared on Broadway in Other Desert Cities, off-Broadway in The Servant of Two Masters (TFANA), and regionally across the country at such theaters as Yale Rep, The Guthrie, Seatlle Rep, Old Globe, Shakespeare Theatre Company, Two River, and Williamstown. She recently appeared as Sherlock in Baskerville: A Sherlock Holmes Mystery (Dorset Theatre Festival). Upcoming projects include The Winter's Tale (TFANA), and Kate in Taming of the Shrew (Hudson Valley Shakespeare Festival).
Liz came to Garden DayZe as a cast-member, joining further as acting coach, assisting director Evie Hammer transition from her writer / producer / director role to actor role in front of the camera, collaborating with Nikki and Cailin behind it.
"Esme" / Writer / Director / Producer
Evie Hammer is a NYC based actress, writer and producer. She has written one feature and two short films developing and producing Garden DayZe over the spring and summer of 2017. Bringing truth and personal perspective to her writing and performances is a guiding priority, as is attending each project with creative openness and collaboration.
Evie is immensely grateful to the talented team she assembled for this story especially her key players Cailin, Nikki and Liz, who facilitated the solid on-set partnership that allowed her to fully embrace the vulnerability of "Esme" and her relationship with co-star Mathew Dunlop's "Jack."
CAN'T HAVE THE DAUGHTER WITHOUT THE FATHER AND...HIS LOVER
MEET our OTHER PLAYERS:
MATHEW DUNLOP
"Jack" / Associate Producer
A dear friend and beautiful talent, the character of "Jack" was created specifically for Mathew Dunlop. Matt is an artist and actor working between Los Angeles and New York City. He shared his personal experience and perspective in the Garden DayZe script development stage and worked hard as an Associate Producer to connect the project with key contributors.
STEVEN SKYBELL
"Harris"
With numerous Broadway, Off-Broadway (Obie Award), film and television credits, welcoming Steven to the Garden DayZe cast in the role of "Harris" was an exciting prospect for the project. Drawn to the script and story, Steven was one of the first artists to join the team and we are grateful to have had him aboard.
AND WHAT WOULD WE HAVE DONE WITHOUT...
DREAM TEAM MEMBERS:
JOE ORLANDI
Gaffer / Master Moonlight Maker
JAMES GRISSOM
Best Boy / Swing
JOSEPH WATSON
Sound Mixer
RAMZI SHATARA
Assistant Camera Operator / "MVP"
HELENA BURGUENO
Production Assistant Extraordinaire
JASON MOSKOWITZ
Still Photographer / Producer
CAMILLE YOUNG
Trailer & BTS Video Editor
ANNA LAUREN TUFEKCI
Consulting Producer