postpartumm...
Los Angeles, California | Film Short
Comedy
Harley is an expectant mom, clueless about modern motherhood. During trendy Mommy & Me classes, she retreats into visions of dance and fantasy to escape the absurdity. But once baby comes, fear and fantasy collide as postpartum anxiety twists real life into nightmarish moments.
postpartumm...
Los Angeles, California | Film Short
Comedy
1 Campaigns | California, United States
Green Light
This campaign raised $9,705 for production. Follow the filmmaker to receive future updates on this project.
39 supporters | followers
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Harley is an expectant mom, clueless about modern motherhood. During trendy Mommy & Me classes, she retreats into visions of dance and fantasy to escape the absurdity. But once baby comes, fear and fantasy collide as postpartum anxiety twists real life into nightmarish moments.
About The Project
- The Story
- Wishlist
- Updates
- The Team
- Community
Mission Statement
The Story
Something is wrong with Harley. She can’t connect with the other moms-to-be, who seem to have it all together. She drifts off in group classes, escaping in underwater adventures and carnivals, dancing away the absurdity of modern motherhood and all its trendy how-to’s. Once the baby comes, things don’t improve as life overwhelms her . . . She has a beautiful baby, a loving husband, a nice life. But she can’t shake these fearful feelings and anxious thoughts of something terrible happening to her son. They’re becoming more frequent, in everyday activities and seem so real. When Harley finally reconnects with an old friend, the two share intimate and humorous birthing stories. She begins to realize that all moms are connected, no matter how different their paths to children may be.
What is postpartum anxiety (PPA)? It’s a subcategory of postpartum mood disorders. You've likely heard of others like postpartum depression, PTSD, OCD and the baby blues. PPA is a newer classification. Statistically, 1 in 7 mothers deal with PPD and 10% have PPA. But those numbers don’t account for the moms who don’t share what they’re going through with their physicians - I didn’t. Almost every new mom I open up to shares her own similar experiences, indicating how prevalent this condition is and how rarely it's discussed.
Having a baby is overwhelming. Pregnancy itself can be stressful. Our bodies undergo massive changes, and there are all these new things: Classes. Clothing. Registries. Yoga. Our Babymoon. And, let's not forget the Birth Plan: Alternative birthing techniques. Encapsulating the placenta. Delayed cord clamping. Skin to skin. Water birth. Hypno birth. The epidural.
All of this leads us into the phase of actually caring for a new person. From top to bottom. All day, everyday. Every basic need. How is it possible that we will get everything right? (We won't. But we'll try.)
And what do we do when we experience depressive and anxious thoughts that go beyond the baby blues? Many of us bottle it up, fearful of the consequences of speaking up. Enough! Let's talk about it. Cry about it a little (a lot). Laugh together. Share our stories. It's really hard a lot of the time. And wonderful, even when it isn't.
Having postpartum anxiety or any other mood disorder isn't shameful or a sign of weakness. Talking about it and sharing our vulnerability is powerful. Just like the final moments in the delivery room.
We are beginning Phase One of our crowdfunding campaign - Production. We're preparing to shoot the film in late May! We'll be updating you along the way and will show you our progress before beginning Phase Two - post-production and marketing/festival submission. Thank you so much for sharing, liking and supporting our film!
Casting is underway to bring these colorful characters to life!
SANDY is an expecting mother in Harley's Mommy & Me class. California-natural pretty with an air of ‘everything has come easier to her than most people though she’s completely unaware.’ She frequently holds court, espousing her strong opinions on all things holistic.
AKIKO is an upper-class expecting mother in Harley's Mommy & Me class. She is always well-dressed, with hair perfectly coiffed and face fully made-up. She follows the school of hypno-birthing and water births and frequents a Meditation Mecca in Malibu. She is anti-western medicine and will probably be a non-vaccinator.
ROSA is a Doula and den mother, and she is the leader of Harley's Mommy & Me class. She is a blend of old school and more modern techniques. She is well-meaning and tries to take care of everyone, even if she sometimes gets it wrong.
TRENT is an expecting parent in Harley's Mommy & Me class and is a transgender male who ceased taking his steroids in order to carry his and his husband, Warren’s, child. Radiating positivity, he is the favorite in the group. He is sensitive to Heather’s struggle to fit in and proves the catalyst for her turning point after the baby comes. He will be seen both pregnant and months later, as a happy father with his child.
WARREN is a sweet, well-rounded man, married to Trent & deeply in love with both his mate and their new little girl.
MATAO is a supportive partner to Harley, though he is unaware of the depths of her struggles. A great father, good humored, rises to the occasion.
Wishlist
Use the WishList to Pledge cash and Loan items - or - Make a pledge by selecting an Incentive directly.
Cash Pledge
Costs $0
Cast
Costs $2,600
SAG-AFTRA rates including 18.5% pension & health contribution. 4 shoot days, 9 principal actors.
Meals & Crafty
Costs $800
A fed crew is a great crew!
Director, Cinematographer & Crew
Costs $5,300
Director, Producer, Cinematographer, Asst. Director, Sound, Production Design, Gaffer, Grips, etc.
Location, Location, Location!
Costs $1,500
Studio rental and location expenses.
Composition and Scoring
Costs $500
Original song composition and scoring are important elements for this film!
#BudgetTheBaby
Costs $400
Childcare for all the awesome working moms & dads!!
Insurance
Costs $400
Required!
Hair & Makeup, Wardrobe
Costs $500
Get the right look!
Direct link:
Share this update!
About This Team
Heather and Faith previously worked together on the short film, Je Suis, which had a robust run on the festival circuit.
FAITH STRONGHEART (Director)
Faith Strongheart is a writer/director with a unique visionary style. She has just completed her MFA in directing at UCLA’s School of Theater, Film and Television and is in post on her thesis film, Getting From Here, an extraction from a feature based on her exceptional hippie childhood. She has also just completed another short film, Havana, about homosexual lovers in Cuba in 1978. Her last short film, Je Suis (i am), a powerful story about a woman scrambling to balance work and family, had a great run on the international festival circuit, garnering much attention and awards.
Faith has written, produced and directed several short films and has participated in numerous directing workshops. In addition, she has written three feature-length screenplays and a dramatic television series pilot. Prior to entering graduate school, Faith worked for over fifteen years as a film professional on several features, allowing her invaluable access to the imaginative integrity of some of the most visionary filmmakers today.
Faith was a finalist for the Sloan Foundation Fellowship and is a two-time recipient of the Motion Picture Association of America award, a recipient of the Women in Film Verna Fields Memorial Fellowship, the Bill Lee Memorial award, the Hollywood Foreign Press Association award for Directing, the Carroll Sax Award in Motion Picture and Television Production and the Charles and Lucille King Family Foundation Scholarship. This year, she is the recipient for the Mary Pickford Award for Documentary Filmmaking for a feature documentary that she is making about her non-traditional hippie upbringing.
HEATHER L. TYLER (Writer, Actor)
After studying theatre at Rhodes, Heather began her professional career in Chicago, where onstage credits include The Threepenny Opera w/the hypocrites @ Steppenwolf and critically acclaimed Dirty Diamonds at The Factory Theater. Her play, Ceres, was also produced by The Factory. In L.A., she developed the title character in Meditations: Eva Hesse, a world premiere at Highways Performance Space, and she has performed with Rogue Machine in A Bright New Boise and Wish I had a Sylvia Plath (u.s.) & with Sacred Fools in A Gulag Mouse. Film/TV credits include Johnny Frank Garrett’s Last Word premiering at SXSW and The Bridge (FX). She has also appeared in many commercials. For the Hollywood Fringe, she produced and directed the L.A. premiere of Porno Dido. The following year, while seven months pregnant, she produced four Fringe shows for Rogue Machine, including the multiple award-winning In the Valley of the Shadow, a beautiful story about the Pulse Orlando nightclub shooting.
CAT DEAKINS, Cinematographer
Cat is an American cinematographer and filmmaker living and working in NYC and LA. She shoots narrative, documentary and experimental film/video, and has an MFA from UCLA (Cinematography) and a BA from Harvard (Sociology). Before becoming a DP, she worked as a freelance photographer for many clients, including Rolling Stone Magazine.
Several Best Cinematography awards include the UCLA Film Festival and the Freak Show Film Festival. International projects have given her opportunities to shoot in Bolivia, Croatia, France, Hungary, Mexico. For the past 6 years, she has also taught weekly photography classes to incarcerated teenagers in the LA County Probation system. She’s currently working on two long term projects who are 3 and 4 years old, and look a whole lot like their dad.
STEPHEN SPIES, Composer
Stephen Spies started playing violin at the age of 5, and grew up largely surrounded by a family of folk musicians. He was introduced to music composition when he entered the Crowden School of Music for middle school. His love for film music developed when his first composition teacher had him improvise, compose and perform music for silent films. He continued to compose for his friends, and eventually for groups such as the Adorno Ensemble and the Orlando Philharmonic Orchestra. Stephen holds a BA in music composition from UCLA (University of California Los Angeles). He’s scored over 200 visual media projects including commercials for companies such as Mattel, Samsung, and University Credit Union. He has also scored numerous video games, virtual reality (VR) projects and films (short and feature length) that have screened worldwide.
MARITZA CABRERA, Vocalist
Maritza is a Chicago native. She is a graduate from the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art summer program and a Second City Conservatory graduate. She performed and co-wrote improvisation and sketch shows all over Chicago with several groups including “Salsation” and “I Heart You” which had the honor of performing in Sketchfest 2011. Her online sketch group “TBD” had their first video Shit Latina Girls Say go viral! Maritza was also involved in the theater community in Chicago. Credits include Beauty of the Father with Urban Theater and understudy for The Goodman/Teatro Vista production of El Nogalar. Currently, you can see her web series Mags n Mel (as Mel) which she co-wrote, co-produced at www.magsnmel.com. You can also see her hilarious music video for her original song Ode to an Ex at www.funnyordie.com. Her unique take on the song “Locked Out of Heaven” by Bruno Mars is starting to sweep the internet. Check her out as she does all 9 parts Acapella as 9 different characters. All sounds were done by her mouth and voice, no redubbing, and each voice in one take. Maritza has also been cast in several commercials and voiceovers. TV and Film credits include Underemployed and Roundabout American.
Current Team
Incentives
- The Story
- Wishlist
- Updates
- The Team
- Community
Mission Statement
The Story
Something is wrong with Harley. She can’t connect with the other moms-to-be, who seem to have it all together. She drifts off in group classes, escaping in underwater adventures and carnivals, dancing away the absurdity of modern motherhood and all its trendy how-to’s. Once the baby comes, things don’t improve as life overwhelms her . . . She has a beautiful baby, a loving husband, a nice life. But she can’t shake these fearful feelings and anxious thoughts of something terrible happening to her son. They’re becoming more frequent, in everyday activities and seem so real. When Harley finally reconnects with an old friend, the two share intimate and humorous birthing stories. She begins to realize that all moms are connected, no matter how different their paths to children may be.
What is postpartum anxiety (PPA)? It’s a subcategory of postpartum mood disorders. You've likely heard of others like postpartum depression, PTSD, OCD and the baby blues. PPA is a newer classification. Statistically, 1 in 7 mothers deal with PPD and 10% have PPA. But those numbers don’t account for the moms who don’t share what they’re going through with their physicians - I didn’t. Almost every new mom I open up to shares her own similar experiences, indicating how prevalent this condition is and how rarely it's discussed.
Having a baby is overwhelming. Pregnancy itself can be stressful. Our bodies undergo massive changes, and there are all these new things: Classes. Clothing. Registries. Yoga. Our Babymoon. And, let's not forget the Birth Plan: Alternative birthing techniques. Encapsulating the placenta. Delayed cord clamping. Skin to skin. Water birth. Hypno birth. The epidural.
All of this leads us into the phase of actually caring for a new person. From top to bottom. All day, everyday. Every basic need. How is it possible that we will get everything right? (We won't. But we'll try.)
And what do we do when we experience depressive and anxious thoughts that go beyond the baby blues? Many of us bottle it up, fearful of the consequences of speaking up. Enough! Let's talk about it. Cry about it a little (a lot). Laugh together. Share our stories. It's really hard a lot of the time. And wonderful, even when it isn't.
Having postpartum anxiety or any other mood disorder isn't shameful or a sign of weakness. Talking about it and sharing our vulnerability is powerful. Just like the final moments in the delivery room.
We are beginning Phase One of our crowdfunding campaign - Production. We're preparing to shoot the film in late May! We'll be updating you along the way and will show you our progress before beginning Phase Two - post-production and marketing/festival submission. Thank you so much for sharing, liking and supporting our film!
Casting is underway to bring these colorful characters to life!
SANDY is an expecting mother in Harley's Mommy & Me class. California-natural pretty with an air of ‘everything has come easier to her than most people though she’s completely unaware.’ She frequently holds court, espousing her strong opinions on all things holistic.
AKIKO is an upper-class expecting mother in Harley's Mommy & Me class. She is always well-dressed, with hair perfectly coiffed and face fully made-up. She follows the school of hypno-birthing and water births and frequents a Meditation Mecca in Malibu. She is anti-western medicine and will probably be a non-vaccinator.
ROSA is a Doula and den mother, and she is the leader of Harley's Mommy & Me class. She is a blend of old school and more modern techniques. She is well-meaning and tries to take care of everyone, even if she sometimes gets it wrong.
TRENT is an expecting parent in Harley's Mommy & Me class and is a transgender male who ceased taking his steroids in order to carry his and his husband, Warren’s, child. Radiating positivity, he is the favorite in the group. He is sensitive to Heather’s struggle to fit in and proves the catalyst for her turning point after the baby comes. He will be seen both pregnant and months later, as a happy father with his child.
WARREN is a sweet, well-rounded man, married to Trent & deeply in love with both his mate and their new little girl.
MATAO is a supportive partner to Harley, though he is unaware of the depths of her struggles. A great father, good humored, rises to the occasion.
Wishlist
Use the WishList to Pledge cash and Loan items - or - Make a pledge by selecting an Incentive directly.
Cash Pledge
Costs $0
Cast
Costs $2,600
SAG-AFTRA rates including 18.5% pension & health contribution. 4 shoot days, 9 principal actors.
Meals & Crafty
Costs $800
A fed crew is a great crew!
Director, Cinematographer & Crew
Costs $5,300
Director, Producer, Cinematographer, Asst. Director, Sound, Production Design, Gaffer, Grips, etc.
Location, Location, Location!
Costs $1,500
Studio rental and location expenses.
Composition and Scoring
Costs $500
Original song composition and scoring are important elements for this film!
#BudgetTheBaby
Costs $400
Childcare for all the awesome working moms & dads!!
Insurance
Costs $400
Required!
Hair & Makeup, Wardrobe
Costs $500
Get the right look!
Direct link:
Share this update!
About This Team
Heather and Faith previously worked together on the short film, Je Suis, which had a robust run on the festival circuit.
FAITH STRONGHEART (Director)
Faith Strongheart is a writer/director with a unique visionary style. She has just completed her MFA in directing at UCLA’s School of Theater, Film and Television and is in post on her thesis film, Getting From Here, an extraction from a feature based on her exceptional hippie childhood. She has also just completed another short film, Havana, about homosexual lovers in Cuba in 1978. Her last short film, Je Suis (i am), a powerful story about a woman scrambling to balance work and family, had a great run on the international festival circuit, garnering much attention and awards.
Faith has written, produced and directed several short films and has participated in numerous directing workshops. In addition, she has written three feature-length screenplays and a dramatic television series pilot. Prior to entering graduate school, Faith worked for over fifteen years as a film professional on several features, allowing her invaluable access to the imaginative integrity of some of the most visionary filmmakers today.
Faith was a finalist for the Sloan Foundation Fellowship and is a two-time recipient of the Motion Picture Association of America award, a recipient of the Women in Film Verna Fields Memorial Fellowship, the Bill Lee Memorial award, the Hollywood Foreign Press Association award for Directing, the Carroll Sax Award in Motion Picture and Television Production and the Charles and Lucille King Family Foundation Scholarship. This year, she is the recipient for the Mary Pickford Award for Documentary Filmmaking for a feature documentary that she is making about her non-traditional hippie upbringing.
HEATHER L. TYLER (Writer, Actor)
After studying theatre at Rhodes, Heather began her professional career in Chicago, where onstage credits include The Threepenny Opera w/the hypocrites @ Steppenwolf and critically acclaimed Dirty Diamonds at The Factory Theater. Her play, Ceres, was also produced by The Factory. In L.A., she developed the title character in Meditations: Eva Hesse, a world premiere at Highways Performance Space, and she has performed with Rogue Machine in A Bright New Boise and Wish I had a Sylvia Plath (u.s.) & with Sacred Fools in A Gulag Mouse. Film/TV credits include Johnny Frank Garrett’s Last Word premiering at SXSW and The Bridge (FX). She has also appeared in many commercials. For the Hollywood Fringe, she produced and directed the L.A. premiere of Porno Dido. The following year, while seven months pregnant, she produced four Fringe shows for Rogue Machine, including the multiple award-winning In the Valley of the Shadow, a beautiful story about the Pulse Orlando nightclub shooting.
CAT DEAKINS, Cinematographer
Cat is an American cinematographer and filmmaker living and working in NYC and LA. She shoots narrative, documentary and experimental film/video, and has an MFA from UCLA (Cinematography) and a BA from Harvard (Sociology). Before becoming a DP, she worked as a freelance photographer for many clients, including Rolling Stone Magazine.
Several Best Cinematography awards include the UCLA Film Festival and the Freak Show Film Festival. International projects have given her opportunities to shoot in Bolivia, Croatia, France, Hungary, Mexico. For the past 6 years, she has also taught weekly photography classes to incarcerated teenagers in the LA County Probation system. She’s currently working on two long term projects who are 3 and 4 years old, and look a whole lot like their dad.
STEPHEN SPIES, Composer
Stephen Spies started playing violin at the age of 5, and grew up largely surrounded by a family of folk musicians. He was introduced to music composition when he entered the Crowden School of Music for middle school. His love for film music developed when his first composition teacher had him improvise, compose and perform music for silent films. He continued to compose for his friends, and eventually for groups such as the Adorno Ensemble and the Orlando Philharmonic Orchestra. Stephen holds a BA in music composition from UCLA (University of California Los Angeles). He’s scored over 200 visual media projects including commercials for companies such as Mattel, Samsung, and University Credit Union. He has also scored numerous video games, virtual reality (VR) projects and films (short and feature length) that have screened worldwide.
MARITZA CABRERA, Vocalist
Maritza is a Chicago native. She is a graduate from the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art summer program and a Second City Conservatory graduate. She performed and co-wrote improvisation and sketch shows all over Chicago with several groups including “Salsation” and “I Heart You” which had the honor of performing in Sketchfest 2011. Her online sketch group “TBD” had their first video Shit Latina Girls Say go viral! Maritza was also involved in the theater community in Chicago. Credits include Beauty of the Father with Urban Theater and understudy for The Goodman/Teatro Vista production of El Nogalar. Currently, you can see her web series Mags n Mel (as Mel) which she co-wrote, co-produced at www.magsnmel.com. You can also see her hilarious music video for her original song Ode to an Ex at www.funnyordie.com. Her unique take on the song “Locked Out of Heaven” by Bruno Mars is starting to sweep the internet. Check her out as she does all 9 parts Acapella as 9 different characters. All sounds were done by her mouth and voice, no redubbing, and each voice in one take. Maritza has also been cast in several commercials and voiceovers. TV and Film credits include Underemployed and Roundabout American.