12 Hours
Los Angeles, California | Film Short
Drama
Inspired by true events. Follow the 12 hour journey of a mother's desperate search to locate her fentanyl addicted son. The closer she comes to finding him, the more roadblocks she encounters.
12 Hours
Los Angeles, California | Film Short
Drama
Green Light
This campaign raised $49,100 for production. Follow the filmmaker to receive future updates on this project.
131 supporters | followers
Enter the amount you would like to pledge
Inspired by true events. Follow the 12 hour journey of a mother's desperate search to locate her fentanyl addicted son. The closer she comes to finding him, the more roadblocks she encounters.
About The Project
- The Story
- Wishlist
- Updates
- The Team
- Community
Mission Statement
The Story
It's 11:59p.m.
Lena Whitford tightly grips her cell phone as she paces her living room.
12:03a.m
She looks out the window to the dark street. All quiet. She looks at her phone. No messages. Dylan, her teenage son, is still not home and unfortunately this is not her first experience awaiting his safe return. Four years of having a young son with a substance use disorder has trained her to be patient. But tonight her resilience is wearing thin.
12:10a.m
Lena makes a call as she starts to pace again. No answer.
1:00am
Lena lays in bed wide awake, restless. It's the first night Dylan has not returned home since Lena discovered his addiction escalated from heroin to fentanyl - a highly addictive, extremely lethal synthetic opioid. Fentanyl is 30 to 50 times more potent than heroin. Each passing minute offers an increasingly worse nightmarish scenario for Dylan's fate.
1:07am
Lena can no longer take it and begins the desperate search for her son.
Over the course of 12 Hours, what begins with a search through her son's bedroom, leads to a hunt through her city's streets. Lena's ability to keep herself safe, as she propels deeper into the world her son is becoming more familiar with, is outweighed by her desperation to find him.
Inspired by Kelly's journey with her own son, this story is deeply personal to us. We know first hand the experience of loving someone who struggles with addiction and substance abuse.
Although this film is personal to us, we know it's relevant to most. "Forty-six percent of U.S. adults report having a family member or close friend addicted to drugs," Pew Research Center Survey. We know that we are not alone in our experience of loving someone who struggles with substance abuse. We also know that the act of creating art is profoundly healing. Creating 12 Hours is a collaborative process, one that we hope you have a hand in supporting. By following, pledging, and sharing our campaign we, together, can make an impact. Here's context on how your support in all areas helps:
-> Following Our Campaign: By pressing the follow button at the top right of this page you will be kept up to date about goals we have met and signal to Seed & Spark the believers we have in our project! This will allow us more opportunities to be seen on the website and get us that much closer to our goal.
-> Sharing Our Campaign: By selecting the share button at the top right of this page you can join us in spreading the word about our film and helping to raise awareness about the collateral damage of the opioid epidemic.
If you'd like to do it yourself, we've made it easy with some concise drafts for you below:
I am thrilled to support 12 Hours Short Film @12hoursshortfilm by @kellystanphill. 12 Hours Short Film helps raise awareness of the effects of the opioid epidemic while taking you on the 12 hour journey of a mother's search for her son. Please join me in supporting them on @seedandspark: [LINK HERE]
-> Making A Pledge: By selecting the green Make A Pledge Button at the top right of this page you will be directly contributing to the creation of this film. Every dollar pledged will go to funding each aspect of production for equipment, travel, food and safety. See our detailed breakdown below:
Your Support At Work
Stretch Goals
If you've reached us after we've made our goal, we have some Stretch Goals that will help take this project through post production. See below:
Wishlist
Use the WishList to Pledge cash and Loan items - or - Make a pledge by selecting an Incentive directly.
Equipment
Costs $8,500
Pay for cameras, lenses, monitors, wireless video transmitters, tripods, etc!
Share this update!
About This Team
About Our Team
Kelly Stanphill is an award-winning screenwriter, social impact producer, and soon to be director, who is also an advocate for those affected by the collateral damage of the opioid epidemic. She brings her POV to her work through her personal experiences being the mother of a son with substance use disorder.
Prior to becoming a writer and social impact producer, Kelly held many positions in both the entertainment and consumer industries, most recently as the Director of Client Services for the award-winning visual effects company Asylum VFX (The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, Pirates of the Caribbean franchise, National Treasure, Déjà vu, Master and Commander).
Botswana-born and Canadian-raised, Malia Baker became most recognizable for her standout performance as Mary Anne Spier in Netflix's award-winning series, "The Baby-Sitter's Club," which debuted in 2020 and earned Malia a Family Emmy nomination for Best Youth Performance. Baker has also starred in Nickelodeon's reimagined horror anthology classic, "Are You Afraid of The Dark?" Both credits earned her a nomination for Favorite Female TV Star at the 2022 Kids Choice Awards. Most recently, Baker filmed Disney's "Descendants: Rise of Red" where she stars as Chloe.
Named one of Seventeen magazine's Voices of the Year and Refinery29 Canada's Powerhouses of the Year, actress and activist Malia Baker has quickly become a breakout star in the industry. When Baker is not filming she can be found hosting conversations with other changemakers, contributing her writing for publications and using her platform to inspire and empower young girls to use their voices for change and equality through her role as a Champion for the UN initiative, GirlUp, as well as Global Ambassador for the non-profit, She’s The First.
Cronin Cullen is an award winning filmmaker and actor splitting his time between New York City and Los Angeles. Cronin’s acting work spans TV, Film and Theater. He is a working finalist at The Actor’s Studio. Cronin came to producing for the ‘me’ - he stayed for ‘we’. Some years, projects, awards and communities later he still delights in success through collective creation. Cronin produced and acted in a pilot co-created with five friends called Camp Greenwood. It premiered in Shonda Rhimes's Series Fest in 2022 and won various awards on the festival circuit. They now have a showrunner attached and have begun their pitching journey.
The story of 12 Hours strikes close to home for Cronin. The unfortunate truth is that countless share this sentiment. He is honored to bring his efforts to a project that will bring awareness and a recognition to those affected by the opioid crisis through this nuanced perspective. At his core Cronin desires to make great art with great people, he is honored to continue this pursuit on such a meaningful story with such a caring and talented team.
Elizabeth Hitt is a visual effects and finishing producer based in Los Angeles. She has worked on both TV and Film projects for Netflix, NBC, CBS, Warner Bros, Sony, Disney, and Paramount.
Elizabeth came to LA for an internship and stayed for the adventures. Occasionally a project comes along via a friend that says “help get this made” and she volunteers in any way she can. Sometimes it's VFX producing, sometimes it's crewing, sometimes it's helping at one of the smaller theaters in Los Angeles. Creativity, story telling, and personal connection motivate the collaborative works.
12 Hours is one of those projects that is personal and compelled Elizabeth to step up. Far too many of us know someone directly impacted by the opioid crisis. By helping bring this story to the screen she hopes to let others know they are not alone.
Melanie Mahanna is an award winning producer and actor from New York. Before entering the world of filmmaking, Melanie was a Brooklyn public school teacher. Melanie continues to work with school leadership to help build inclusive communities. Melanie most recently executive produced, co-created and starred in a comedic TV pilot, Camp Greenwood that premiered in Shonda Rhimes's Series Fest and won various awards on the festival circuit. Melanie believes that art has the power to deepen empathy and understanding through representation and is honored to be a part of the 12 Hours team.
Julia stems from a background in community health and advocacy, utilizing the arts as a foundation to engage audiences in order to disseminate information. While she holds a Masters in Community Development, has worked on both national and international child & family health initiatives, and held multiple successful businesses, by far what she is most proud of is being a single mom to her two daughters. It is through her daughters, both of whom are actors, that her personal and professional lives merged as Julia found another means to contribute her skills in advocacy, research and project management. Over the past 5 years Julia’s on-set experience has included projects with Netflix, Nickelodeon, Miramax, Hallmark, Lifetime, CW, ABC and Disney. Julia is excited to be part of the team at 12 HOURS where she knows together they will be making both art and impact.
Simon England is a Los Angeles-based cinematographer and professional camera technician in the motion picture and television industry. Throughout his 20 year career, Simon has had the pleasure of working alongside and being mentored by some of the industry’s most distinguished cinematographers including Dan Mindel ASC, BSC, SASC (Star Wars: Episode VII, Star Trek, Star Trek Into Darkness), Ben Seresin ASC, BSC (Unstoppable, GodzillaVKong, The Mother), Dariusz Wolski ASC (News of the World), Nigel Bluck (True Detective, Lilo & Stitch), and Emmanuel Lubezki ASC, AMC (The Revenant, Last Days in the Desert). In addition to these credits, Simon regularly consults with several industry leading equipment companies on innovating new optics and camera systems. He is committed to maintaining the highest standard with utmost efficiency and attention to detail in all aspects of his career.
Simon was born in England and immigrated to the US at an early age where he took a large interest in music and art. After moving to California to attend California State University, Northridge where he received a Bachelor's degree in Film Production: Cinematography, he began his career at Panavision Woodland Hills. Simon was the director of photography for the 2018 short film The Silver which received awards at multiple sci-fi film festivals nationwide. Variety magazine recognized Simon in 2017 in its Artisans Elite Impact Report for his innovative approach to the craft. He represents the true transition of traditional cinema with embracing and applying new technology to create images that tell amazing stories.
Current Team
Incentives
- The Story
- Wishlist
- Updates
- The Team
- Community
Mission Statement
The Story
It's 11:59p.m.
Lena Whitford tightly grips her cell phone as she paces her living room.
12:03a.m
She looks out the window to the dark street. All quiet. She looks at her phone. No messages. Dylan, her teenage son, is still not home and unfortunately this is not her first experience awaiting his safe return. Four years of having a young son with a substance use disorder has trained her to be patient. But tonight her resilience is wearing thin.
12:10a.m
Lena makes a call as she starts to pace again. No answer.
1:00am
Lena lays in bed wide awake, restless. It's the first night Dylan has not returned home since Lena discovered his addiction escalated from heroin to fentanyl - a highly addictive, extremely lethal synthetic opioid. Fentanyl is 30 to 50 times more potent than heroin. Each passing minute offers an increasingly worse nightmarish scenario for Dylan's fate.
1:07am
Lena can no longer take it and begins the desperate search for her son.
Over the course of 12 Hours, what begins with a search through her son's bedroom, leads to a hunt through her city's streets. Lena's ability to keep herself safe, as she propels deeper into the world her son is becoming more familiar with, is outweighed by her desperation to find him.
Inspired by Kelly's journey with her own son, this story is deeply personal to us. We know first hand the experience of loving someone who struggles with addiction and substance abuse.
Although this film is personal to us, we know it's relevant to most. "Forty-six percent of U.S. adults report having a family member or close friend addicted to drugs," Pew Research Center Survey. We know that we are not alone in our experience of loving someone who struggles with substance abuse. We also know that the act of creating art is profoundly healing. Creating 12 Hours is a collaborative process, one that we hope you have a hand in supporting. By following, pledging, and sharing our campaign we, together, can make an impact. Here's context on how your support in all areas helps:
-> Following Our Campaign: By pressing the follow button at the top right of this page you will be kept up to date about goals we have met and signal to Seed & Spark the believers we have in our project! This will allow us more opportunities to be seen on the website and get us that much closer to our goal.
-> Sharing Our Campaign: By selecting the share button at the top right of this page you can join us in spreading the word about our film and helping to raise awareness about the collateral damage of the opioid epidemic.
If you'd like to do it yourself, we've made it easy with some concise drafts for you below:
I am thrilled to support 12 Hours Short Film @12hoursshortfilm by @kellystanphill. 12 Hours Short Film helps raise awareness of the effects of the opioid epidemic while taking you on the 12 hour journey of a mother's search for her son. Please join me in supporting them on @seedandspark: [LINK HERE]
-> Making A Pledge: By selecting the green Make A Pledge Button at the top right of this page you will be directly contributing to the creation of this film. Every dollar pledged will go to funding each aspect of production for equipment, travel, food and safety. See our detailed breakdown below:
Your Support At Work
Stretch Goals
If you've reached us after we've made our goal, we have some Stretch Goals that will help take this project through post production. See below:
Wishlist
Use the WishList to Pledge cash and Loan items - or - Make a pledge by selecting an Incentive directly.
Equipment
Costs $8,500
Pay for cameras, lenses, monitors, wireless video transmitters, tripods, etc!
Share this update!
About This Team
About Our Team
Kelly Stanphill is an award-winning screenwriter, social impact producer, and soon to be director, who is also an advocate for those affected by the collateral damage of the opioid epidemic. She brings her POV to her work through her personal experiences being the mother of a son with substance use disorder.
Prior to becoming a writer and social impact producer, Kelly held many positions in both the entertainment and consumer industries, most recently as the Director of Client Services for the award-winning visual effects company Asylum VFX (The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, Pirates of the Caribbean franchise, National Treasure, Déjà vu, Master and Commander).
Botswana-born and Canadian-raised, Malia Baker became most recognizable for her standout performance as Mary Anne Spier in Netflix's award-winning series, "The Baby-Sitter's Club," which debuted in 2020 and earned Malia a Family Emmy nomination for Best Youth Performance. Baker has also starred in Nickelodeon's reimagined horror anthology classic, "Are You Afraid of The Dark?" Both credits earned her a nomination for Favorite Female TV Star at the 2022 Kids Choice Awards. Most recently, Baker filmed Disney's "Descendants: Rise of Red" where she stars as Chloe.
Named one of Seventeen magazine's Voices of the Year and Refinery29 Canada's Powerhouses of the Year, actress and activist Malia Baker has quickly become a breakout star in the industry. When Baker is not filming she can be found hosting conversations with other changemakers, contributing her writing for publications and using her platform to inspire and empower young girls to use their voices for change and equality through her role as a Champion for the UN initiative, GirlUp, as well as Global Ambassador for the non-profit, She’s The First.
Cronin Cullen is an award winning filmmaker and actor splitting his time between New York City and Los Angeles. Cronin’s acting work spans TV, Film and Theater. He is a working finalist at The Actor’s Studio. Cronin came to producing for the ‘me’ - he stayed for ‘we’. Some years, projects, awards and communities later he still delights in success through collective creation. Cronin produced and acted in a pilot co-created with five friends called Camp Greenwood. It premiered in Shonda Rhimes's Series Fest in 2022 and won various awards on the festival circuit. They now have a showrunner attached and have begun their pitching journey.
The story of 12 Hours strikes close to home for Cronin. The unfortunate truth is that countless share this sentiment. He is honored to bring his efforts to a project that will bring awareness and a recognition to those affected by the opioid crisis through this nuanced perspective. At his core Cronin desires to make great art with great people, he is honored to continue this pursuit on such a meaningful story with such a caring and talented team.
Elizabeth Hitt is a visual effects and finishing producer based in Los Angeles. She has worked on both TV and Film projects for Netflix, NBC, CBS, Warner Bros, Sony, Disney, and Paramount.
Elizabeth came to LA for an internship and stayed for the adventures. Occasionally a project comes along via a friend that says “help get this made” and she volunteers in any way she can. Sometimes it's VFX producing, sometimes it's crewing, sometimes it's helping at one of the smaller theaters in Los Angeles. Creativity, story telling, and personal connection motivate the collaborative works.
12 Hours is one of those projects that is personal and compelled Elizabeth to step up. Far too many of us know someone directly impacted by the opioid crisis. By helping bring this story to the screen she hopes to let others know they are not alone.
Melanie Mahanna is an award winning producer and actor from New York. Before entering the world of filmmaking, Melanie was a Brooklyn public school teacher. Melanie continues to work with school leadership to help build inclusive communities. Melanie most recently executive produced, co-created and starred in a comedic TV pilot, Camp Greenwood that premiered in Shonda Rhimes's Series Fest and won various awards on the festival circuit. Melanie believes that art has the power to deepen empathy and understanding through representation and is honored to be a part of the 12 Hours team.