With her sister hours from being removed from life support, a young mother is offered an unexpected opportunity to make a trade.
With her sister hours from being removed from life support, a young mother is offered an unexpected opportunity to make a trade.
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Story
About The Project
Synopsis
All Exchanges Final is a drama/comedy about Dom, a new mother whose life is upended when her older sister has an out-of-the-blue aneurysm. With only hours left before her sister will be removed from life support, Dom cannot figure out how to say goodbye. And even if she did- would her sister hear her? While trying to come up with the words, Dom is interrupted by doctors, nurses, and finally a bored bureaucrat from the S.E.R.A. (Soul Exchange and Restoration Administration) who hands Dom an application and asks if she is interested in trading any souls for that of the deceased. Not entirely registering the question, Dom doesn’t look at the application until after she has left the ICU with her goodbyes to her sister still unsaid. Curious, she travels down to the sub-basement level offices of the S.E.R.A. with her five-month-old baby Pearl. There she meets other people wanting to trade souls for dying loved ones. In the supernaturally boring DMV-like waiting room of the S.E.R.A., Dom makes a decision. To trade her baby for her sister. But to do so, she’ll have to get through an awkward clerk, a decision maker who happens to be the proudest dad on the planet, and eventually, her own sister, who wakes up furious at Dom for what she has done.
Director's Statement
The idea for my film, All Exchanges Final, came to me while I was breastfeeding in an ICU waiting room. My sister was in the ICU in a situation I hadn’t previously known existed—legally dead but technically alive. Her out-of-nowhere massive stroke had killed her brain. The rest of her body, however, was still in good shape and the perfect candidate for organ donation. So what followed my sister’s legal death was a weird thirty-six hour twilight period where we all just kind of hung out with her dead-but-still-breathing body until the surgery. The situation felt absurd, like it was Weekend at Bernie’s if those two guys had just spent the weekend staring at Bernie and being really, really sad. No matter how hard I tried to accept the reality of the situation, I couldn’t turn off my comedy writer’s brain—it told me that every absurd situation has a happy solution.
Luckily I had come up with one. I just had to trade my baby for my sister.
My daughter was five months old when my sister died. And in my five months as a new mother I’d experienced neither the heart-bursting joy old ladies on the street gushed about nor the resentment postpartum mommy blogs warned of. She was fine. She was a good baby. I had wanted her very much and was glad she was here. But the idea that I was supposed be in capital L love with this little life form was quietly hilarious to me- as if someone had asked me to fall in love with a perfectly nice potato. While people like my sister had found motherhood to be a transformative experience, I had so far found it to be more of a plus-one situation.
It was so simple. Just trade this bald little creature (not a person yet) for my sister (a person) and everything would be fine. The math made sense; I just had to overcome the petty obstacle of reality to go through with it. So I wrote a script. Now I want to make a film that acknowledges what I think is true-- that often the connections that are supposed to be the most natural are the most difficult to make. That life is equally absurd, heartbreaking, funny, and brief. And that two people connecting in a moment is nothing short of what makes it worth living.
Incentives
$10
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$200
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$500
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$1,000
I Heart Female Directors Mug
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Wishlist
Use the WishList to pledge cash and loan items - or - Make a pledge by selecting an incentive directly.
$10
Get out of sexism free card
With any donation of $10 or more, you will receive this exclusive Get Out of Sexism Free card. Every donor receives a special thanks in the credits of the film.
Claimed: 69 of 250
$25
I Heart Female Directors Magnet
With every donation of $25 or more, you will receive the magnet below - perfect for home and office!
Claimed: 79 of 250
$50
I Heart Female Directors Pin
This pin will be yours with every $50 donation!
Claimed: 21 of 250
$100
I Heart Female Directors Letter Opener
A surefire way to smile every time you open your snail mail! And it can be yours with everyone donation of $100.
Claimed: 7 of 250
$200
I Heart Female Directors Bumper Sticker
With every donation of $200 or more, you will receive this amazing bumper sticker.
Claimed: 4 of 250
$500
I Heart Female Directors Tote Bag!
With every donation of $500 or more you will recieve this handy tote bag!
Claimed: 5 of 10
$1,000
I Heart Female Directors Mug
With every $1000 donation, we will send you a microwavable, dishwasher safe mug that reads: 1 paid $1000 for this mug because I love female directors. (The mug is featured in our video, have a look!) Every donor receives a special thanks in the credits of the film.
Claimed: 5 of 20
$5,000
Associate Producer Credit
So you want to be a producer? Now's your chance!
Claimed: 0 of 5
- Updates
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Current Team
About This Team
Annabel Oakes - Director & Writer
Annabel Oakes is a screenwriter and television writer. Her feature film script, Lovestruck, a female buddy film skewering romantic comedies, was featured on the 2009 Black List. Since then she has developed television series with ABC, NBC, and USA and has been on the writing staffs of State of Georgia (ABC Family), Awkward (MTV), and Sirens(USA). She is currently a writer on CBS’s Angel from Hell, starring Jane Lynch.
Aya Cash - Actress
Aya Cash is a film and TV actor whose appearances include The Wolf of Wall Street, Brotherhood, Law & Order and the Newsroom. She was a series regular on the 2011 Fox comedy Traffic Light and currently stars in the FX Network series, You're The Worst. Aya was listed among "10 Comic Actresses Who Deserve A Big-Screen Leading Role" by Indiewire.
Charley Aldridge - Producer
After 10 years as a pharmaceutical advertising creative director Charley has turned his focus from selling drugs that manage obesity-related insulin-resistance or encourage post-operative pooping to marketing films for the thin folks of the world, who have no problems whatsoever in the bathroom department. All Exchanges Final marks his foray into the entertainment industry and his excitement over the blockbuster potential for this short film is so appropriate that even the FDA would approve
Wendy Cohen - Producer
Wendy is the President of Picture Motion, the leading marketing and advocacy firm for issue driven films. Prior to joining the Picture Motion family, Wendy was the Senior Director of Film Campaigns at Participant Media. In 2009, Wendy produced Every Third Bite, an award-winning short documentary about bees hailed as a “better bee movie” by New York Magazine and in 2011 she produced the Sundance Institute trailer titled Light is Love. She completed production on her first short narrative film titled The Goldfish in 2013 which after a successful festival run is now available on Vimeo.
Ellie Smith - Producer
Ellie is a veteran of the TV and film industy, working in entertainment for over 30 years. She has been the 1st Assistant Director on numerous productions including: Sirens, Chicago Fire, Clueless, Along Came Polly and many others.
Matt McInnis - Producer
Matt is a writer and producer with a decade of experience in the world of television and film. His short films have garnered attention and awards at both the New York City International Film Festival, and the Vancouver Short Film Festival. His work in television include the shows "The Secret Circle", "The 100", "Emily Owens, MD" and others. He once played hacky-sack with Bill Clinton and is a die hard fan of the New York Mets.
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