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Bastard
New York City, New York | Film Short
Drama, Family
This short dramedy is a peek into the first moment we saw our parents as flawed but relatable individuals…and the impact that can have on one’s own identity. This film is an acknowledgement of how newfound maturity allows you to see the unspoken ways people tell you they love you.
Bastard
New York City, New York | Film Short
Drama, Family
Isabella Jane Schiller
2 Campaigns | New York, United States
Green Light
This campaign raised $11,370 for production. Follow the filmmaker to receive future updates on this project.
123 supporters | followers
Enter the amount you would like to pledge
This short dramedy is a peek into the first moment we saw our parents as flawed but relatable individuals…and the impact that can have on one’s own identity. This film is an acknowledgement of how newfound maturity allows you to see the unspoken ways people tell you they love you.
About The Project
- The Story
- Wishlist
- Updates
- The Team
- Community
Mission Statement
A short created by a cast and crew dominated by women and non-binary artists, BASTARD urges audiences to reflect on their experiences of love, their adult relationships with their parents, and how they craft their self-history. All pledges are tax-deductible thru 501c3 Jezebel Productions !
The Story
We've made it to STRETCH GOALS!!! Thank you SO much to everyone who has gotten us here! We're going to keep pushing in our final days:
If we hit the following benchmarks, we’ll be able to cover the full cost of production:
$12,230 - We’ve covered the full cost of cast, production crew, and all production equipment!
$13,200 - We’ve covered insuring the project!
$14,500 - We’ve covered the cost of feeding the cast and crew for three days!
$16,000 - We’ve covered all transportation costs!
BASTARD is a short dramedy about a young woman in the midst of her quarter-life, faced with that seminal moment in which we decide the kind of adult we want to be.
Julia is pushing thirty and still unclear on what she’s doing, floundering in the shadow of her ambitious, successful, do-it-all mother (who also raised her all by herself). When she discovers a letter as old as she is from her distant father, her carefully crafted self-history is fractured. Suddenly confronted with her parents' (in adulthood, now relatable) fallibility, she must face how much someone else’s story should impact her sense of self.
The film opens on her way to a first date, set to the soundtrack of her childhood correspondence with her father.
After her date calls her a “mistake,” she processes her reclamation of a slur with her loved ones. When she discovers an envelope of letters from her father, she is forced to re-examine what she “knows” about her parents' story.
BASTARD is a dramedy in the style of the coming-to-adulthood films of the early 2000s like FRANCES HA, OBVIOUS CHILD, and TINY FURNITURE, with heavy influences from LADY BIRD.
This short film is driven by the moments when we somehow simultaneously feel older than we are, and yet younger. The visuals wrap you up in the shoulder squeeze you need when you realize that you don’t know as much as you thought you did.
L to R: Blue is the Warmest Color, Lady Bird, Frances Ha, Lady Bird
Julia - our protagonist. Stalled. Her room and her head are filled with a decade of unfinished projects, her love life isn’t much better. Her loved ones seem to have "it" figured out, and upon the discovery of a decades-old secret she might just find the thing to move her forward.
Margaret - Mom, badass attorney, she’ll solve your problems whether you want her to or not, secretly a big softie.
Nik - best friend, platonic life partner, wise beyond their years…annoyingly (for Julia) similar to Marg but their help is delivered with more finesse.
Jason - he’s New in Town, a hot, booksmart nerd with heart but without a filter, with some growing up to do.
Ezra - Dad, experienced in this film only through his carefully crafted, overly-detailed letters to his growing, distant daughter. He wills her into his life with words.
As the only daughter of a single mom, there were no shortage of single moms on the screen growing up, but I was always underwhelmed by the lack of nuance in single parent-child relationships depicted. There are many films and series that explore single parenthood, but they are largely told from the perspective of a parent of young children or teens, and almost never focusing on the adult child reflecting on their parent. Many of these moms are also former teen-moms, which is a very specific relationship. And, as millennials remain closer with their parents in adulthood than in prior generations and are given more insight into their parents’ choices (by their parents), there seemed to be an opening for a new story.
Some Single Moms in the Media L to R: Erin Brockovich, Gilmore Girls, Maid, One Day At A Time, Mermaids (Isabella’s Top 5 Movies), Ginny & Georgia, Beauty Shop, and Murphy Brown
With this short we explore the complexities of the relationships that adult children have with their single primary parent and their more distant secondary parent. And, as the wonderful Monica Arsenault brought to our attention, the important role that chosen family can play in helping us process our reflections on those relationships.
This script is a peek into the first moment we saw our parents as flawed but relatable individuals…and the impact that can have on one’s own identity. It's is an acknowledgement of how experiencing the messiness of adulthood allows you to better see the unspoken ways people tell you they love you.
Ultimately, this is a story about loving your people, warts and all.
We are currently at the tail end of Pre-Production! We are (almost) fully cast, our locations are secured, and we’re in the process of building out the rest of our crew and finalizing equipment needs and scheduling!
The ongoing WGA/SAG-AFTRA strikes highlight the importance of funding and uplifting artist-driven and centered independent film to fuel new stories. Stick it to the man with a tax-deductible contribution ;)
$10,000 is the bare minimum we need to raise in order to get this project in the can! We are pulling additional funding from savings and small grants to cover the rest of our budget.
We believe in paying all cast and crew members for their talents and time, AND keeping them safe (insurance) while they get around (transportation), fed (hospitality), AND looking good, sounding good, and lit well (equipment and design).
Our Full Budget Breakdown is:
As you can see people make up over 50% of our expenses. Your contribution to this project funds the work of emerging women and non-binary artists in the industry.
How you come in:
Wishlist
Use the WishList to Pledge cash and Loan items - or - Make a pledge by selecting an Incentive directly.
Cast Stipends
Costs $1,000
Paying People is Paramount
Production Crew Stipends
Costs $6,700
This will work towards our budget to pay our Director of Photography, Production Designer, Sound Mixer, Gaffer, and Grip for our 3 day shoot
Equipment
Costs $2,300
Funding will go towards lights, camera accessories and lenses, sound equipment, and grip and electric needs!
Cash Pledge
Costs $0
Direct link:
Share this update!
About This Team
Monica Arsenault
Co-Director, Producer
Monica Arsenault (she/her) is a Brooklyn-based writer, director, and producer who makes feminist, coming-of-age content with boundary-pushing themes and colorful aesthetics. All of her work focuses on the intersection of faith, womanhood and sexuality.
Since founding her own production company in 2018, she has written and/or directed an award-winning web series, two short films, three music videos, and two films as part of a promotional mixed-art piece combining elements of live dance, poetry and film screenings.
Her most notable directing works are Nun Habits - a six-part web series that received international distribution on The Roku Channel after a wildly successful film festival run, and Ending the War On My Body - a series of dance short films set to poetry that premiered in November 2022 to a sold out audience.
Most recently, she started working as an associate producer for Cry, a commercial and film production company. She is currently producing her first feature film, The Woods, and her recent short film, Crimson Wave, premiered at The Women's Film Festival in Philadelphia in September. You can learn more at monicaarsenault.com.
Isabella Jane Schiller
Writer, Co-Director, Executive Producer, Julia
Isabella Jane Schiller (she/her) is a New York born, bred and based creative. She is specifically interested in work that addresses the evolution of gender, the transformative power of grief, and disability. Bastard is her first script.
As a producer, her projects include The Rushing of the Sea (Big Apple Film Festival, Chain Film Festival), Delete (BAFF, NYIFF, Atlanta Short Fest), and Crimson Wave (Philadelphia Women’s Film Fest, NYWIFT Online Shorts Festival, written & directed by Monica Arsenault). She served as associate producer on Monica Arsenault’s Virginity, Period and T.S Evering’s Four Dance At Night (clearly, they work well together).
In theatre, she has General Managed productions at NYTW, TheatreLab, and others. She serves on the board of Jezebel Productions, the longest-running women-led independent production company. As an actor she has performed on screen and stage around New York City and DC.
Maddalena De Beni
Director of Photography
Maddalena is a NYC-based cinematographer who last year show two hybrid-comedy TV pilots, a music video with Bitch, and a horror video for both Waif and Vice Magazine. She works with stop-motion artists Beck Underwood and Erma Fiend. Her work has recently screened at Katra Film Festival, Indie Memphis, Nitehawk Short Festival and on NoBudge.com. She studied under Tom Richmond (ASC), Sarah Cawley, and Valentina Canigglia (AIC) at the Fierstein Graduate School of Cinema in Brooklyn, NY. Maddalena is currently shooting her first feature film this fall. She's thrilled!
T.S Evering
Production Designer
T.S. Evering is a New York-based writer, director, and production designer who knew from the moment her mother gifted her a book of Grimm’s fairy tales that she wanted to be a storyteller. T.S. received her start in film as the Executive Assistant for one of her biggest influences in filmmaking, Baz Luhrmann, during the production of his Netflix series, "The Get Down."
Gabrielle Adkins
Editor
Gabrielle Adkins is an editor, actress, voiceover artist and filmmaker based in New York City. Originally an Air Force brat from the South, she came to New York to study acting at the Atlantic Acting School. Once graduated, Gabrielle created the independent production company, L2G Productions where she has produced, edited and directed several short films and web series. She has gone on to edit several short films, web series, documentaries, and music videos including:Crimson Wave, The Single Man, Four Dance at Night, In my Head, and [Black] History.
Julianne Cross
Assistant Director
Julianne Cross is a former Advertising Executive turned actor, writer, and filmmaker. Trained at UCB for comedy, she has been featured in sketches for Above Average, Comedy Central, and The New Yorker, and you can spot her in numerous commercials playing quirky moms and coworkers. Her short film Delete is making its way through the festival circuit including The Big Apple Film Festival, Atlanta Shortsfest, DC Shorts Film Festival, and The San Jose International Short Film Festival.
Sophie Moshofsky
Production Manager
Sophie Moshofsky (she/her) is an award-winning Actor, Writer, Voiceover Artist, Singer, and Producer based in NYC. She is the co-founder of Fight the Good Fight Productions, an independent production company dedicated to making jobs for women in theatre and film. You can catch her in the current festival circuit in The Hunted: NYCSS, an action comedy with sword fighting and vampires. Sophie lives for deep conversation with friends and strangers alike, hiking and rock climbing, playing softball, and dancing the night away. Find out more at sophiemoshofsky.com
Current Team
Incentives
- The Story
- Wishlist
- Updates
- The Team
- Community
Mission Statement
A short created by a cast and crew dominated by women and non-binary artists, BASTARD urges audiences to reflect on their experiences of love, their adult relationships with their parents, and how they craft their self-history. All pledges are tax-deductible thru 501c3 Jezebel Productions !
The Story
We've made it to STRETCH GOALS!!! Thank you SO much to everyone who has gotten us here! We're going to keep pushing in our final days:
If we hit the following benchmarks, we’ll be able to cover the full cost of production:
$12,230 - We’ve covered the full cost of cast, production crew, and all production equipment!
$13,200 - We’ve covered insuring the project!
$14,500 - We’ve covered the cost of feeding the cast and crew for three days!
$16,000 - We’ve covered all transportation costs!
BASTARD is a short dramedy about a young woman in the midst of her quarter-life, faced with that seminal moment in which we decide the kind of adult we want to be.
Julia is pushing thirty and still unclear on what she’s doing, floundering in the shadow of her ambitious, successful, do-it-all mother (who also raised her all by herself). When she discovers a letter as old as she is from her distant father, her carefully crafted self-history is fractured. Suddenly confronted with her parents' (in adulthood, now relatable) fallibility, she must face how much someone else’s story should impact her sense of self.
The film opens on her way to a first date, set to the soundtrack of her childhood correspondence with her father.
After her date calls her a “mistake,” she processes her reclamation of a slur with her loved ones. When she discovers an envelope of letters from her father, she is forced to re-examine what she “knows” about her parents' story.
BASTARD is a dramedy in the style of the coming-to-adulthood films of the early 2000s like FRANCES HA, OBVIOUS CHILD, and TINY FURNITURE, with heavy influences from LADY BIRD.
This short film is driven by the moments when we somehow simultaneously feel older than we are, and yet younger. The visuals wrap you up in the shoulder squeeze you need when you realize that you don’t know as much as you thought you did.
L to R: Blue is the Warmest Color, Lady Bird, Frances Ha, Lady Bird
Julia - our protagonist. Stalled. Her room and her head are filled with a decade of unfinished projects, her love life isn’t much better. Her loved ones seem to have "it" figured out, and upon the discovery of a decades-old secret she might just find the thing to move her forward.
Margaret - Mom, badass attorney, she’ll solve your problems whether you want her to or not, secretly a big softie.
Nik - best friend, platonic life partner, wise beyond their years…annoyingly (for Julia) similar to Marg but their help is delivered with more finesse.
Jason - he’s New in Town, a hot, booksmart nerd with heart but without a filter, with some growing up to do.
Ezra - Dad, experienced in this film only through his carefully crafted, overly-detailed letters to his growing, distant daughter. He wills her into his life with words.
As the only daughter of a single mom, there were no shortage of single moms on the screen growing up, but I was always underwhelmed by the lack of nuance in single parent-child relationships depicted. There are many films and series that explore single parenthood, but they are largely told from the perspective of a parent of young children or teens, and almost never focusing on the adult child reflecting on their parent. Many of these moms are also former teen-moms, which is a very specific relationship. And, as millennials remain closer with their parents in adulthood than in prior generations and are given more insight into their parents’ choices (by their parents), there seemed to be an opening for a new story.
Some Single Moms in the Media L to R: Erin Brockovich, Gilmore Girls, Maid, One Day At A Time, Mermaids (Isabella’s Top 5 Movies), Ginny & Georgia, Beauty Shop, and Murphy Brown
With this short we explore the complexities of the relationships that adult children have with their single primary parent and their more distant secondary parent. And, as the wonderful Monica Arsenault brought to our attention, the important role that chosen family can play in helping us process our reflections on those relationships.
This script is a peek into the first moment we saw our parents as flawed but relatable individuals…and the impact that can have on one’s own identity. It's is an acknowledgement of how experiencing the messiness of adulthood allows you to better see the unspoken ways people tell you they love you.
Ultimately, this is a story about loving your people, warts and all.
We are currently at the tail end of Pre-Production! We are (almost) fully cast, our locations are secured, and we’re in the process of building out the rest of our crew and finalizing equipment needs and scheduling!
The ongoing WGA/SAG-AFTRA strikes highlight the importance of funding and uplifting artist-driven and centered independent film to fuel new stories. Stick it to the man with a tax-deductible contribution ;)
$10,000 is the bare minimum we need to raise in order to get this project in the can! We are pulling additional funding from savings and small grants to cover the rest of our budget.
We believe in paying all cast and crew members for their talents and time, AND keeping them safe (insurance) while they get around (transportation), fed (hospitality), AND looking good, sounding good, and lit well (equipment and design).
Our Full Budget Breakdown is:
As you can see people make up over 50% of our expenses. Your contribution to this project funds the work of emerging women and non-binary artists in the industry.
How you come in:
Wishlist
Use the WishList to Pledge cash and Loan items - or - Make a pledge by selecting an Incentive directly.
Cast Stipends
Costs $1,000
Paying People is Paramount
Production Crew Stipends
Costs $6,700
This will work towards our budget to pay our Director of Photography, Production Designer, Sound Mixer, Gaffer, and Grip for our 3 day shoot
Equipment
Costs $2,300
Funding will go towards lights, camera accessories and lenses, sound equipment, and grip and electric needs!
Cash Pledge
Costs $0
Direct link:
Share this update!
About This Team
Monica Arsenault
Co-Director, Producer
Monica Arsenault (she/her) is a Brooklyn-based writer, director, and producer who makes feminist, coming-of-age content with boundary-pushing themes and colorful aesthetics. All of her work focuses on the intersection of faith, womanhood and sexuality.
Since founding her own production company in 2018, she has written and/or directed an award-winning web series, two short films, three music videos, and two films as part of a promotional mixed-art piece combining elements of live dance, poetry and film screenings.
Her most notable directing works are Nun Habits - a six-part web series that received international distribution on The Roku Channel after a wildly successful film festival run, and Ending the War On My Body - a series of dance short films set to poetry that premiered in November 2022 to a sold out audience.
Most recently, she started working as an associate producer for Cry, a commercial and film production company. She is currently producing her first feature film, The Woods, and her recent short film, Crimson Wave, premiered at The Women's Film Festival in Philadelphia in September. You can learn more at monicaarsenault.com.
Isabella Jane Schiller
Writer, Co-Director, Executive Producer, Julia
Isabella Jane Schiller (she/her) is a New York born, bred and based creative. She is specifically interested in work that addresses the evolution of gender, the transformative power of grief, and disability. Bastard is her first script.
As a producer, her projects include The Rushing of the Sea (Big Apple Film Festival, Chain Film Festival), Delete (BAFF, NYIFF, Atlanta Short Fest), and Crimson Wave (Philadelphia Women’s Film Fest, NYWIFT Online Shorts Festival, written & directed by Monica Arsenault). She served as associate producer on Monica Arsenault’s Virginity, Period and T.S Evering’s Four Dance At Night (clearly, they work well together).
In theatre, she has General Managed productions at NYTW, TheatreLab, and others. She serves on the board of Jezebel Productions, the longest-running women-led independent production company. As an actor she has performed on screen and stage around New York City and DC.
Maddalena De Beni
Director of Photography
Maddalena is a NYC-based cinematographer who last year show two hybrid-comedy TV pilots, a music video with Bitch, and a horror video for both Waif and Vice Magazine. She works with stop-motion artists Beck Underwood and Erma Fiend. Her work has recently screened at Katra Film Festival, Indie Memphis, Nitehawk Short Festival and on NoBudge.com. She studied under Tom Richmond (ASC), Sarah Cawley, and Valentina Canigglia (AIC) at the Fierstein Graduate School of Cinema in Brooklyn, NY. Maddalena is currently shooting her first feature film this fall. She's thrilled!
T.S Evering
Production Designer
T.S. Evering is a New York-based writer, director, and production designer who knew from the moment her mother gifted her a book of Grimm’s fairy tales that she wanted to be a storyteller. T.S. received her start in film as the Executive Assistant for one of her biggest influences in filmmaking, Baz Luhrmann, during the production of his Netflix series, "The Get Down."
Gabrielle Adkins
Editor
Gabrielle Adkins is an editor, actress, voiceover artist and filmmaker based in New York City. Originally an Air Force brat from the South, she came to New York to study acting at the Atlantic Acting School. Once graduated, Gabrielle created the independent production company, L2G Productions where she has produced, edited and directed several short films and web series. She has gone on to edit several short films, web series, documentaries, and music videos including:Crimson Wave, The Single Man, Four Dance at Night, In my Head, and [Black] History.