Breakup Time Machine

Toronto, Canada | Film Short

Comedy, Sci-Fi

Kayla Kurin

1 Campaigns | Ontario, Canada

Green Light

This campaign raised C$1,600 for production. Follow the filmmaker to receive future updates on this project.

11 supporters | followers

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Max is a successful modern woman. So why did her boyfriend who, if we're being honest, doesn't have a whole lot going on, break up with her? Max will do whatever it takes to find out. Even if it means breaking the rules of time travel which, as she’s repeatedly warned, could have dire consequences.

About The Project

  • The Story
  • Wishlist
  • Updates
  • The Team
  • Community

Mission Statement

Our female-led team is excited to play with tropes of women in comedy and sci-fi and tell a story in those genres through a critical feminist lens. We believe the best way to change the world is through story. And dinosaur jokes.

The Story

Rich men are launching themselves into space but we still have to Google lists of "women in sci-fi" to find a good Netflix and chill movie? Nah-uh. Not on our watch that keeps going in loops because we haven't quite figured out this time travel technology yet. 

We want to tell a story that lets women be their full messy selves and also sends them on a romp through time and space. Because what better avenue to explore the psychological impacts of a breakup than risking all of humanity to get your boyfriend back? 

Women's stories are vastly underrepresented in both sci-fi and comedy. Often, the female characters we see are "strong female characters" – the ones that kick butt and make all good and selfless decisions so that men can break rules and say stupid things like, "I know." when you're trying to have a real conversation about your feelings. 

Through the story of Breakup Time Machine, we want to take those tropes and crush them with our very practical Doc Martens because by god we will not be travelling through time in high heels, we will not. 

If given the opportunity to go back in time, many of us would dream of visiting the dinosaurs, grabbing a drink with Picasso (I just feel like he'd have interesting things to say about time travel), or eavesdropping on conversations at the Acropolis (okay, maybe that's just me outing myself as a classicist).

But Max isn't like the other heroines. When she gets the chance to travel back in time, she goes to...six months ago, before she chopped off her hair and things started to go wrong with her boyfriend, Rob. 

Max will do whatever it takes to try to get her David-Foster-Wallace-loving boyfriend back, even if it means breaking the rules of time travel which, as she’s repeatedly warned, could have dire consequences for all of humanity.

Max's story explores tropes in both romantic comedies and sci-fi to create a hilarious story through the eyes of a relatable (in the worst possible way) anti-heroine. 

Thanks to our generous supporters, we've now raised enough money to move into production! Here's the problem - we don't have enough money to pay our talented and hardworking cast and crew.

We believe people should be paid fairly for their creative work. We've got an amazing cast and crew lined up and your contribution will help us be able to pay them. If we reach our campaign goal, we'll be able to pay everyone a small honorarium for their work. If we pass the goal, we'll be able to pay a fair rate for the hard work going into this project. Take a look at the chart below to see how we're doing with our fundraising goals. We're just about halfway to our target!

If this campaign passes our wildest imaginations, we'll be able to put funds raised towards post-production costs. 

Once we've finished the film, we'll be submitting to international film festivals and will host a backers-only digital screening. 

Pre-Production: Happening Now!

Production: We'll be filming in Toronto in April!

Post Production: May - June 2023.

Festival submissions and supporter's screening: Summer 2023. 

Further distribution to streaming services: Early 2024.

COVID-19 Safety

We take the health of our cast and crew seriously. Pre-production is taking place remotely where possible, and we'll be providing PPE for our cast and crew on set. We're excited to continue to create during this time that's been disruptive to the arts industry. Your contribution will help us keep creating while keeping everyone safe. 

 

“This is the greatest script I’ve ever read in my life. It just lights me up!” – Special effects flash bulb 

“I think it could be shorter.” – Low storage SD card

"I could've done better." – ChatGPT

 

Spread The Word

You're basically an influencer, right? Do you have friends, family members, distant cousins, or colleagues you wish wouldn't follow you on Instagram? Maybe they'd be interested in this bombastic film, too! We'd be forever grateful if you could share this on social media, by email, or by word-of-mouth. If you'd like some handholding, here's a copy-pastable message for your socials:

"Time travel. Romance. Women in flats. Destroying the space-time continuum. We need this film! Help bring Breakup Time Machine from the void into the world by pledging here: https://seedandspark.com/fund/breakup-time-machine-1."

 

 

Wishlist

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Cast & Crew

Costs C$2,000

To pay people fairly for their work!

Cash Pledge

Costs C$0

About This Team

Krista Rowe - Director 

Krista Rowe is a Toronto-based independent filmmaker, producer, director, and actress. She produced three seasons of the reality road trip cooking show American Food Battle with Helsinki-based Mogul Media, for the AWE network and National Geographic Channel. She also produced Amanda and The Players, a hockey reality series for Mogul Media. She works as a commercial, television and film actress in Canada. She was awarded Best Canadian Female Filmmaker at the Toronto Women Film Festival in 2021 for her first independently produced documentary film Promise House: Heather’s Story.

She holds a BA in Theatre Arts from Texas Christian University in Fort Worth, TX  and a Master’s Degree in International Education from New York University. She is the founder of 3LG Productions, LLC. Krista lives in Toronto with her husband, three daughters, and Peggy the schnoodle dog.  

Her website; http://www.kristarowe.com

 

Kayla Kurin - Writer & Producer

Kayla Kurin is a nomadic writer from Canada who can most often be found drinking a box of wine at the beach and not hunkering down in the arctic tundra due to a global pandemic. Kayla has written essays, satire pieces, and short stories which have been featured in The Toronto Star, Weekly Humorist, Slackjaw, The Belladonna, Little Old Lady Comedy, Perceptive Travel, Humber Literary Review, and more. Her book, Where Can I Find Wifi? Work Anywhere, Travel Forever: Tales of a Digital Nomad was called: "Disappointing. The book is not about WIFI availability in various locations."

Kayla writes short stories for Slumber Studios and is head sick lady/writer on the sketch team, Sick Bae. She has a degree in Creative Writing from Humber College and is a student at the Second City Conservatory. 

Learn more about her work at kaylakurin.com

 

Lead Actress & Producer - Megan Phillips 

Actor, singer, comedian, and writer Megan Phillips is the best friend you didn’t even know you needed. Based out of Vancouver, BC, Megan has done extensive film & TV, commercials, VO, and soooo many web shorts.  She has toured solo shows, standup, and sketch comedy across the country since 2012, and her co-written musical People Suck (Ed Mirvish Entrepreneurial Award, Best of Fringe 2015, Patron’s Pick 2015) has been produced by Salty Theatre in Melbourne, AUS and optioned by Second City Theatricals in Chicago. She's an OG member of the NYC-based digital sketch team Get Me a F*cking Shovel, directed by twice-Emmy-nominated Ana Breton, her articles have been published by GOLD Comedy, and you may recognize her from that quirky office girl in the YouTube commercial. Megan is terribly excited to play Max whose story she DOES NOT RELATE TO AT ALL. She also really, really, REALLY loves wombats. 

Her website: meganphillips.com

 

Mo Abdelkhalek - Producer 

Mo Abdelkhalek is an Egyptian/British producer who found his passion and hunger for media productions and aims to become a valued member of the industry. Mo is a graduate from MET FILM SCHOOL. Mo is the producer for “The Order” web series and a production manager for short films “The Ashes you Left Behind” and “Peaceful Dealings”

Before the pandemic, you would always find Mo with his husband travelling around the world exploring new destinations, while during the last year you would have found them binging shows with a takeaway. 

Follow him on Instagram @ mo_abdel_khalek


Gaelen Cook - Director of Photography

Gaelen is a freelance cinematographer from Toronto. As a graduate of Ryerson University’s film studies program, she has shot and lit several award-winning films ranging from indie features like “Mother Of All Shows” (2023), “Paige Darcy & The Case of The Stoned Cat” (2023) to smaller shorts such as “Fish Out Of Water” (2019).

 

Tyson Bradley - Actor

Tyson began acting since a young age growing up in Vancouver, BC. He has appeared in various productions over the years, and now works as an actor and stand-up comedian in London, UK.

 

Matthew Benin - Actor

Matthew has a long history in sport (specifically baseball) and has played in university and overseas in Europe. He comes with a background in the fashion modeling and commercial industry and is very very excited for this production – the team is great and the energy is present! When not modeling or playing sport, he's preparing for the plenty of laughs and cheeky giggles ahead.

Current Team

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