Cold Read
Los Angeles, California | Film Short
Film-Noir, LGBTQ
Los Angeles, 1997. The wild west of low-budget independent cinema. The studio teacher for a child star falls for a femme fatale at a bar and their lives entangle over one steamy night, as they're both forced to confront trauma from their past that they've long left unresolved and neglected.
Cold Read
Los Angeles, California | Film Short
Film-Noir, LGBTQ
1 Campaigns | California, United States
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This campaign raised $24,395 for production. Follow the filmmaker to receive future updates on this project.
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Los Angeles, 1997. The wild west of low-budget independent cinema. The studio teacher for a child star falls for a femme fatale at a bar and their lives entangle over one steamy night, as they're both forced to confront trauma from their past that they've long left unresolved and neglected.
About The Project
- The Story
- Wishlist
- Updates
- The Team
- Community
Mission Statement
The Story
Synopsis
After a turbulent childhood in the spotlight, Ruby “RED” Donovan has erased over the VHS tapes that made her a star and retreated into hard-edged anonymity as a studio teacher. Fiercely loyal and protective of the kids she teaches, Red doesn't exactly look the part, but she takes her role seriously. When she’s assigned to the unruly child star AMY, Red begins to worry about the safety of her precocious student. Over cigarettes at an industry bar, Red meets with a magnetic femme fatale, HEATHER. Sparks fly, and the two go back to Red’s place. After a night of passion, the ghosts of Red’s past come rushing back.
Characters
RED – former child star turned fiercely independent studio teacher with a strong moral compass that beckons her to get involved in protecting her charge
HEATHER – A sultry femme fatale who’s been playing her part in one way or another all her life; Red is sucked in by their similar past and Heather’s well-adjusted facade
AMY – 13-year-old actress & Red’s new student, who, at the precipice of puberty, feels her first compulsions to venture out into a world of wolves
Style
Drawing from CHINATOWN, BOUND, INHERENT VICE, and other stalwarts of the genre, COLD READ is a stone cold noir in the traditional sense. We find moral and amoral characters alike, swimming in the same sleazy soup of power, sex, and commercialism. There’s an underlying transgression baked into every scene, as the film – and the characters – delight in challenging & subverting power dynamics. The film lives in claustrophobic trailers, smoke-filled bars, and beds under drawn blinds. Shooting on film is essential to crafting this look and setting the period, but it also accounts for the largest expense.
Director statement
“As a former child actor, I have always wanted to create a story that brings the audience into the strange world of child actors - one of the few remaining legal child labor industries. This world serves as a natural backdrop for a very personal story born of my obsession with noir and some traumatic incidents that have deeply affected my life. Like Red, I spent a long time doing ‘detective work’ to make sense of and understand what had happened to me. As I worked to heal my own trauma, the characters that became Red and Amy helped guide my path along the way. More important than anything else in making a movie is giving the audience something that they've never seen before. In COLD READ, we invite the audience to ride along with a heroine unlike any other for a journey through the grimy underside of the familiar and glamorous world of Hollywood. Set in the '90s, this is a noir for today unlike any other: sexy, stylized, sympathetic, and unflinching.”
-Hayley
Director's Previous Work
Femme Folle
Short - 15 minutes - 2020
Logline: A heartbroken girl is pursued by a domineering female photographer, and her growing infatuation begins to blur the line of reality and fantasy.
Link: https://vimeo.com/488699105
Wishlist
Use the WishList to Pledge cash and Loan items - or - Make a pledge by selecting an Incentive directly.
Location Rentals
Costs $3,500
We are renting 3 locations: a bar set, a studio set, and a movie makeup trailer
Cinematography Rentals
Costs $4,000
We need professional grip and electric equipment to achieve the desired look of the film!
Costume and Set Dressing Rentals
Costs $1,000
We need funds to create a 1990s period appropriate atmosphere with wardrobe and set dressing.
Film Stock
Costs $5,304
In order to achieve the desired and 1990s period appropriate look, we are planning to shoot on 16mm film!
Labor Costs
Costs $12,055
To help cover costs associated with being a SAG signatory project
Post Production
Costs $2,000
The journey doesn't end at camera wrap! We'll need to fund various elements such as editing, sound design, color correction, and score.
Lunch & Craft Service
Costs $1,641
We need to feed the crew of course!
Transportation
Costs $500
We'll need to move crew & equipment from point A to point B!
Cash Pledge
Costs $0
Direct link:
Share this update!
About This Team
HAYLEY BENSMILLER
DIRECTOR
Hayley Bensmiller is a queer female filmmaker, known for directing artistic award-winning narrative films. She is a graduate of Chapman University with a BFA in Film Production Directing and a BA in French. Hayley began her career as a child actor and has been working in the film industry since the age of 10. Since moving behind the camera, she has garnered hundreds of hours of experience in physical production work as well as at the Gersh Agency, MGM Studios, and the Cannes Marché du Film.
TOM HARTIG
WRITER
Tom Hartig is a disabled writer of genre-bending features & TV about the power of community and healing. In 2021, he was hired to adapt a sci-fi novel for Voyage Media, and in 2023, his poem “Ode to An Assistant” was published by Good Printed Things. He has been a finalist in the ScreenCraft Fellowship & WeScreenplay TV Pilot contests, an Austin Second-Rounder (2x), and was selected for The Dead List in 2024. Tom joined the ISA Development Slate in 2024 and was named a Top 25 Screenwriters to Watch in 2025. As a survivor of intimate partner violence, Tom is active in violence prevention work and fosters kittens in his free time.
HARRISON PERKINS
PRODUCER
Harrison Perkins is a Los Angeles-based producer originally from Dallas, Texas. Harrison is drawn to stories led by dedicated directors, writers, and actors, and is known for putting all he can into a project in order to help a team achieve their dreams. Harrison loves the communal nature and teamwork needed in order to make a wonderful film, and he is always excited by the opportunity to be on set. Harrison’s recent credits include Line Producer on Grief Retreat, a 2025 HollyShorts Selection, and Producer on Everybody Wins.
ROBERT BROGDEN
PRODUCER
Robert Brogden is a director and producer from Kansas City, working in Los Angeles. Be it guiding performances as a director or empowering the voices of others as a producer, Robert is thoroughly enamored with the inherently collaborative nature of filmmaking. His goal is to use unique perspective to create character-driven stories and bring attention to people and places not typically seen in film. His work has been selected and awarded by several prestigious festivals and institutions, including the Tribeca Film Festival, the Austin Film Festival, and the Student Academy Awards.
DICE ROSE
DIRECTOR OF PHOTOGRAPHY
Dice began studying darkroom photography in 1999 in the Colorado Rockies. She is a queer Cinematographer who received her MFA in Film from UCLA. Dice is a sexual assault survivor and outspoken activist for womens' rights. Her work has often focused on representing marginalized people and exploring beauty in the mundane. Her work has been exhibited at SXSW, Tribeca, Palm Springs, Cinequest, Nowness and many other film festivals. She has received several awards from the Hollywood Foreign Press Association, the MPAA, The Wasserman Foundation, and the Jack Nicholson Distinguished Student Director Award.
Current Team
Incentives
- The Story
- Wishlist
- Updates
- The Team
- Community
Mission Statement
The Story
Synopsis
After a turbulent childhood in the spotlight, Ruby “RED” Donovan has erased over the VHS tapes that made her a star and retreated into hard-edged anonymity as a studio teacher. Fiercely loyal and protective of the kids she teaches, Red doesn't exactly look the part, but she takes her role seriously. When she’s assigned to the unruly child star AMY, Red begins to worry about the safety of her precocious student. Over cigarettes at an industry bar, Red meets with a magnetic femme fatale, HEATHER. Sparks fly, and the two go back to Red’s place. After a night of passion, the ghosts of Red’s past come rushing back.
Characters
RED – former child star turned fiercely independent studio teacher with a strong moral compass that beckons her to get involved in protecting her charge
HEATHER – A sultry femme fatale who’s been playing her part in one way or another all her life; Red is sucked in by their similar past and Heather’s well-adjusted facade
AMY – 13-year-old actress & Red’s new student, who, at the precipice of puberty, feels her first compulsions to venture out into a world of wolves
Style
Drawing from CHINATOWN, BOUND, INHERENT VICE, and other stalwarts of the genre, COLD READ is a stone cold noir in the traditional sense. We find moral and amoral characters alike, swimming in the same sleazy soup of power, sex, and commercialism. There’s an underlying transgression baked into every scene, as the film – and the characters – delight in challenging & subverting power dynamics. The film lives in claustrophobic trailers, smoke-filled bars, and beds under drawn blinds. Shooting on film is essential to crafting this look and setting the period, but it also accounts for the largest expense.
Director statement
“As a former child actor, I have always wanted to create a story that brings the audience into the strange world of child actors - one of the few remaining legal child labor industries. This world serves as a natural backdrop for a very personal story born of my obsession with noir and some traumatic incidents that have deeply affected my life. Like Red, I spent a long time doing ‘detective work’ to make sense of and understand what had happened to me. As I worked to heal my own trauma, the characters that became Red and Amy helped guide my path along the way. More important than anything else in making a movie is giving the audience something that they've never seen before. In COLD READ, we invite the audience to ride along with a heroine unlike any other for a journey through the grimy underside of the familiar and glamorous world of Hollywood. Set in the '90s, this is a noir for today unlike any other: sexy, stylized, sympathetic, and unflinching.”
-Hayley
Director's Previous Work
Femme Folle
Short - 15 minutes - 2020
Logline: A heartbroken girl is pursued by a domineering female photographer, and her growing infatuation begins to blur the line of reality and fantasy.
Link: https://vimeo.com/488699105
Wishlist
Use the WishList to Pledge cash and Loan items - or - Make a pledge by selecting an Incentive directly.
Location Rentals
Costs $3,500
We are renting 3 locations: a bar set, a studio set, and a movie makeup trailer
Cinematography Rentals
Costs $4,000
We need professional grip and electric equipment to achieve the desired look of the film!
Costume and Set Dressing Rentals
Costs $1,000
We need funds to create a 1990s period appropriate atmosphere with wardrobe and set dressing.
Film Stock
Costs $5,304
In order to achieve the desired and 1990s period appropriate look, we are planning to shoot on 16mm film!
Labor Costs
Costs $12,055
To help cover costs associated with being a SAG signatory project
Post Production
Costs $2,000
The journey doesn't end at camera wrap! We'll need to fund various elements such as editing, sound design, color correction, and score.
Lunch & Craft Service
Costs $1,641
We need to feed the crew of course!
Transportation
Costs $500
We'll need to move crew & equipment from point A to point B!
Cash Pledge
Costs $0
Direct link:
Share this update!
About This Team
HAYLEY BENSMILLER
DIRECTOR
Hayley Bensmiller is a queer female filmmaker, known for directing artistic award-winning narrative films. She is a graduate of Chapman University with a BFA in Film Production Directing and a BA in French. Hayley began her career as a child actor and has been working in the film industry since the age of 10. Since moving behind the camera, she has garnered hundreds of hours of experience in physical production work as well as at the Gersh Agency, MGM Studios, and the Cannes Marché du Film.
TOM HARTIG
WRITER
Tom Hartig is a disabled writer of genre-bending features & TV about the power of community and healing. In 2021, he was hired to adapt a sci-fi novel for Voyage Media, and in 2023, his poem “Ode to An Assistant” was published by Good Printed Things. He has been a finalist in the ScreenCraft Fellowship & WeScreenplay TV Pilot contests, an Austin Second-Rounder (2x), and was selected for The Dead List in 2024. Tom joined the ISA Development Slate in 2024 and was named a Top 25 Screenwriters to Watch in 2025. As a survivor of intimate partner violence, Tom is active in violence prevention work and fosters kittens in his free time.
HARRISON PERKINS
PRODUCER
Harrison Perkins is a Los Angeles-based producer originally from Dallas, Texas. Harrison is drawn to stories led by dedicated directors, writers, and actors, and is known for putting all he can into a project in order to help a team achieve their dreams. Harrison loves the communal nature and teamwork needed in order to make a wonderful film, and he is always excited by the opportunity to be on set. Harrison’s recent credits include Line Producer on Grief Retreat, a 2025 HollyShorts Selection, and Producer on Everybody Wins.
ROBERT BROGDEN
PRODUCER
Robert Brogden is a director and producer from Kansas City, working in Los Angeles. Be it guiding performances as a director or empowering the voices of others as a producer, Robert is thoroughly enamored with the inherently collaborative nature of filmmaking. His goal is to use unique perspective to create character-driven stories and bring attention to people and places not typically seen in film. His work has been selected and awarded by several prestigious festivals and institutions, including the Tribeca Film Festival, the Austin Film Festival, and the Student Academy Awards.
DICE ROSE
DIRECTOR OF PHOTOGRAPHY
Dice began studying darkroom photography in 1999 in the Colorado Rockies. She is a queer Cinematographer who received her MFA in Film from UCLA. Dice is a sexual assault survivor and outspoken activist for womens' rights. Her work has often focused on representing marginalized people and exploring beauty in the mundane. Her work has been exhibited at SXSW, Tribeca, Palm Springs, Cinequest, Nowness and many other film festivals. She has received several awards from the Hollywood Foreign Press Association, the MPAA, The Wasserman Foundation, and the Jack Nicholson Distinguished Student Director Award.