Ex Memoria
Los Angeles, California | Film Short
Horror, Drama
A poignant horror-drama film that explores sexual trauma, the fragmentation of memory, and the complexity of intimacy through the female gaze.
Ex Memoria
Los Angeles, California | Film Short
Horror, Drama
2 Campaigns | California, United States
Green Light
This campaign raised $11,141 for production. Follow the filmmaker to receive future updates on this project.
179 supporters | followers
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A poignant horror-drama film that explores sexual trauma, the fragmentation of memory, and the complexity of intimacy through the female gaze.
About The Project
- The Story
- Wishlist
- Updates
- The Team
- Community
Mission Statement
The Story
Nearing the end of a successful festival run with an award-winning film that premiered at an Oscar-qualifying festival, we're back at it again with much of the same team that made Into the Thicket such a success.
(Disclaimer: The characters and events depicted in this film are fictitious. Any similarity to actual persons, living or dead, is purely coincidental.)
CW: Sexual Abuse
After returning to her childhood home following her parents' death, Isabelle grapples with haunting hallucinations that uncover a history of sexual abuse at the hands of her father. Despite her desperate attempts to suppress the past, she ultimately loses grasp on reality and becomes entrapped by her traumatic memories.
Isabelle: Our tormented protagonist who grapples with resurfacing memories from her haunted past as she is forced to revisit her childhood home.
Léa: Isabelle's pragmatic, but warm and loving girlfriend who struggles to support Isabelle despite her best efforts.
Luke: Isabelle's older brother and the black sheep of the family who struggles with a history of substance abuse.
Having struggled with Complex-PTSD, and the ripple effects of childhood sexual abuse, I was compelled to create a piece that leans into those darker corners of the soul. While the story itself is fictitious, the feelings at its core are very real. I have always been fascinated by how porous my own memory has become - for me, reminiscence and reality seamlessly coalesce into one, until it is difficult to distinguish between them. At times, I worry that I will become wholly trapped inside of a memory. Ex Memoria plays with this idea through having the house act as both a prison and a cerebral extension of our protagonist, Isabelle, and revealing how traumatic memories can fully consume and annihilate you.
Another aspect I set out to explore is the way sexual abuse (especially when it occurs at such a young age) can irrevocably poison the foundation for sexual growth and permanently alter our understanding of intimacy. We see how Isabelle struggles with this in her own relationship, as her girlfriend desperately attempts to redefine the language of touch from something violent to something safe.
While there is no shortage of films tackling PTSD and sexual abuse, I have yet to see a film that deeply explores the intersection of trauma and intimacy. Because my own childhood sexual abuse was a repressed memory for 21 years, I have felt the echoes of abuse without any cognizant understanding of them. The touch of a lover would make me flinch, set my skin ablaze, and I wouldn’t know why. Then, I realized that my understanding of intimacy was completely skewed. For me, love could not be translated physically. I yearned for that tenderness, but the somatic memories would not allow it. In relationships, this creates deep isolation for both partners, and I feel it is equally important to highlight the loved one’s struggle. My hope is that our film will serve as a cautionary tale that, while there are ways to move through the trauma and to process it healthily, it requires not only the strength to confront it, but also the courage to let your partner in.
WHY THIS FILM?
Film is a unique vehicle for providing education, creating awareness of, and responding to CSA (Child Sexual Abuse) and C-PTSD (Complex Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder), through its ability to connect audiences with the visceral realities of these issues. Ex Memoria is intended to be an immersive experience, in which the audience is invited to step into the shoes of a survivor, and to truly feel the ripple effects of their trauma.
One in three girls, and one in five boys, are victims of CSA. It exists across all classes, cultures, and communities, yet remains commonly misunderstood to be a crime that is only perpetrated by certain stereotypes of people. The reality is that perpetrators are frequently otherwise upstanding community members, whose crimes shock most people around them, and the majority of victims are abused by a trusted adult. Ex Memoria brings human insight into how Isabelle, who could statistically be a friend or a loved one in your own life, can survive CSA, and yet because both Isabelle's abuse and most CSA is shrouded in secrecy, survivors like Isabelle are often people that society would never guess had survived such abuse. If you don't think you know a survivor - you do.
WHY NOW?
With the onset of the Me Too Movement, the shifting climate of how society responds to sexual assault and sexual abuse has empowered many survivors to share their stories, to speak up, and to find support in each other’s stories. This rapidly-changing landscape serves as an extremely powerful and potent time for Ex Memoria to be brought to fruition. The longstanding transfer of guilt and shame from the perpetrator to the survivor is being turned on its head, and Ex Memoria supports that change, as survivors across the world demand that their voices be heard.
The horror-drama genre possesses the distinct ability to showcase how intrusive, frightening, and all-encompassing flashbacks are, in a way that is viscerally accessible to the audience. The act of disappearing is the focal point of our approach, in which Isabelle’s sense of self is reduced to only what she is made to believe of her own worth. Thematically, we will focus on accentuating her isolation and psychological imprisonment, via multiple cinematic techniques, such as:
Composition Creating Isolation
Isabelle is trapped in her memories, trapped in the house, and trapped in the frame. Having parts of the house in the foreground - objects, walls, doors - creates oppression, and introduces the subtle feeling of being watched. As the film progresses, we peel away the layers of subtlety. The frames tighten around Isabelle in a suffocating fashion; the voyeurism has come to full fruition. The “hauntings” of the house take on a physical form, treading the line between supernatural and reality. Isabelle’s memories lurk in the shadows, watching her every move.
As the house grows more and more empty, she reconnects with her trauma. At the beginning of the film, we will imprison her in the frame - wallpaper with heavy patterns, Isabelle standing in a doorframe, through curtains, dirty shots, with boxes and objects from her in the foreground - but as we approach the end, she is framed alone in an empty, lifeless space. At that point, there is no need to trap her visually because she is now trapped in her own mind.
Lighting
At the beginning of the film, the feeling of oppression will come from a darker atmosphere in the house. The curtains are shut, it's dusty, and only rays of sun are coming through to light the characters. But as the end approaches, the space will become brighter, with more contrast, and Isabelle will be backlit or standing in the shadow, so that we never clearly see her. The house is metaphorically - and visually - annihilating her.
Colors from the Past
The color palette is composed of shades of brown/yellow, and blue/green, the first often associated with innocence and memory, and the latter with introspection and renewal. Since Isabelle’s childhood is undeniably linked to the house, she unconsciously connects to it. For example, her clothes and hair will have colors present in the wallpapers, curtains, or lampshades. She blends in so well that she almost disappears, and becomes invisible like she used to as a child.
Hire Survivors Hollywood is an advocacy organization founded by Weinstein Silence Breaker Sarah Ann Masse. The organization works to end career retaliation against survivors of sexual violence by increasing employment opportunities for survivors and by creating a safer, more equitable entertainment industry for all.
HSH is paving the way for change in our industry, implementing a comprehensive toolkit to ensure that all sets are safe & that projects are carrying forward the ethos throughout every stage of production. It is vital that we are able to tell stories about exploitation and abuse without being exploited or abused in the process.
Being a cause so near and dear to my heart, it is important to me to ensure that we are using the film as a vehicle for advocacy, and to support the survivor community. We have partnered with HSH to ensure the physical, mental, and emotional safety of all cast and crew.
The overall funding goal for Ex Memoria is $20,000, including development, production, and post-production. We already have $10,000 for the film, but we need your help to raise the remaining $10,000.
While indie filmmaking is about stretching budgets, calling in favors and getting people together who are extremely passionate about making this film come to life, we also believe that cast and crew should be paid a living wage for their hard work. The $10,000 raised will go towards paying our crew and cast, as well as food and equipment. Additionally, we will need to rent out a house with the right atmosphere for Isabelle’s home, and pay for permits and insurance.
In order for us to be greenlit we will need to raise the full $10,000. If the project campaign goes over our goal, our stretch goals will go toward higher quality post-production, festival submission, travel and promotion to increase visibility and impact.
If you've made it this far and this project sounds like the type of film you'd like to be involved with, we'd love your support!
PLEDGE:
Click the blue "Make a Pledge" button to kindly gift us a monetary contribution—a dollar helps! We've got some unique incentives, so please check 'em out.
SHARE:
Help us spread the word about our film by sharing our Campaign page and Instagram page with your online communities. We are @exmemoriafilm (IG). Support survivors telling their stories, and pass our info along!
FOLLOW:
Follow our socials and like our Campaign page. Did you know we unlock some extra cool features if we get 250 likes on Seed&Spark?
↓ Here's a quick and easy message to copy and paste to Instagram: ↓
Help support award-winning female filmmaker @devanygreenwood by pledging, or following her film @exmemoriafilm - a viscerally haunting portrayal of the ripple effects of sexual trauma. Join her on @seedandspark: seedandspark.com/fund/ex-memoria
Wishlist
Use the WishList to Pledge cash and Loan items - or - Make a pledge by selecting an Incentive directly.
The House
Costs $2,000
The house itself is a main character in the story. Finding the right location--a house with personality, with history--is vital to the film.
Cast and Crew
Costs $5,000
We have a team of highly accomplished cast & crew who we want to compensate appropriately.
Equipment
Costs $3,000
To execute the visual language of the film, we need access to high-quality equipment.
Cash Pledge
Costs $0
Direct link:
Share this update!
About This Team
Rose Jackson-Smith is a New York-based actor and creative. Originally from a small town in Utah, Rose attended the London Academy for Music and Dramatic Arts finding her way as one of the youngest students in their flagship BA program. Since migrating to New York City, Rose has found her niche as a versatile artist, navigating roles in directing, producing, and delivering captivating performances across stage and screen. Her work spans from intimate indie projects to mainstream successes, including memorable appearances on Amazon Prime’s “The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel,” HBO’s “White House Plumbers,” Paramount Plus’ “Evil,” and CBS’ “FBI: Most Wanted.” You can currently catch her in the recurring role of Annie Greene on HBO Max’s hit new show “The Girls on the Bus.”
Manoé Richardier, a bilingual French actress, transitioned from ballet to acting at 13 where she began her training at Cannes Theatre Conservatory. She honed her skills at La Scène sur Saône in Lyon for 3 years, then attended The Australian Film and Television Academy in Melbourne. Now back in France, she’s worked on several short films and appeared in the French TV shows ‘Mental’ (Netflix) and ‘Anthracite’ (Netflix) as well as the docufiction ‘Landru’. Currently, she’s refining her singing and dancing, including Lindy Hop and Charleston, and is set to return to the stage at Avignon’s Festival with a play by Musset.
Shayn Herndon, originally from Nashville, Tennessee, grew up in Colorado where his artistic journey was ignited by his father’s ardor for the classic Western genre. His formal training took root at the University of Colorado at Boulder’s BFA program and was refined through the Meisner method at the Chris Thatcher Actor Studio. Shayn’s professional journey began with a lead role opposite Michael Madsen in “The Just,” soon followed by the lead in the independent feature “She Was the Deputy’s Wife” on Amazon Prime. His talent continued to shine through in projects that garnered accolades at the LA Black Film Festival and Dances With Films. Shayn’s artistry is grounded and gritty, rooted in authenticity, and infused with a diverse background that includes athletics, expert marksmanship, and equestrian prowess. Currently, he continues to refine his skills through master classes at Anthony Meindl’s studio in Los Angeles and is under the representation of Allie Veneris at Brillstein Entertainment Partners.
Devany Greenwood is a French-American director based in Los Angeles, CA. Her work is primarily rooted in poetics, exploring the feminine and unraveling the many layers of trauma. She also works in specialty costumes & props with Global Effects and has notably worked on shows "For All Mankind" (Apple TV+) and "Station Eleven" (HBO Max). She is the founder and executive producer at Cosmica Productions. She recently completed a proof of concept for her feature script, Into the Thicket, which was awarded "Best Fantasy Short of the Year" at IndieX Film Fest's 2024 Annual Awards.
Naomi Amarger is a French cinematographer living between Paris and New York, represented by the Apicorp Agency. Her first narrative feature, "Divertimento," directed by Marie-Castille Mention-Schaar, won the Jury Special Award at the Cinémania Film Festival in Montréal, and the Audience Award for Best Feature at the Washington DC International Film Festival. Her first documentary feature, "The Disappearance of Shere Hite," premiered at Sundance International Film Festival in the US Documentary Competition and received the Documentary Achievement Award at the Miami International Film Festival. Naomi always has a very sensitive approach to scripts and her past as an actress really inspires her work behind the camera. In 2017 she was nominated for both a César and a Lumières Awards for Most Promising Actress. She studied cinematography at the Louis-Lumiere National Film School in Paris, and developed her skills working at Panavision in New-York and being a camera assistant to cinematographers she admires. Naomi is a member of the ICFC and the French collective Femmes à la Caméra, and was selected for the American Society of Cinematographer’s Vision Mentorship Program 2022.
A Los Angeles native, Stephanie Jöens has always been obsessed with film and the art of the movie-making process. She had begun her journey with jumping right into production design and set dressing. Her skills stem from an affinity for vintage aesthetics and anything horror, sci-fi, and/or fantasy based. She is the former co-proprietor of Mystic Museum in Burbank, CA, where things going bump in the night was the norm. One of her primary goals is to work with profound queer or femme horror-based productions & collectives. Whether it’s curating dark art conventions, art galleries, or creating events and a sense of community has always come naturally to this witchy woman. It has been a driving force to create a safe space for artists to move through by using her expertise. In recent years, she worked in set dressing on short film "Grummy" and was the production designer on Greenwood’s last film, "Into the Thicket," as well as several St. Vincent music videos.
Maria Magalhães is a Brazilian actress and producer. She holds a B.F.A in Theatre from the Federal University of Minas Gerais and pursued further acting studies at New York Film Academy. She toured all over Brazil for six years with theatre company Casa Laboratório, performing and producing shows.
Chantal Casutt is a multilingual Swiss-French producer and actor born and raised in Zurich, Switzerland. While studying Management and Marketing at the University of Bath in the UK, she fell in love with visual storytelling and moved to London after completing her degree to pursue acting. She has starred in numerous short and feature films, web series, and podcasts but quickly realized that she wanted to not just be in front of the camera but be in an integral part of the production process. After working as an assistant producer on multiple shorts, she produced her first project "Our Late Father" in 2022, a pilot that went on to win Best Comedy at the Independent Short Awards, Japan Film Festival and Indie Short Fest. She now works as a production manager and coordinator for Tyro Media Group, a production company based in Switzerland focusing on commercials, event films and documentaries. Her passion lies with telling stories that address mental health, personal identity and showcase people in a spiritual crisis trying to repair themselves.
Katherine Taylor is an Australian actress, producer, and writer based in Los Angeles. She graduated from the Stella Adler Studio of Acting’s 3-Year Conservatory in New York. Previously, she served as executive producer on Australian short film "In Transit." Most recently, she appeared in award-winning short film "Starch," which is currently on the festival circuit, including Austin Film Festival. She has appeared in multiple film, television, and stage roles.
Hailey Mashburn is a Los Angeles based Intimacy Coordinator & Choreographer who is passionate about storytelling and supporting artists, and has been a collaborator on a number of shorts, features, and stage plays. As an artist and human, Hailey leads with openness and curiosity. Hailey is a Liverpool Institute for Performing Arts BA (Hons) Acting graduate and is an Arts Council England endorsed Global Talent as a theatrical creative.
Emanuele Bonomi is an editor and director raised in the Italian alps. His work as Editor includes over 30 short films, music videos, documentaries, commercials and montage/art concept work. He undertook a Certificate of High Specialisation in Editing at the NUCT Academy of Cinecittà (Rome, Italy) with teachers such us Walter Fasano (Editor of 'Suspiria' and 'Call Me by Your Name') and Consuelo Catucci (Editor of 'Perfect Strangers' and 'Angel of Evil'). He then graduated with Distinction from the London Film School. Most recently, he worked on animated short “The Meatseller,” produced by Luca Guadagnino, which had its world premiere at Venice Film Festival. In 2024, he was selected as a Berlinale Talent. Currently, he is in post-production working on a feature length documentary about Chinese contemporary artist Ai Weiwei.
Joanna Karselis is an award-wining composer, multi-instrumentalist, and singer-songwriter. She has scored numerous short and feature films and is a full member of BAFTA and served on the BAFTA TV awards jury for best score in 2023. Her music has been mixed in major UK facilities such as Warner Brother’s De Lane Lea and Twickenham Film Studios and she also work for music libraries such as West One. She is a mentee on the prestigious Alliance Of Women Film Composer’s mentoring programme and recently won Best Original Score at White Deer Film and VBSIFF Festival. In 2023, short film Realness with a Twist scored by Jo screened at the BFI Southbank and was later broadcast on Channel 4. Jo can also be found lecturing in music for moving image and composition at King’s College London.
Hire Survivors Hollywood is an advocacy organization founded by Weinstein Silence Breaker Sarah Ann Masse. The organization works to end career retaliation against survivors of sexual violence by increasing employment opportunities for survivors and by creating a safer, more equitable entertainment industry for all.
Current Team
Incentives
- The Story
- Wishlist
- Updates
- The Team
- Community
Mission Statement
The Story
Nearing the end of a successful festival run with an award-winning film that premiered at an Oscar-qualifying festival, we're back at it again with much of the same team that made Into the Thicket such a success.
(Disclaimer: The characters and events depicted in this film are fictitious. Any similarity to actual persons, living or dead, is purely coincidental.)
CW: Sexual Abuse
After returning to her childhood home following her parents' death, Isabelle grapples with haunting hallucinations that uncover a history of sexual abuse at the hands of her father. Despite her desperate attempts to suppress the past, she ultimately loses grasp on reality and becomes entrapped by her traumatic memories.
Isabelle: Our tormented protagonist who grapples with resurfacing memories from her haunted past as she is forced to revisit her childhood home.
Léa: Isabelle's pragmatic, but warm and loving girlfriend who struggles to support Isabelle despite her best efforts.
Luke: Isabelle's older brother and the black sheep of the family who struggles with a history of substance abuse.
Having struggled with Complex-PTSD, and the ripple effects of childhood sexual abuse, I was compelled to create a piece that leans into those darker corners of the soul. While the story itself is fictitious, the feelings at its core are very real. I have always been fascinated by how porous my own memory has become - for me, reminiscence and reality seamlessly coalesce into one, until it is difficult to distinguish between them. At times, I worry that I will become wholly trapped inside of a memory. Ex Memoria plays with this idea through having the house act as both a prison and a cerebral extension of our protagonist, Isabelle, and revealing how traumatic memories can fully consume and annihilate you.
Another aspect I set out to explore is the way sexual abuse (especially when it occurs at such a young age) can irrevocably poison the foundation for sexual growth and permanently alter our understanding of intimacy. We see how Isabelle struggles with this in her own relationship, as her girlfriend desperately attempts to redefine the language of touch from something violent to something safe.
While there is no shortage of films tackling PTSD and sexual abuse, I have yet to see a film that deeply explores the intersection of trauma and intimacy. Because my own childhood sexual abuse was a repressed memory for 21 years, I have felt the echoes of abuse without any cognizant understanding of them. The touch of a lover would make me flinch, set my skin ablaze, and I wouldn’t know why. Then, I realized that my understanding of intimacy was completely skewed. For me, love could not be translated physically. I yearned for that tenderness, but the somatic memories would not allow it. In relationships, this creates deep isolation for both partners, and I feel it is equally important to highlight the loved one’s struggle. My hope is that our film will serve as a cautionary tale that, while there are ways to move through the trauma and to process it healthily, it requires not only the strength to confront it, but also the courage to let your partner in.
WHY THIS FILM?
Film is a unique vehicle for providing education, creating awareness of, and responding to CSA (Child Sexual Abuse) and C-PTSD (Complex Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder), through its ability to connect audiences with the visceral realities of these issues. Ex Memoria is intended to be an immersive experience, in which the audience is invited to step into the shoes of a survivor, and to truly feel the ripple effects of their trauma.
One in three girls, and one in five boys, are victims of CSA. It exists across all classes, cultures, and communities, yet remains commonly misunderstood to be a crime that is only perpetrated by certain stereotypes of people. The reality is that perpetrators are frequently otherwise upstanding community members, whose crimes shock most people around them, and the majority of victims are abused by a trusted adult. Ex Memoria brings human insight into how Isabelle, who could statistically be a friend or a loved one in your own life, can survive CSA, and yet because both Isabelle's abuse and most CSA is shrouded in secrecy, survivors like Isabelle are often people that society would never guess had survived such abuse. If you don't think you know a survivor - you do.
WHY NOW?
With the onset of the Me Too Movement, the shifting climate of how society responds to sexual assault and sexual abuse has empowered many survivors to share their stories, to speak up, and to find support in each other’s stories. This rapidly-changing landscape serves as an extremely powerful and potent time for Ex Memoria to be brought to fruition. The longstanding transfer of guilt and shame from the perpetrator to the survivor is being turned on its head, and Ex Memoria supports that change, as survivors across the world demand that their voices be heard.
The horror-drama genre possesses the distinct ability to showcase how intrusive, frightening, and all-encompassing flashbacks are, in a way that is viscerally accessible to the audience. The act of disappearing is the focal point of our approach, in which Isabelle’s sense of self is reduced to only what she is made to believe of her own worth. Thematically, we will focus on accentuating her isolation and psychological imprisonment, via multiple cinematic techniques, such as:
Composition Creating Isolation
Isabelle is trapped in her memories, trapped in the house, and trapped in the frame. Having parts of the house in the foreground - objects, walls, doors - creates oppression, and introduces the subtle feeling of being watched. As the film progresses, we peel away the layers of subtlety. The frames tighten around Isabelle in a suffocating fashion; the voyeurism has come to full fruition. The “hauntings” of the house take on a physical form, treading the line between supernatural and reality. Isabelle’s memories lurk in the shadows, watching her every move.
As the house grows more and more empty, she reconnects with her trauma. At the beginning of the film, we will imprison her in the frame - wallpaper with heavy patterns, Isabelle standing in a doorframe, through curtains, dirty shots, with boxes and objects from her in the foreground - but as we approach the end, she is framed alone in an empty, lifeless space. At that point, there is no need to trap her visually because she is now trapped in her own mind.
Lighting
At the beginning of the film, the feeling of oppression will come from a darker atmosphere in the house. The curtains are shut, it's dusty, and only rays of sun are coming through to light the characters. But as the end approaches, the space will become brighter, with more contrast, and Isabelle will be backlit or standing in the shadow, so that we never clearly see her. The house is metaphorically - and visually - annihilating her.
Colors from the Past
The color palette is composed of shades of brown/yellow, and blue/green, the first often associated with innocence and memory, and the latter with introspection and renewal. Since Isabelle’s childhood is undeniably linked to the house, she unconsciously connects to it. For example, her clothes and hair will have colors present in the wallpapers, curtains, or lampshades. She blends in so well that she almost disappears, and becomes invisible like she used to as a child.
Hire Survivors Hollywood is an advocacy organization founded by Weinstein Silence Breaker Sarah Ann Masse. The organization works to end career retaliation against survivors of sexual violence by increasing employment opportunities for survivors and by creating a safer, more equitable entertainment industry for all.
HSH is paving the way for change in our industry, implementing a comprehensive toolkit to ensure that all sets are safe & that projects are carrying forward the ethos throughout every stage of production. It is vital that we are able to tell stories about exploitation and abuse without being exploited or abused in the process.
Being a cause so near and dear to my heart, it is important to me to ensure that we are using the film as a vehicle for advocacy, and to support the survivor community. We have partnered with HSH to ensure the physical, mental, and emotional safety of all cast and crew.
The overall funding goal for Ex Memoria is $20,000, including development, production, and post-production. We already have $10,000 for the film, but we need your help to raise the remaining $10,000.
While indie filmmaking is about stretching budgets, calling in favors and getting people together who are extremely passionate about making this film come to life, we also believe that cast and crew should be paid a living wage for their hard work. The $10,000 raised will go towards paying our crew and cast, as well as food and equipment. Additionally, we will need to rent out a house with the right atmosphere for Isabelle’s home, and pay for permits and insurance.
In order for us to be greenlit we will need to raise the full $10,000. If the project campaign goes over our goal, our stretch goals will go toward higher quality post-production, festival submission, travel and promotion to increase visibility and impact.
If you've made it this far and this project sounds like the type of film you'd like to be involved with, we'd love your support!
PLEDGE:
Click the blue "Make a Pledge" button to kindly gift us a monetary contribution—a dollar helps! We've got some unique incentives, so please check 'em out.
SHARE:
Help us spread the word about our film by sharing our Campaign page and Instagram page with your online communities. We are @exmemoriafilm (IG). Support survivors telling their stories, and pass our info along!
FOLLOW:
Follow our socials and like our Campaign page. Did you know we unlock some extra cool features if we get 250 likes on Seed&Spark?
↓ Here's a quick and easy message to copy and paste to Instagram: ↓
Help support award-winning female filmmaker @devanygreenwood by pledging, or following her film @exmemoriafilm - a viscerally haunting portrayal of the ripple effects of sexual trauma. Join her on @seedandspark: seedandspark.com/fund/ex-memoria
Wishlist
Use the WishList to Pledge cash and Loan items - or - Make a pledge by selecting an Incentive directly.
The House
Costs $2,000
The house itself is a main character in the story. Finding the right location--a house with personality, with history--is vital to the film.
Cast and Crew
Costs $5,000
We have a team of highly accomplished cast & crew who we want to compensate appropriately.
Equipment
Costs $3,000
To execute the visual language of the film, we need access to high-quality equipment.
Cash Pledge
Costs $0
Direct link:
Share this update!
About This Team
Rose Jackson-Smith is a New York-based actor and creative. Originally from a small town in Utah, Rose attended the London Academy for Music and Dramatic Arts finding her way as one of the youngest students in their flagship BA program. Since migrating to New York City, Rose has found her niche as a versatile artist, navigating roles in directing, producing, and delivering captivating performances across stage and screen. Her work spans from intimate indie projects to mainstream successes, including memorable appearances on Amazon Prime’s “The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel,” HBO’s “White House Plumbers,” Paramount Plus’ “Evil,” and CBS’ “FBI: Most Wanted.” You can currently catch her in the recurring role of Annie Greene on HBO Max’s hit new show “The Girls on the Bus.”
Manoé Richardier, a bilingual French actress, transitioned from ballet to acting at 13 where she began her training at Cannes Theatre Conservatory. She honed her skills at La Scène sur Saône in Lyon for 3 years, then attended The Australian Film and Television Academy in Melbourne. Now back in France, she’s worked on several short films and appeared in the French TV shows ‘Mental’ (Netflix) and ‘Anthracite’ (Netflix) as well as the docufiction ‘Landru’. Currently, she’s refining her singing and dancing, including Lindy Hop and Charleston, and is set to return to the stage at Avignon’s Festival with a play by Musset.
Shayn Herndon, originally from Nashville, Tennessee, grew up in Colorado where his artistic journey was ignited by his father’s ardor for the classic Western genre. His formal training took root at the University of Colorado at Boulder’s BFA program and was refined through the Meisner method at the Chris Thatcher Actor Studio. Shayn’s professional journey began with a lead role opposite Michael Madsen in “The Just,” soon followed by the lead in the independent feature “She Was the Deputy’s Wife” on Amazon Prime. His talent continued to shine through in projects that garnered accolades at the LA Black Film Festival and Dances With Films. Shayn’s artistry is grounded and gritty, rooted in authenticity, and infused with a diverse background that includes athletics, expert marksmanship, and equestrian prowess. Currently, he continues to refine his skills through master classes at Anthony Meindl’s studio in Los Angeles and is under the representation of Allie Veneris at Brillstein Entertainment Partners.
Devany Greenwood is a French-American director based in Los Angeles, CA. Her work is primarily rooted in poetics, exploring the feminine and unraveling the many layers of trauma. She also works in specialty costumes & props with Global Effects and has notably worked on shows "For All Mankind" (Apple TV+) and "Station Eleven" (HBO Max). She is the founder and executive producer at Cosmica Productions. She recently completed a proof of concept for her feature script, Into the Thicket, which was awarded "Best Fantasy Short of the Year" at IndieX Film Fest's 2024 Annual Awards.
Naomi Amarger is a French cinematographer living between Paris and New York, represented by the Apicorp Agency. Her first narrative feature, "Divertimento," directed by Marie-Castille Mention-Schaar, won the Jury Special Award at the Cinémania Film Festival in Montréal, and the Audience Award for Best Feature at the Washington DC International Film Festival. Her first documentary feature, "The Disappearance of Shere Hite," premiered at Sundance International Film Festival in the US Documentary Competition and received the Documentary Achievement Award at the Miami International Film Festival. Naomi always has a very sensitive approach to scripts and her past as an actress really inspires her work behind the camera. In 2017 she was nominated for both a César and a Lumières Awards for Most Promising Actress. She studied cinematography at the Louis-Lumiere National Film School in Paris, and developed her skills working at Panavision in New-York and being a camera assistant to cinematographers she admires. Naomi is a member of the ICFC and the French collective Femmes à la Caméra, and was selected for the American Society of Cinematographer’s Vision Mentorship Program 2022.
A Los Angeles native, Stephanie Jöens has always been obsessed with film and the art of the movie-making process. She had begun her journey with jumping right into production design and set dressing. Her skills stem from an affinity for vintage aesthetics and anything horror, sci-fi, and/or fantasy based. She is the former co-proprietor of Mystic Museum in Burbank, CA, where things going bump in the night was the norm. One of her primary goals is to work with profound queer or femme horror-based productions & collectives. Whether it’s curating dark art conventions, art galleries, or creating events and a sense of community has always come naturally to this witchy woman. It has been a driving force to create a safe space for artists to move through by using her expertise. In recent years, she worked in set dressing on short film "Grummy" and was the production designer on Greenwood’s last film, "Into the Thicket," as well as several St. Vincent music videos.
Maria Magalhães is a Brazilian actress and producer. She holds a B.F.A in Theatre from the Federal University of Minas Gerais and pursued further acting studies at New York Film Academy. She toured all over Brazil for six years with theatre company Casa Laboratório, performing and producing shows.
Chantal Casutt is a multilingual Swiss-French producer and actor born and raised in Zurich, Switzerland. While studying Management and Marketing at the University of Bath in the UK, she fell in love with visual storytelling and moved to London after completing her degree to pursue acting. She has starred in numerous short and feature films, web series, and podcasts but quickly realized that she wanted to not just be in front of the camera but be in an integral part of the production process. After working as an assistant producer on multiple shorts, she produced her first project "Our Late Father" in 2022, a pilot that went on to win Best Comedy at the Independent Short Awards, Japan Film Festival and Indie Short Fest. She now works as a production manager and coordinator for Tyro Media Group, a production company based in Switzerland focusing on commercials, event films and documentaries. Her passion lies with telling stories that address mental health, personal identity and showcase people in a spiritual crisis trying to repair themselves.
Katherine Taylor is an Australian actress, producer, and writer based in Los Angeles. She graduated from the Stella Adler Studio of Acting’s 3-Year Conservatory in New York. Previously, she served as executive producer on Australian short film "In Transit." Most recently, she appeared in award-winning short film "Starch," which is currently on the festival circuit, including Austin Film Festival. She has appeared in multiple film, television, and stage roles.
Hailey Mashburn is a Los Angeles based Intimacy Coordinator & Choreographer who is passionate about storytelling and supporting artists, and has been a collaborator on a number of shorts, features, and stage plays. As an artist and human, Hailey leads with openness and curiosity. Hailey is a Liverpool Institute for Performing Arts BA (Hons) Acting graduate and is an Arts Council England endorsed Global Talent as a theatrical creative.
Emanuele Bonomi is an editor and director raised in the Italian alps. His work as Editor includes over 30 short films, music videos, documentaries, commercials and montage/art concept work. He undertook a Certificate of High Specialisation in Editing at the NUCT Academy of Cinecittà (Rome, Italy) with teachers such us Walter Fasano (Editor of 'Suspiria' and 'Call Me by Your Name') and Consuelo Catucci (Editor of 'Perfect Strangers' and 'Angel of Evil'). He then graduated with Distinction from the London Film School. Most recently, he worked on animated short “The Meatseller,” produced by Luca Guadagnino, which had its world premiere at Venice Film Festival. In 2024, he was selected as a Berlinale Talent. Currently, he is in post-production working on a feature length documentary about Chinese contemporary artist Ai Weiwei.
Joanna Karselis is an award-wining composer, multi-instrumentalist, and singer-songwriter. She has scored numerous short and feature films and is a full member of BAFTA and served on the BAFTA TV awards jury for best score in 2023. Her music has been mixed in major UK facilities such as Warner Brother’s De Lane Lea and Twickenham Film Studios and she also work for music libraries such as West One. She is a mentee on the prestigious Alliance Of Women Film Composer’s mentoring programme and recently won Best Original Score at White Deer Film and VBSIFF Festival. In 2023, short film Realness with a Twist scored by Jo screened at the BFI Southbank and was later broadcast on Channel 4. Jo can also be found lecturing in music for moving image and composition at King’s College London.
Hire Survivors Hollywood is an advocacy organization founded by Weinstein Silence Breaker Sarah Ann Masse. The organization works to end career retaliation against survivors of sexual violence by increasing employment opportunities for survivors and by creating a safer, more equitable entertainment industry for all.