FAY/RAY
New York City, New York | Film Short
Comedy, Horror
FAY/RAY is a throwback domestic dark comedy about a couple trying to rediscover the spark in their marriage. Unfortunately for everyone else, that spark is mostly ignited by murder. Mixing 8mm mega-realism with high camp grotesquerie, this short film is a wacky feast for lovers of twisted Americana.
FAY/RAY
New York City, New York | Film Short
Comedy, Horror
1 Campaigns | New York, United States
Green Light
This campaign raised $7,512 for production. Follow the filmmaker to receive future updates on this project.
57 supporters | followers
Enter the amount you would like to pledge
FAY/RAY is a throwback domestic dark comedy about a couple trying to rediscover the spark in their marriage. Unfortunately for everyone else, that spark is mostly ignited by murder. Mixing 8mm mega-realism with high camp grotesquerie, this short film is a wacky feast for lovers of twisted Americana.
About The Project
- The Story
- Wishlist
- Updates
- The Team
- Community
Mission Statement
The Story
Fay and Ray are classic serial killers, and we do mean classic. Pleasantly caught in a retro mid-century lifestyle, the lovebirds struggle with the anxieties of the modern world - and the hairline fractures creeping through the linoleum of their marriage. Their solution? Couples therapy, naturally. Might be a bit new-agey, but it's worth a shot. FAY / RAY is a satirical slasher presented with delicious cinematic style. It uses its sweetly gore-soaked premise to play with American relationship conventions, and ask what it would take to save a romance that's already bleeding out …
CHARACTERS
Hi! I'm Brynne. FAY / RAY will be my directorial debut - although I have worked as an actor, producer and editor on many projects before this one.
This story began a silly late night conversation between myself and my husband Peter after watching too many hallmark movies - what if we made a hallmark movie about serial killers? This question quickly spiraled into more questions - isn't it weird how serial killers also just like, live a normal life? like they have to eat, right? they just go to the grocery store like the rest of us? and watch TV? some of them like go on dates, right, and have spouses? and then: are people all good or all bad? do violent people have any redeemable qualities? how is it possible to love someone who does something so abhorrent? do we ever really know people, like actually know them?
All of these questions eventually led to FAY / RAY - a story about two violent people who somehow also love each other and very much want to save their marriage. Juxtaposing the mundane with the violent (murder), I am trying to examine these questions while (hopefully) making the audience laugh along the way.
This film combines many things I love: midcentury vibes, actual film, my husband. It also centers two (very) flawed people - the type of people that, as an actor and storyteller, I love to explore - and I can't wait to share these characters and this story with all of you.
FAY / RAY is a pungent mix of grainy 8mm mega-realism, and some stylized high camp grotesquerie. Our protagonists live emotionally in a bygone, Norman Rockwell era of kitsch color and fashion, while their murderous exploits are presented as queasy home movies shot on super 8mm, all crashing into the 2025 world Fay and Ray have no choice but to inhabit.
With shades of Gus Van Sant's To Die For, John Waters' Serial Mom, the film is shooting for a kind of killer camp vibe, but inflected by works that seriously examine the underbelly of suburbia - Sofia Coppola's Virgin Suicides. The film draws further from the mockumentary style, cinema verité shaky-cam pushed against the highly composed look of a Wes Anderson film. And all the while hearkening back to midcentury sitcoms and hues.
Some images from our pitch deck:
directed by BRYNNE McMANIMIE
written by MATT MINNICINO, PETER ROMANO, and BRYNNE McMANIMIE
starring BRYNNE McMANIMIE, PETER ROMANO, and MATTHEW DUNIVAN
produced by RUFFLED OWL PRODUCTIONS
director of photography AARON ZIMMERMAN
Seed & Spark requires that we raise 80% of our goal by the end of our campaign in order to receive any contributions. We have 30 days to get this done!
We have already secured $7500 for this project between team contributions and additional investors. We are aiming to raise another $7500 for production.
This $7500 is going towards:
- Production Design: this project requires some period-specific design that is more expensive and more difficult to source than your average film!
- Our Crew: we need to hire a Gaffer, Key Grip, 1st AC, 1st AD, and a few PAs to help our production run smoothly and efficiently.
- Film: yes, we are shooting some of this on ACTUAL film! part of this short will be shot on super 8mm, which is expensive to purchase and develop. but it's an integral part of the story, and the entire team is very excited about this element!
FAY / RAY began development in 2023, and we entered PRE-PRODUCTION earlier this year. We have most of our team in place, and are beginning to schedule production, source everything we need, etc. We have a location secured, as well!
PRODUCTION is scheduled for a weekend in January 2026.
POST-PRODUCTION should be completed by end of summer 2026, and we are aiming to begin festival submissions in Fall 2026, continuing into 2027. We plan to do a private screening of the film before festival submissions begin. After a festival run, we hope to share this film to the public in late 2027.
Our team has plenty of experience, and many successful track records in producing independent film. We are confident that this timeline is accomplishable, and we are excited to be moving into production very soon!
There are many ways to support our project!
Insta: @fayrayfilm | @ruffledowlproductions
- Contribute to our campaign!
- Share our campaign on social media, or send out an email to your community on our behalf.
- Follow us on social media, and re-post and engage with our content (likes, comments, etc)!
- Send us a "you're doing great, sweetie!" message from time to time because this is hard work!
Thank you!
Wishlist
Use the WishList to Pledge cash and Loan items - or - Make a pledge by selecting an Incentive directly.
Production Design
Costs $2,000
This film requires some mid-century specific pieces and design!
Crew
Costs $4,800
We need a Gaffer, Key Grip, 1st AC, 1st AD, and some PA's to round out our team.
Super 8mm Film
Costs $700
Some of this film is being shot on Super 8mm, and is very important to the story! This would cover film and processing.
Cash Pledge
Costs $0
Direct link:
Share this update!
About This Team
BRYNNE McMANIMIE
director, Fay
BRYNNE (she/her) is a NY-based actor, filmmaker and professor. As an actor, she has worked in a variety of mediums. TV: Succession, Only Murders in the Building, Law and Order, Evil, Harlem, Elementary, Bull. Off-Broadway: Othello (Classic Stage Company). Tour: Romeo & Juliet (Apocalyptic Artists Ensemble). As a filmmaker, she has produced and edited several award-winning web series and films. Highlights include The New Neighborhood, a web series, and a mini-series adaptation of Shakespeare's As You Like It. She is a Visiting Assistant Professor of Theatre Arts at Marymount Manhattan College, and teaches at Hunter College in the Arts&Sciences department. She is one of the Co-Founders of Apocalyptic Artists Ensemble, a not-for-profit that brings Shakespeare workshops and productions into NYC schools. She holds an MFA in Acting from Columbia University, and is a proud AEA and SAG-AFTRA union member.
PETER ROMANO
writer, Ray
PETER (he/him) is a Syrian-American Actor, Director and Teaching-Artist. As an Actor, he has worked internationally, touring Africa in Antigone in the World, directed by Tony award winner Gregory Mosher. Off-Broadway: Fucking A (Signature Theatre), Pericles (Target Margin), First Down (Noor), Othello, Midsummer (CSC),Candida (Gingold). Regional: Yasmina's Necklace (Premiere Stages), Terror (Miami New Drama). Film/TV: Wu-Tang An American Saga (FX), New Amsterdam (NBC), The Blacklist (NBC), The Week Of with Adam Sandler (Netflix). Directing credits include Antigone, Caucasian Chalk Circle and The Courage by Ana Caro de Mallen (Miami New Drama), Romeo & Juliet (Apocalyptic Artists Ensemble). On film, he has directed adaptations of Julius Caesar and co-directed A Midsummer Night’s Dream with Apocalyptic Artists Ensemble. Peter is the creator of the web series The New Neighborhood and a Co-Artistic Director of Apocalyptic Artists Ensemble. He holds a BFA from NYU: Tisch, and MFA Columbia University.
MATT MINNICINO
writer
MATT (he/him) is a queer Jewish writer and teacher based in NYC. His stage-work has been the recipient of awards, nominations, residencies, and commissions in the US, England, and Ireland– including the Arts & Letters Prize, a Helen Hayes Award nomination, Jeffrey Melnick New Playwright Award nomination, and the David E. Einhorn Memorial Prize. He co-founded the COVID-related artist initiative Theatre Without Theater; has taught or mentored at Barnard College, Mary Baldwin University, Barn Arts Collective, and the Acting Gym NYC; and his articles have been published by HowlRound, The Dramatist, Gathering of the Tribes, and others. He has performed in almost 50 productions and workshops in the last 15 years, as well as acting as co-dramaturg for Sharone Halevy’s Off-Broadway adaptation of Romeo and Juliet. He has penned, directed, co-directed, and produced numerous short films (collecting several awards including Best Horror at Raindance, Hallucinea, and America’s Epic Film Festivals). He currently teaches high school History and English Lit in Manhattan. www.mattminnicino.com
ERIN McGUFF-PENNINGTON
producer, Ruffled Owl Productions
Her recent award-winning short thriller, ROSALIE, explores the intersection of bodily autonomy, motherhood, obsession, and friendship. Erin co-founded Ruffled Owl Productions with her best friend and longtime collaborator, Adriana Spencer. Together, they make films that ask tough questions and aren’t afraid to ruffle feathers.
Erin writes from the Hudson Valley, where she lives with her husband, two young children, and a mischievous Irish terrier. Her novel-in-progress was a finalist in the Writers’ League of Texas Manuscript Contest.
Erin loves Ireland, black coffee, and the weight and scent of actual, printed books. She’s awestruck by much of life, including what’s often considered mundane. Learn more at ErinMcGuffPennington.com or @emcguffp.
ADRIANA SPENCER
producer, Ruffled Owl Productions
Originally from sunny California, Adriana Spencer traded the beach for the concrete jungle to attend NYU’s Tisch School of the Arts (BFA, Drama).
Adi started Ruffled Owl Productions with her longtime collaborator and best friend, Erin McGuff-Pennington. ROP's inaugural film, ROSALIE, has been a meaningful project both personally and politically, and is currently on the festival circuit.
Along with her work at Ruffled Owl, Adriana has collaborated on indie films as an actor, producer, casting director, and story creator. She’s made several shorts with the production company Filmelodic, which sets original stories to classical music and screens them with live orchestras.
AdrianaSpencer.com for more.
AARON ZIMMERMAN
director of photography
Aaron is a New York-born and raised director of photography. He has worked in the camera department on dozens of short films and feature-length narrative projects, as well as high-end commercial and fashion campaigns, documentaries, music videos, and television series. Several of his short films have screened at festivals such as the Queens World Film Festival, New York International Film Awards, and Portland Comedy Film Festival.
Current Team
Incentives
- The Story
- Wishlist
- Updates
- The Team
- Community
Mission Statement
The Story
Fay and Ray are classic serial killers, and we do mean classic. Pleasantly caught in a retro mid-century lifestyle, the lovebirds struggle with the anxieties of the modern world - and the hairline fractures creeping through the linoleum of their marriage. Their solution? Couples therapy, naturally. Might be a bit new-agey, but it's worth a shot. FAY / RAY is a satirical slasher presented with delicious cinematic style. It uses its sweetly gore-soaked premise to play with American relationship conventions, and ask what it would take to save a romance that's already bleeding out …
CHARACTERS
Hi! I'm Brynne. FAY / RAY will be my directorial debut - although I have worked as an actor, producer and editor on many projects before this one.
This story began a silly late night conversation between myself and my husband Peter after watching too many hallmark movies - what if we made a hallmark movie about serial killers? This question quickly spiraled into more questions - isn't it weird how serial killers also just like, live a normal life? like they have to eat, right? they just go to the grocery store like the rest of us? and watch TV? some of them like go on dates, right, and have spouses? and then: are people all good or all bad? do violent people have any redeemable qualities? how is it possible to love someone who does something so abhorrent? do we ever really know people, like actually know them?
All of these questions eventually led to FAY / RAY - a story about two violent people who somehow also love each other and very much want to save their marriage. Juxtaposing the mundane with the violent (murder), I am trying to examine these questions while (hopefully) making the audience laugh along the way.
This film combines many things I love: midcentury vibes, actual film, my husband. It also centers two (very) flawed people - the type of people that, as an actor and storyteller, I love to explore - and I can't wait to share these characters and this story with all of you.
FAY / RAY is a pungent mix of grainy 8mm mega-realism, and some stylized high camp grotesquerie. Our protagonists live emotionally in a bygone, Norman Rockwell era of kitsch color and fashion, while their murderous exploits are presented as queasy home movies shot on super 8mm, all crashing into the 2025 world Fay and Ray have no choice but to inhabit.
With shades of Gus Van Sant's To Die For, John Waters' Serial Mom, the film is shooting for a kind of killer camp vibe, but inflected by works that seriously examine the underbelly of suburbia - Sofia Coppola's Virgin Suicides. The film draws further from the mockumentary style, cinema verité shaky-cam pushed against the highly composed look of a Wes Anderson film. And all the while hearkening back to midcentury sitcoms and hues.
Some images from our pitch deck:
directed by BRYNNE McMANIMIE
written by MATT MINNICINO, PETER ROMANO, and BRYNNE McMANIMIE
starring BRYNNE McMANIMIE, PETER ROMANO, and MATTHEW DUNIVAN
produced by RUFFLED OWL PRODUCTIONS
director of photography AARON ZIMMERMAN
Seed & Spark requires that we raise 80% of our goal by the end of our campaign in order to receive any contributions. We have 30 days to get this done!
We have already secured $7500 for this project between team contributions and additional investors. We are aiming to raise another $7500 for production.
This $7500 is going towards:
- Production Design: this project requires some period-specific design that is more expensive and more difficult to source than your average film!
- Our Crew: we need to hire a Gaffer, Key Grip, 1st AC, 1st AD, and a few PAs to help our production run smoothly and efficiently.
- Film: yes, we are shooting some of this on ACTUAL film! part of this short will be shot on super 8mm, which is expensive to purchase and develop. but it's an integral part of the story, and the entire team is very excited about this element!
FAY / RAY began development in 2023, and we entered PRE-PRODUCTION earlier this year. We have most of our team in place, and are beginning to schedule production, source everything we need, etc. We have a location secured, as well!
PRODUCTION is scheduled for a weekend in January 2026.
POST-PRODUCTION should be completed by end of summer 2026, and we are aiming to begin festival submissions in Fall 2026, continuing into 2027. We plan to do a private screening of the film before festival submissions begin. After a festival run, we hope to share this film to the public in late 2027.
Our team has plenty of experience, and many successful track records in producing independent film. We are confident that this timeline is accomplishable, and we are excited to be moving into production very soon!
There are many ways to support our project!
Insta: @fayrayfilm | @ruffledowlproductions
- Contribute to our campaign!
- Share our campaign on social media, or send out an email to your community on our behalf.
- Follow us on social media, and re-post and engage with our content (likes, comments, etc)!
- Send us a "you're doing great, sweetie!" message from time to time because this is hard work!
Thank you!
Wishlist
Use the WishList to Pledge cash and Loan items - or - Make a pledge by selecting an Incentive directly.
Production Design
Costs $2,000
This film requires some mid-century specific pieces and design!
Crew
Costs $4,800
We need a Gaffer, Key Grip, 1st AC, 1st AD, and some PA's to round out our team.
Super 8mm Film
Costs $700
Some of this film is being shot on Super 8mm, and is very important to the story! This would cover film and processing.
Cash Pledge
Costs $0
Direct link:
Share this update!
About This Team
BRYNNE McMANIMIE
director, Fay
BRYNNE (she/her) is a NY-based actor, filmmaker and professor. As an actor, she has worked in a variety of mediums. TV: Succession, Only Murders in the Building, Law and Order, Evil, Harlem, Elementary, Bull. Off-Broadway: Othello (Classic Stage Company). Tour: Romeo & Juliet (Apocalyptic Artists Ensemble). As a filmmaker, she has produced and edited several award-winning web series and films. Highlights include The New Neighborhood, a web series, and a mini-series adaptation of Shakespeare's As You Like It. She is a Visiting Assistant Professor of Theatre Arts at Marymount Manhattan College, and teaches at Hunter College in the Arts&Sciences department. She is one of the Co-Founders of Apocalyptic Artists Ensemble, a not-for-profit that brings Shakespeare workshops and productions into NYC schools. She holds an MFA in Acting from Columbia University, and is a proud AEA and SAG-AFTRA union member.
PETER ROMANO
writer, Ray
PETER (he/him) is a Syrian-American Actor, Director and Teaching-Artist. As an Actor, he has worked internationally, touring Africa in Antigone in the World, directed by Tony award winner Gregory Mosher. Off-Broadway: Fucking A (Signature Theatre), Pericles (Target Margin), First Down (Noor), Othello, Midsummer (CSC),Candida (Gingold). Regional: Yasmina's Necklace (Premiere Stages), Terror (Miami New Drama). Film/TV: Wu-Tang An American Saga (FX), New Amsterdam (NBC), The Blacklist (NBC), The Week Of with Adam Sandler (Netflix). Directing credits include Antigone, Caucasian Chalk Circle and The Courage by Ana Caro de Mallen (Miami New Drama), Romeo & Juliet (Apocalyptic Artists Ensemble). On film, he has directed adaptations of Julius Caesar and co-directed A Midsummer Night’s Dream with Apocalyptic Artists Ensemble. Peter is the creator of the web series The New Neighborhood and a Co-Artistic Director of Apocalyptic Artists Ensemble. He holds a BFA from NYU: Tisch, and MFA Columbia University.
MATT MINNICINO
writer
MATT (he/him) is a queer Jewish writer and teacher based in NYC. His stage-work has been the recipient of awards, nominations, residencies, and commissions in the US, England, and Ireland– including the Arts & Letters Prize, a Helen Hayes Award nomination, Jeffrey Melnick New Playwright Award nomination, and the David E. Einhorn Memorial Prize. He co-founded the COVID-related artist initiative Theatre Without Theater; has taught or mentored at Barnard College, Mary Baldwin University, Barn Arts Collective, and the Acting Gym NYC; and his articles have been published by HowlRound, The Dramatist, Gathering of the Tribes, and others. He has performed in almost 50 productions and workshops in the last 15 years, as well as acting as co-dramaturg for Sharone Halevy’s Off-Broadway adaptation of Romeo and Juliet. He has penned, directed, co-directed, and produced numerous short films (collecting several awards including Best Horror at Raindance, Hallucinea, and America’s Epic Film Festivals). He currently teaches high school History and English Lit in Manhattan. www.mattminnicino.com
ERIN McGUFF-PENNINGTON
producer, Ruffled Owl Productions
Her recent award-winning short thriller, ROSALIE, explores the intersection of bodily autonomy, motherhood, obsession, and friendship. Erin co-founded Ruffled Owl Productions with her best friend and longtime collaborator, Adriana Spencer. Together, they make films that ask tough questions and aren’t afraid to ruffle feathers.
Erin writes from the Hudson Valley, where she lives with her husband, two young children, and a mischievous Irish terrier. Her novel-in-progress was a finalist in the Writers’ League of Texas Manuscript Contest.
Erin loves Ireland, black coffee, and the weight and scent of actual, printed books. She’s awestruck by much of life, including what’s often considered mundane. Learn more at ErinMcGuffPennington.com or @emcguffp.
ADRIANA SPENCER
producer, Ruffled Owl Productions
Originally from sunny California, Adriana Spencer traded the beach for the concrete jungle to attend NYU’s Tisch School of the Arts (BFA, Drama).
Adi started Ruffled Owl Productions with her longtime collaborator and best friend, Erin McGuff-Pennington. ROP's inaugural film, ROSALIE, has been a meaningful project both personally and politically, and is currently on the festival circuit.
Along with her work at Ruffled Owl, Adriana has collaborated on indie films as an actor, producer, casting director, and story creator. She’s made several shorts with the production company Filmelodic, which sets original stories to classical music and screens them with live orchestras.
AdrianaSpencer.com for more.
AARON ZIMMERMAN
director of photography
Aaron is a New York-born and raised director of photography. He has worked in the camera department on dozens of short films and feature-length narrative projects, as well as high-end commercial and fashion campaigns, documentaries, music videos, and television series. Several of his short films have screened at festivals such as the Queens World Film Festival, New York International Film Awards, and Portland Comedy Film Festival.