Fishy
Atlanta, Georgia | Film Short
Satire, LGBTQ
Fishy is a daring coming-of-age fable centering a young trans woman in her world that rarely lets her speak. Hazel’s transformation isn’t her gender… she’s turning into a fish. Bold and surrealistic, this story reclaims identity and representation. We need your help to tell it now.
Fishy
Atlanta, Georgia | Film Short
Satire, LGBTQ
1 Campaigns | Georgia, United States
Green Light
This campaign raised $7,800 for production. Follow the filmmaker to receive future updates on this project.
48 supporters | followers
Enter the amount you would like to pledge
Fishy is a daring coming-of-age fable centering a young trans woman in her world that rarely lets her speak. Hazel’s transformation isn’t her gender… she’s turning into a fish. Bold and surrealistic, this story reclaims identity and representation. We need your help to tell it now.
Participating In
About The Project
- The Story
- Wishlist
- Updates
- The Team
- Community
Mission Statement
The Story
LATE NIGHT TALKING
Last year, director/writer Milo Richards and actress/writer Harlow Elizabeth moved to Atlanta, GA from Richmond, VA. The couple had nothing but dreams... and Harlow's bins of wigs.
Fishy was born out of late-nights after open stages, torn tights and watching queens disappear and reappear in front of cracked mirrors. It's a love letter to the imperfections and the transformations that aren't always so glamorous. It's about becoming the version of yourself you wanted to be... and the isolation that often comes with it.
WHY NOW?
"...treasure your existence, the vulnerability of now."
Fishy is both timely and timeless– in a world where trans women are chastised more than they are celebrated. It’s for anybody who has felt like they may be too much but also not enough.
It’s about not fitting in– not just socially, but in your body– and the fight to find a version of you that you can live with: even if the world isn’t ready for it.
WHY US?
We have lived and breathed this story. Both Harlow and I come from acting backgrounds, and Shakespeare was the only outlet for gender-expansive folks, where educational systems often taught it 'didn't matter.' But what happens when it is more than a role? Drag then for both of us, became our outlet of performance, the medium we longed for... until the lines became confusing as to what was real and what was merely an illusion.
47% of our team is made up of trans-identifying folks, with 89% being LGBTQ+ identifying and who reside in the South. We have carefully crafted our team of people who 'get it' and who also want to utilize their creative platforms for more.
SYNOPSIS
Hazel Monroe, a young trans woman and self-proclaimed pageant queen arrives at an oceanfront home to prepare for the biggest competition of her career yet: Miss Carolina Coast Camp Queen. The home belongs to Joan, her estranged drama teacher from high school, who offers it as a peaceful retreat. But as Hazel readies herself with rehearsals and remedies, a strange physical transformation begins– fish scales appear behind her ear, growing more noticeable as her anxiety heightens.
The term 'fishy' in drag spaces refers to someone convincingly portraying femininity, and who may pass as a biological female, unbeknownst to others. For Hazel, 'fishy' takes on a literal meaning. As pressure builds and the curtain nears, her transformation becomes undeniable. Her artifice deteriorates and she understands the sacrifices she has made for the sake of her onstage persona. She takes on a glamorously grotesque fish-form...the version that she's created. Haunted by hallucination and the expectations of womanhood, perfection and poise, Hazel spirals, only to find herself back at the shoreline. No illusion...no scales... just herself.
VISUAL STYLE
The world of Fishy is soaked in natural light but leans into magical realism when Hazel's anxieties and physical transformations begin.
We're often static and observational in wide shots (inspired by The Holdovers and Aftersun), allowing Hazel to occupy space quietly. The ocean plays a character, here. It's reflective and visually distant from others, leaning into the isolation and tension she feels leading up to the pageant at the beach house.
As Hazel's dysphoria heightens, we lean into more surrealistic compositions, incorporating mirrors, gills and scales. The camera occasionally becomes from Hazel's point-of-view, with distortions of sound as if there are pressure changes of going underwater. These sequences feel more in line with Hedwig and the Angry Inch - theatrically-driven, symbolic and bold.
CHARACTERS
Hazel Monroe (23): A force to be reckoned with. Hazel's a star with a quiet resilience that is shaped from years of being underestimated. Not flashy, but in the spotlight she shines. She's a pageant newcomer who has something to prove, but caught between who she used to be and who she's discovering herself to be.
Chadwick (49): Business in the front and a people-pleaser in the back. He styles wigs for a living and acts as Hazel's dresser at the pageant. Chadwick is a "platinum-star gay," meaning he has only dated drag queens for the past decade. He's level-headed, offers a polite shoulder to lean on, but is also stern and set in his ways.
Sinclair (45): A pageant legend who’d like to think drag’s hay day has come and gone. She withholds her weekly cast-spot at the very club in which Hazel is trying her own hand at pageantry. Sinclair is the show-runner, and she’s as effortless as she is timeless. She’s as understated as she is obvious… obviously over it.
Didi (33): A ditsy drag queen, who dated Chadwick twelve years prior to the pageant. She's poised, polished and popular: and all-in-all familiar with the entertainers and the crowd.
Joan (42): Once the kind of high school theatre teacher who changed lives is now a notably distant figure, for Hazel. Grand in her gestures, Hazel knew Joan as a sixteen-year-old actor, who Joan saw great potential in.
BUDGET
Crew + Production Materials: $2,100
SFX: $700
Post Production: $1,000
Distribution: $700
Location Rentals: $1,000
Catering: $2,000
TOTAL- $7,500 FOR PRODUCTION
DIRECTOR'S STATEMENT
The media we commonly see in relation to trans people always has that asset of focusing on their physical transition- but what's often overlooked is the constant self-monitoring that we do as trans people and the daily performance of gender and identity, for the rest of the world. There's an in-between that exists for so many of us, and it isn't glamorous, nor is it linear. It's fragile, it's funny, awkward, and sometimes... grotesque. That in-between is what I strive to capture with Fishy. The strange space that trans people often navigate that isn't about a before-and-after, but the during.
Fishy is also deeply personal to me. I've competed in pageants, I know what it means to have to know 'who you are,' and sell it. Pageantry is demanding, and requires clarity, confidence and a great level of execution. But what happens if parts of you are still forming? When the mirror lies? When your suit doesn't fit?
I began performing in nightlife spaces as a drag king. Not because it felt true to me, but because it was the only language I had to stay booked. It was the way I gained an in to queer performance spaces and built reliability and credibility. But the truth is: I never felt like one. I was just trying to exist as a man and as an entertainer. Someone who wanted to be seen, even while still discovering how to be known.
This is for those figuring it out in real time. For anyone who's ever felt almost ready, but not quite.
And I hope, above all, you'll find it damn near entertaining.
Wishlist
Use the WishList to Pledge cash and Loan items - or - Make a pledge by selecting an Incentive directly.
Location Rental
Costs $1,000
Helps us house the team & film at our dreamy coastal location—major production value, tiny indie budget.
Feed The Fishies
Costs $2,000
They’re working below scale—so we feed them well! Help us keep our cast & crew nourished, caffeinated, and cared for.
Crew + Production Materials
Costs $2,100
Help pay our crew, their travel and goods for the set, props + additional equipment.
Makeup, Wardrobe, Prostethics
Costs $700
Drag looks, pageant glam, and arguably most important—fish scales! Help us serve sequins, illusions, and transformation.
Distribution
Costs $700
Fishy deserves to get itself out there into major film festival circuits. Help us cover the submissions!
Post Production
Costs $1,000
This will cover post-production expenses for editing + for our original orchestrated score.
Cash Pledge
Costs $0
Direct link:
Share this update!
About This Team
Milo Richards (Director, Writer): is a versatile and accomplished filmmaker based in Atlanta, Georgia, with experience in directing, producing, writing, and performing. Milo values orchestration and is an innovative professional with an observant eye for amplifying underrepresented stories and narratives, using film as a medium for social impact. Raised in Richmond, Virginia, Richards was mentored through educational programming geared towards young directors. e served as a producing assistant on the Daytime Emmy-nominated series, The Good Road, and later contributed significantly to the pre-production planning of a PBS documentary on Jimmy Dean’s wife, Donna Meade Dean. He holds two degrees from Virginia Commonwealth University (B.S. Broadcast Journalism, 2023/ B.A. Theatre, 2023), and held involvement on various on and off campus performance groups with emphasis in Media Production. His recent music video, The Lonesome Pony, was apart of Oscar and BAFTA-qualifying Out on Film, Exposures Trans Montreal Film Festival, Trans Fest Stockholm and the Queer West Film Festival. When not behind the scenes, Milo has spent time onstage as Casey in The Legend of Georgia McBride.
Harlow Elizabeth (Hazel, Writer): is an actress and writer signed with Queer UP Agency, known for her rich theatrics and having a bold artistic voice. Harlow is the mind behind Thea Trickality and has served as a Drag Consultant for numerous musicals and plays in Virginia. Offstage, she is a passionate collector of antiques and embellishments, objects that typically carry stories that echo onstage into her performance.
Nicole Paige Brooks (Chadwick): is the stage name of Brian Christopher Pryor, an American Drag performer and entertainer who competed on season 2 of the television series RuPaul's Drag Race and season 10 of RuPaul's Drag Race All Stars. Based in Atlanta, Nicole continues to host and perform in drag shows, and participate in Drag Race-related events.
Brigitte Bidet (Didi): is an Atlanta-based drag queen who made her silver screen debut as Dolly #5 in the Netflix original film, Dumplin'. She is the creator of Tossed Salad, at Lore Atlanta every Sunday and is an emcee, comedian and all-in-all, an entertainer.
Ava Davis (Producer): Sundance Fellow and known also as the Duchess of Grant Park, is an actress, producer/filmmaker, and writer based in Atlanta, Georgia. Davis is a fervent advocate for trans and queer representation, particularly emphasizing the importance of inclusion for Black, brown, and beige minorities. In pursuit of this vision, she founded Studio Vosges in 2019, a production company dedicated to amplifying underrepresented voices.
Kyle Benjamin Miller (Director of Photography): Kyle Benjamin Miller is a filmmaker and cinematographer with a passion and eye for making the imaginary reality. Kyle is known for Nymphs on Granite Rock (2023), Amma (2024) and Milo's short The Lonesome Pony (2023). His recent projects as producer and DP have screened in Toronto, New York, Atlanta, and Australia.
Scott Youngblood (Gaffer, Editor): Scott is a multimedia professional with more than 15 years of experience developing engaging content tailored for diverse industries and audiences. Passionate about storytelling and committed to helping businesses grow through high-quality, impactful multimedia solutions and strategies. Skilled in project management, with a strong ability to collaborate across teams, and quickly adapt to emerging trends and technology.
Current Team
Incentives
- The Story
- Wishlist
- Updates
- The Team
- Community
Mission Statement
The Story
LATE NIGHT TALKING
Last year, director/writer Milo Richards and actress/writer Harlow Elizabeth moved to Atlanta, GA from Richmond, VA. The couple had nothing but dreams... and Harlow's bins of wigs.
Fishy was born out of late-nights after open stages, torn tights and watching queens disappear and reappear in front of cracked mirrors. It's a love letter to the imperfections and the transformations that aren't always so glamorous. It's about becoming the version of yourself you wanted to be... and the isolation that often comes with it.
WHY NOW?
"...treasure your existence, the vulnerability of now."
Fishy is both timely and timeless– in a world where trans women are chastised more than they are celebrated. It’s for anybody who has felt like they may be too much but also not enough.
It’s about not fitting in– not just socially, but in your body– and the fight to find a version of you that you can live with: even if the world isn’t ready for it.
WHY US?
We have lived and breathed this story. Both Harlow and I come from acting backgrounds, and Shakespeare was the only outlet for gender-expansive folks, where educational systems often taught it 'didn't matter.' But what happens when it is more than a role? Drag then for both of us, became our outlet of performance, the medium we longed for... until the lines became confusing as to what was real and what was merely an illusion.
47% of our team is made up of trans-identifying folks, with 89% being LGBTQ+ identifying and who reside in the South. We have carefully crafted our team of people who 'get it' and who also want to utilize their creative platforms for more.
SYNOPSIS
Hazel Monroe, a young trans woman and self-proclaimed pageant queen arrives at an oceanfront home to prepare for the biggest competition of her career yet: Miss Carolina Coast Camp Queen. The home belongs to Joan, her estranged drama teacher from high school, who offers it as a peaceful retreat. But as Hazel readies herself with rehearsals and remedies, a strange physical transformation begins– fish scales appear behind her ear, growing more noticeable as her anxiety heightens.
The term 'fishy' in drag spaces refers to someone convincingly portraying femininity, and who may pass as a biological female, unbeknownst to others. For Hazel, 'fishy' takes on a literal meaning. As pressure builds and the curtain nears, her transformation becomes undeniable. Her artifice deteriorates and she understands the sacrifices she has made for the sake of her onstage persona. She takes on a glamorously grotesque fish-form...the version that she's created. Haunted by hallucination and the expectations of womanhood, perfection and poise, Hazel spirals, only to find herself back at the shoreline. No illusion...no scales... just herself.
VISUAL STYLE
The world of Fishy is soaked in natural light but leans into magical realism when Hazel's anxieties and physical transformations begin.
We're often static and observational in wide shots (inspired by The Holdovers and Aftersun), allowing Hazel to occupy space quietly. The ocean plays a character, here. It's reflective and visually distant from others, leaning into the isolation and tension she feels leading up to the pageant at the beach house.
As Hazel's dysphoria heightens, we lean into more surrealistic compositions, incorporating mirrors, gills and scales. The camera occasionally becomes from Hazel's point-of-view, with distortions of sound as if there are pressure changes of going underwater. These sequences feel more in line with Hedwig and the Angry Inch - theatrically-driven, symbolic and bold.
CHARACTERS
Hazel Monroe (23): A force to be reckoned with. Hazel's a star with a quiet resilience that is shaped from years of being underestimated. Not flashy, but in the spotlight she shines. She's a pageant newcomer who has something to prove, but caught between who she used to be and who she's discovering herself to be.
Chadwick (49): Business in the front and a people-pleaser in the back. He styles wigs for a living and acts as Hazel's dresser at the pageant. Chadwick is a "platinum-star gay," meaning he has only dated drag queens for the past decade. He's level-headed, offers a polite shoulder to lean on, but is also stern and set in his ways.
Sinclair (45): A pageant legend who’d like to think drag’s hay day has come and gone. She withholds her weekly cast-spot at the very club in which Hazel is trying her own hand at pageantry. Sinclair is the show-runner, and she’s as effortless as she is timeless. She’s as understated as she is obvious… obviously over it.
Didi (33): A ditsy drag queen, who dated Chadwick twelve years prior to the pageant. She's poised, polished and popular: and all-in-all familiar with the entertainers and the crowd.
Joan (42): Once the kind of high school theatre teacher who changed lives is now a notably distant figure, for Hazel. Grand in her gestures, Hazel knew Joan as a sixteen-year-old actor, who Joan saw great potential in.
BUDGET
Crew + Production Materials: $2,100
SFX: $700
Post Production: $1,000
Distribution: $700
Location Rentals: $1,000
Catering: $2,000
TOTAL- $7,500 FOR PRODUCTION
DIRECTOR'S STATEMENT
The media we commonly see in relation to trans people always has that asset of focusing on their physical transition- but what's often overlooked is the constant self-monitoring that we do as trans people and the daily performance of gender and identity, for the rest of the world. There's an in-between that exists for so many of us, and it isn't glamorous, nor is it linear. It's fragile, it's funny, awkward, and sometimes... grotesque. That in-between is what I strive to capture with Fishy. The strange space that trans people often navigate that isn't about a before-and-after, but the during.
Fishy is also deeply personal to me. I've competed in pageants, I know what it means to have to know 'who you are,' and sell it. Pageantry is demanding, and requires clarity, confidence and a great level of execution. But what happens if parts of you are still forming? When the mirror lies? When your suit doesn't fit?
I began performing in nightlife spaces as a drag king. Not because it felt true to me, but because it was the only language I had to stay booked. It was the way I gained an in to queer performance spaces and built reliability and credibility. But the truth is: I never felt like one. I was just trying to exist as a man and as an entertainer. Someone who wanted to be seen, even while still discovering how to be known.
This is for those figuring it out in real time. For anyone who's ever felt almost ready, but not quite.
And I hope, above all, you'll find it damn near entertaining.
Wishlist
Use the WishList to Pledge cash and Loan items - or - Make a pledge by selecting an Incentive directly.
Location Rental
Costs $1,000
Helps us house the team & film at our dreamy coastal location—major production value, tiny indie budget.
Feed The Fishies
Costs $2,000
They’re working below scale—so we feed them well! Help us keep our cast & crew nourished, caffeinated, and cared for.
Crew + Production Materials
Costs $2,100
Help pay our crew, their travel and goods for the set, props + additional equipment.
Makeup, Wardrobe, Prostethics
Costs $700
Drag looks, pageant glam, and arguably most important—fish scales! Help us serve sequins, illusions, and transformation.
Distribution
Costs $700
Fishy deserves to get itself out there into major film festival circuits. Help us cover the submissions!
Post Production
Costs $1,000
This will cover post-production expenses for editing + for our original orchestrated score.
Cash Pledge
Costs $0
Direct link:
Share this update!
About This Team
Milo Richards (Director, Writer): is a versatile and accomplished filmmaker based in Atlanta, Georgia, with experience in directing, producing, writing, and performing. Milo values orchestration and is an innovative professional with an observant eye for amplifying underrepresented stories and narratives, using film as a medium for social impact. Raised in Richmond, Virginia, Richards was mentored through educational programming geared towards young directors. e served as a producing assistant on the Daytime Emmy-nominated series, The Good Road, and later contributed significantly to the pre-production planning of a PBS documentary on Jimmy Dean’s wife, Donna Meade Dean. He holds two degrees from Virginia Commonwealth University (B.S. Broadcast Journalism, 2023/ B.A. Theatre, 2023), and held involvement on various on and off campus performance groups with emphasis in Media Production. His recent music video, The Lonesome Pony, was apart of Oscar and BAFTA-qualifying Out on Film, Exposures Trans Montreal Film Festival, Trans Fest Stockholm and the Queer West Film Festival. When not behind the scenes, Milo has spent time onstage as Casey in The Legend of Georgia McBride.
Harlow Elizabeth (Hazel, Writer): is an actress and writer signed with Queer UP Agency, known for her rich theatrics and having a bold artistic voice. Harlow is the mind behind Thea Trickality and has served as a Drag Consultant for numerous musicals and plays in Virginia. Offstage, she is a passionate collector of antiques and embellishments, objects that typically carry stories that echo onstage into her performance.
Nicole Paige Brooks (Chadwick): is the stage name of Brian Christopher Pryor, an American Drag performer and entertainer who competed on season 2 of the television series RuPaul's Drag Race and season 10 of RuPaul's Drag Race All Stars. Based in Atlanta, Nicole continues to host and perform in drag shows, and participate in Drag Race-related events.
Brigitte Bidet (Didi): is an Atlanta-based drag queen who made her silver screen debut as Dolly #5 in the Netflix original film, Dumplin'. She is the creator of Tossed Salad, at Lore Atlanta every Sunday and is an emcee, comedian and all-in-all, an entertainer.
Ava Davis (Producer): Sundance Fellow and known also as the Duchess of Grant Park, is an actress, producer/filmmaker, and writer based in Atlanta, Georgia. Davis is a fervent advocate for trans and queer representation, particularly emphasizing the importance of inclusion for Black, brown, and beige minorities. In pursuit of this vision, she founded Studio Vosges in 2019, a production company dedicated to amplifying underrepresented voices.
Kyle Benjamin Miller (Director of Photography): Kyle Benjamin Miller is a filmmaker and cinematographer with a passion and eye for making the imaginary reality. Kyle is known for Nymphs on Granite Rock (2023), Amma (2024) and Milo's short The Lonesome Pony (2023). His recent projects as producer and DP have screened in Toronto, New York, Atlanta, and Australia.
Scott Youngblood (Gaffer, Editor): Scott is a multimedia professional with more than 15 years of experience developing engaging content tailored for diverse industries and audiences. Passionate about storytelling and committed to helping businesses grow through high-quality, impactful multimedia solutions and strategies. Skilled in project management, with a strong ability to collaborate across teams, and quickly adapt to emerging trends and technology.