Free Bird
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania | Film Short
Drama, Family
Written by Kristen Phaneuf as a way to articulate the complexity of life changes, FREE BIRD exudes empathy for the millennial dilemma through a feminine perspective. This story is a contemplation of the heartache desire causes and how hard it is to feel proud of the life you’ve chosen.
Free Bird
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania | Film Short
Drama, Family
1 Campaigns | California, United States
Green Light
This campaign raised $17,846 for production. Follow the filmmaker to receive future updates on this project.
83 supporters | followers
Enter the amount you would like to pledge
Written by Kristen Phaneuf as a way to articulate the complexity of life changes, FREE BIRD exudes empathy for the millennial dilemma through a feminine perspective. This story is a contemplation of the heartache desire causes and how hard it is to feel proud of the life you’ve chosen.
About The Project
- The Story
- Wishlist
- Updates
- The Team
- Community
Mission Statement
The Story
Life is full of choices. The ones you make, the ones you avoid.
FREE BIRD follows a millennial woman as she approaches her 30s and experiences a second coming-of-age, navigating the changing expectations she has for herself.
People are getting married? Having babies? Buying houses? If you’re not doing any of that….can you still love your life?
And if you want some of those things....can you make the right choices? Can anyone have it all?
Inspired by the malaise of life in your late 20s and the angst of not being good enough, this story is an expression and contemplation of the heartache caused by desire and how hard it is to feel proud of the life you’ve chosen.
Promising Young Woman
Synopsis
The short narrative follows Kate, a creative spirit driven by passion for her community and career, as she reckons her current patchwork life with the comfort of the stable life her sister has chosen. She witnesses the people in her life actively making choices--getting married, taking spur of the moment trips, moving cities--while she revels in the simple parts of her life. She lives for the mundane things like cuddling with her dog, watching reality tv with her beloved Michael, drinking wine with her friends. As she crosses the threshold of the city to the suburbs to attend her sister's baby shower, Kate finds herself comparing the house, the marriage, the family with her own joy of running a cafe, relaxing with her boyfriend, laughing with her friends. She thrives in the movement of her city, Philadelphia, but feels at peace in the Bucks County suburbs. She feels the warmth and cringe of her extended family, while cherishing the ease of her chosen family. She yearns for something, she yearns to have it all.
Why Does This Story Matter?
Because women's stories matter. Millennial stories matter. Coming-of-age stories matter. Seeing your life on the screen allows you to feel less alone and build empathy for yourself and others.
Writer Kristen Phaneuf says about this script:
"I've always felt a little unsure of myself. I love so many things and feel so fearful of making the wrong life decisions. But is it wrong to choose to start a business? Or have a baby? Or buy a house? Or....not? I often find myself paralyzed by the options, and found that as I discussed this fear with friends, it was a common theme among women my age. This transition from your 20s to your 30s is so weird, and because I've personally taken an unconventional path, I feel the need to justify my choices with results. Sometimes I simply have nothing to show, and yet I thoroughly enjoy my life. There are nights I sit on the couch with my partner watching a movie, cuddling my dog, drinking a glass of wine and think "wow. this is it. I've made it. heaven." And then I hold my friend's baby on a porch swing at her house and think, "wow. this is it. I want this. heaven." And both feelings can exist at the same time.
This story is important to me because it feels so profoundly relatable at this moment in time. As we've done readings and workshopped the script, I've been amazed at the connection this simple piece creates among viewers, and how present the sense of yearning is in both the words on the page and the experience of the story."
Top: Normal People, Middle: Fleabag, Bottom: Sightseers
Why Tell This Story Now?
Set in the here & now, this story amplifies the conflict millennials are facing both socially and intrapersonally. The way we enter and maintain relationships has changed. The way we work has changed. The way we have families and choose the people around us has changed. This story captures the swept away feeling of the mundane and is a direct result of this moment in time.
Top: Normal People, Middle: Drive My Car, Bottom: Philadelphia Inquirer
About the Making of this Project!
Location
We are filming this short in both Philadelphia and Bucks County, Pennsylvania. We are thrilled to be returning to our hometown to capture the mood and atmosphere of the city and suburb.
Cast & Crew
This project will feature crew and actors from Los Angeles and Philadelphia. We will be flying our director, cinematographer, producers, and writer from Los Angeles to Philadelphia. We are casting and hiring crew out of Philadelphia and New York.
The Elements
There are many fun challenges with this story. We are working with a dog! There is a family baby shower featuring kids, parents, and grandparents! We will be capturing the heart of Philadelphia and driving from the suburbs into the city. This project is ambitious, but we are eager to capture the full reality of this story and believe it will be both beautiful and impactful.
Top: Marriage Story, Middle: The Last Year of Darkness, Bottom: The Big Sick
The Need
We need your help to make this film a reality. This is one of our first ventures as the fully formed production company Pretty Penny Media LLC, and we intend to make the best project possible. This includes renting equipment, paying for travel, and taking care of our crew.
Your contribution will not only help fund this poignant story, but it will also assure that the incredible professionals giving of their time and talents to shoot with us are getting paid for their hard work!
We are currently in the midst of pre-production. We have completed our location scouting trip to Philadelphia and have secured all of the necessary filming locations. (Yay!)
This fundraiser will run until the middle of October, during which we’ll still be hard at work finalizing, casting, and hiring the remainder of our crew positions, filling out necessary paperwork, shot-listing, and finalizing our gear rentals.
Budget
Crew: to hire the creative and qualified people to bring the story to life. This rate covers a 5-day shoot for our skeleton crew. We are working with the minimum number of people to make this film excellent, and are proud to hire both Philadelphians and Angelenos that excel in their craft.
Cast: to pay our incredible talent for their skills. We are proud to utilize SAG-AFTRA union talent and fairly compensate artists for their work. These funds go to daily rates for a 5-day shoot for our cast.
Equipment: We will be renting our camera, lighting, and sound equipment from Philadelphia rental houses. This also covers wardrobe, hair, and makeup expenses. While this is a challenging part of the process, we intend to make the most of what we can afford!
Locations and Travel: We will be filming in a Philadelphia coffee shop, apartment, and a Bucks County home. These funds will go toward flight costs for the crew members that are flying to the East Coast and their lodgings, along with our film locations.
Production Expenses: Everything else! We need to feed our cast and crew, transport people, and essentially make a safe and effective set for everybody involved.
The second weekend in November, we will travel to the East Coast and begin filming in Philadelphia and Bucks County. We are fitting this ambitious shoot into 5 very busy days. This is the most intense and most fun part of the process, the part we prep for months to reach.
After filming is complete, we’ll start the work on post-production and the true life of the film. This film will be a perfect representation of the kinds of interpersonal and relational storytelling that we at Pretty Penny love to explore. As we submit the film to festivals around the country, especially in Los Angeles and Philadelphia, our hope is to further our creative voice and brand as we seek to grow our company into a successful media company that will continue to make and produce valuable and relatable work.
While the film will be shown in festivals, we’ll be able to share the finished project with you, our backers, through an exclusive link, or during one of our two exclusive premieres, one in Los Angeles, and one in Philadelphia!
Top: Once Upon a Time in Hollywood, Middle: Tag, Bottom: Normal People
The Team
This is one of our first ventures as the fully formed PRETTY PENNY MEDIA LLC!
We are so excited to kick off our company's first year with this project that is so dear to our hearts. We believe this film is an expression of the values of Pretty Penny Media, and intend for it to be a representation of the work we make.
Pretty Penny Media became an LLC in 2024. This is our first venture as a fully formed company, although we have been working as a creative team for many years. Jeff was in the first play Kristen directed in 2015! Zach and Kristen wrote their first play together in 2016. Since our college days, we've inspired each other, pushed each other, and made great art together. Since we all landed in Los Angeles in 2019, we've collaborated on films (We'll Find A Way- Nominee Best Actress and Woman Filmmaker of the Year, The Grievance, The Roommate, Teacher's Lounge), and produced other creative ventures. Our original play US AND YOU premiered at the 2022 Hollywood Fringe Festival directed by Zach and starring Jeff & Kristen, and the Phaneufs currently host a podcast about the Oscars called Thank The Academy.
As a company, we consider ourselves an artists collective focused on making relatable work exploring life's highest highs and lowest lows. We are passionate about stories that investigate our personal experience, foster empathy, and feed our creative hunger.
You can learn more about our work and projects here: https://www.prettypennymedia.com/
Top: Sunshine Cleaning, Middle: To All The Boys I Loved Before P.S. I Still Love You, Bottom: The White Lotus
Help us spread the word!
While your financial support is so important to us, there are many other ways you help make this film a reality. Share this page on your own social media. Tell your friends, coworkers, or others you know who might be interested in contributing to our fundraiser about the project!
Feel free to copy and paste the social media message below:
Join me in supporting FREE BIRD, a short film by @prettypennymedia !
And follow along here:
www.instagram.com/freebird.shortfilm
www.instagram.com/prettypennymedia
www.facebook.com/prettypennymedia
Thank you so much for your contribution!
Your support makes this film possible!
Wishlist
Use the WishList to Pledge cash and Loan items - or - Make a pledge by selecting an Incentive directly.
Gear
Costs $1,500
Movie magic happens through the great gear! This will help us create a film with the best production value we can muster!
Feed the Cast & Crew
Costs $500
We will be filming over 5 days, and need to keep our cast and crew fed! We will utilize local catering (we're coming for you, Wawa!)
Craft Services
Costs $200
Aka "crafty"- the snacks, coffee, and sustenance that keeps us going during long hours. Help us stay hydrated and nourished!
Flights
Costs $1,300
We're flying our writer, director, cinematographer, and producers from Los Angeles to Philadelphia. This covers the cost of plane tickets.
Sponsor the Cast!
Costs $3,000
Want to cover the cost of our whole cost? This covers our actors over a 5-day shoot.
Sponsor the Crew!
Costs $12,000
This is the biggest expense of our shoot- paying our creative and qualified crew to make this incredible story possible.
Pre-Production
Costs $1,000
This covers the cost of our Location Scouting trip, fundraising expenses, and prep time
Art, Hair, and Makeup
Costs $500
To cover the expenses of a baby shower set up, costumes, and makeup
Share this update!
About This Team
Meet The Team Behind Free Bird
Pretty Penny Media became an LLC in 2024. This is our first venture as a fully formed company, although we have been working as a creative team for many years. Jeff was in the first play Kristen directed in 2015! Zach and Kristen wrote their first play together in 2016. Since our college days, we've inspired each other, pushed each other, and made great art together. Since we all landed in Los Angeles in 2019, we've collaborated on films (We'll Find A Way- Nominee Best Actress and Woman Filmmaker of the Year, The Grievance, The Roommate, Teacher's Lounge), and produced other creative ventures. Our original play US AND YOU premiered at the 2022 Hollywood Fringe Festival directed by Zach and starring Jeff & Kristen, and the Phaneufs currently host a podcast about the Oscars called Thank The Academy.
As a company, we consider ourselves an artists collective focused on making relatable work exploring life's highest highs and lowest lows. We are passionate about stories that investigate our personal experience, foster empathy, and feed our creative hunger.
You can learn more about our work and projects here: https://www.prettypennymedia.com/
Kristen Phaneuf
Writer, Actress, Producer
Pretty Penny Media / SAG-AFTRA
Kristen Phaneuf is an actor, writer, and producer originally from Philadelphia. She has been acting as long as she can remember, some of her first memories are writing plays and forcing her sisters and friends to act them out. She discovered her passion for film after starring in the independent feature film KINGS from Jambalaya Productions. Shortly after, she appeared in the AMC series Dispatches From Elsewhere, and wanted to make the full transition to film and television. After three years in the Philadelphia theatre scene working with companies like The Arden, Philadelphia Artists Collective, The Philadelphia Theatre Company, Resident Theatre Company and others, she made the move with her husband Zach and puppy Penny to Los Angeles. Since living in Los Angeles, she has appeared on the Disney Channel (ZOMBIES Z-CAP), both joined SAG-AFTRA and was a captain during the 2023 strike, and has studied at The Last Acting Studio with Desean Terry and at Groundlings. She is a founding member of Pretty Penny Media and was recently nominated for Best Actress and Woman Filmmaker of the Year by WIF for the short film We'll Find A Way. She and her husband wrote the full length play US & You which premiered at the Hollywood Fringe, and she continues to help write, produce, and act in the Los Angeles and Philadelphia markets. Outside of her creative pursuits, she leads three different book clubs, hosts a podcast with her husband called Thank The Academy about the history of the Oscars, and loves spending time watching movies with her two pups Penny and Bosley.
Zach Phaneuf
Director
Pretty Penny Media
Zach Phaneuf is a writer, director, and scenic specialist from Northern Virginia. His favorite movies are dark comedies about emotional men, he likes eating chicken wings, and wishes he could’ve been a professional football player. His work as a painter can be seen on the current seasons of The Food That Built America and The Mega-Brands that Built America on The History Channel. He has worked on over 100 theater productions at many theaters around the country including Quintessence Theatre in Philadelphia, Antaeus and IAMA Theaters in Los Angeles, and with StarKid Productions on Nerdy Prudes Must Die and Cinderella’s Castle. Directing credits include the plays The Odd Couple, Little Shop of Horrors, Lemon Shaker Pie, and Us and You, as well as the Pretty Penny short film We’ll Find A Way. He is also one-half of the podcast Thank The Academy where he and his wife Kristen talk about every Academy Awards’ Best Picture winning film.
Jeff Goins
Producer
Pretty Penny Media / SAG-AFTRA
Jeff Goins is an actor, director, writer, and producer from a very small town outside of Chicago. After earning a larger scholarship for theater than football, he ended up with an MFA in Acting and making his way to Los Angeles. His acting work can be seen in the movie Imperium alongside Daniel Radcliffe and as a series regular for the military veteran streaming service VET-TV. Jeff has also had a hand in writing and producing several short films. Most recently, he directed the horror short, The Grievance. When he is not involved in film, he enjoys acting in plays around LA, building sets alongside Zach Phaneuf, and taking his motorcycle out for a spin.
Leonard P. Walsh II
Cinematographer / IATSE
Leonard Walsh is an award winning cinematographer with over 15 years of experience in the film industry. In 2022 he was chosen by the International Cinematographers Guild as an honoree for the Emerging Cinematographer Awards for his work on the short film, KINGSNAKE. His experience ranges from feature films, documentaries, commercials and music videos. In 2019 he shot his first feature film titled Bruiser. Recently, Leonard was the second unit director of photography on the feature film Black Spines, set to release in 2024. Much of Leonard’s work has been accepted into many film festivals in the US and internationally.
Beth Goins
Script Supervisor, Producer
Pretty Penny Media
Beth Goins is a proofreader, editor, and script supervisor from the Chicago suburbs. She provides valuable feedback during the final stages of writing, including novel and play manuscripts, thesis papers, and dissertations, and she does not hesitate to resolve story inconsistencies and prevent continuity issues. Beth has supported her talented husband, Jeff, in many film and theatre endeavors. She is not professionally involved in the film industry, but she has seen over 240 of them. She regularly quotes obscure lines from movies and tv, cheesy '90s rom-coms are her favorite genre, and she prefers to stay home with her two cats Rory and Jessie.
Spencer Drees
Producer
Spencer Drees is a producer, director, and overall creative hailing from Cincinnati, Ohio. Spencer discovered his passion for storytelling at an early age, which has grown into a decade-long career in the film and television industry. He has contributed to projects for major studios including Disney, Paramount, 20th Century Studios, Hulu, and Netflix. Currently, Spencer works at Universal Pictures under the Universal Monsters franchise, where he is part of a small, talented team alongside Vice President Holly Goline and the legendary concept and creature designer, Crash McCreery. Outside of his full-time role at Universal, Spencer loves to actively collaborate with fellow creatives, showcasing his talents in producing, directing, photography, and editing. With his independent endeavors, Spencer has produced four award-winning shorts with overall budgets between $25k-$35k and in 2024, he produced his first internationally shot short film, There’s Something I Have to Tell You. Spencer is currently based in Los Angeles but frequently traverses the nation, always looking for his next project.
Current Team
Incentives
- The Story
- Wishlist
- Updates
- The Team
- Community
Mission Statement
The Story
Life is full of choices. The ones you make, the ones you avoid.
FREE BIRD follows a millennial woman as she approaches her 30s and experiences a second coming-of-age, navigating the changing expectations she has for herself.
People are getting married? Having babies? Buying houses? If you’re not doing any of that….can you still love your life?
And if you want some of those things....can you make the right choices? Can anyone have it all?
Inspired by the malaise of life in your late 20s and the angst of not being good enough, this story is an expression and contemplation of the heartache caused by desire and how hard it is to feel proud of the life you’ve chosen.
Promising Young Woman
Synopsis
The short narrative follows Kate, a creative spirit driven by passion for her community and career, as she reckons her current patchwork life with the comfort of the stable life her sister has chosen. She witnesses the people in her life actively making choices--getting married, taking spur of the moment trips, moving cities--while she revels in the simple parts of her life. She lives for the mundane things like cuddling with her dog, watching reality tv with her beloved Michael, drinking wine with her friends. As she crosses the threshold of the city to the suburbs to attend her sister's baby shower, Kate finds herself comparing the house, the marriage, the family with her own joy of running a cafe, relaxing with her boyfriend, laughing with her friends. She thrives in the movement of her city, Philadelphia, but feels at peace in the Bucks County suburbs. She feels the warmth and cringe of her extended family, while cherishing the ease of her chosen family. She yearns for something, she yearns to have it all.
Why Does This Story Matter?
Because women's stories matter. Millennial stories matter. Coming-of-age stories matter. Seeing your life on the screen allows you to feel less alone and build empathy for yourself and others.
Writer Kristen Phaneuf says about this script:
"I've always felt a little unsure of myself. I love so many things and feel so fearful of making the wrong life decisions. But is it wrong to choose to start a business? Or have a baby? Or buy a house? Or....not? I often find myself paralyzed by the options, and found that as I discussed this fear with friends, it was a common theme among women my age. This transition from your 20s to your 30s is so weird, and because I've personally taken an unconventional path, I feel the need to justify my choices with results. Sometimes I simply have nothing to show, and yet I thoroughly enjoy my life. There are nights I sit on the couch with my partner watching a movie, cuddling my dog, drinking a glass of wine and think "wow. this is it. I've made it. heaven." And then I hold my friend's baby on a porch swing at her house and think, "wow. this is it. I want this. heaven." And both feelings can exist at the same time.
This story is important to me because it feels so profoundly relatable at this moment in time. As we've done readings and workshopped the script, I've been amazed at the connection this simple piece creates among viewers, and how present the sense of yearning is in both the words on the page and the experience of the story."
Top: Normal People, Middle: Fleabag, Bottom: Sightseers
Why Tell This Story Now?
Set in the here & now, this story amplifies the conflict millennials are facing both socially and intrapersonally. The way we enter and maintain relationships has changed. The way we work has changed. The way we have families and choose the people around us has changed. This story captures the swept away feeling of the mundane and is a direct result of this moment in time.
Top: Normal People, Middle: Drive My Car, Bottom: Philadelphia Inquirer
About the Making of this Project!
Location
We are filming this short in both Philadelphia and Bucks County, Pennsylvania. We are thrilled to be returning to our hometown to capture the mood and atmosphere of the city and suburb.
Cast & Crew
This project will feature crew and actors from Los Angeles and Philadelphia. We will be flying our director, cinematographer, producers, and writer from Los Angeles to Philadelphia. We are casting and hiring crew out of Philadelphia and New York.
The Elements
There are many fun challenges with this story. We are working with a dog! There is a family baby shower featuring kids, parents, and grandparents! We will be capturing the heart of Philadelphia and driving from the suburbs into the city. This project is ambitious, but we are eager to capture the full reality of this story and believe it will be both beautiful and impactful.
Top: Marriage Story, Middle: The Last Year of Darkness, Bottom: The Big Sick
The Need
We need your help to make this film a reality. This is one of our first ventures as the fully formed production company Pretty Penny Media LLC, and we intend to make the best project possible. This includes renting equipment, paying for travel, and taking care of our crew.
Your contribution will not only help fund this poignant story, but it will also assure that the incredible professionals giving of their time and talents to shoot with us are getting paid for their hard work!
We are currently in the midst of pre-production. We have completed our location scouting trip to Philadelphia and have secured all of the necessary filming locations. (Yay!)
This fundraiser will run until the middle of October, during which we’ll still be hard at work finalizing, casting, and hiring the remainder of our crew positions, filling out necessary paperwork, shot-listing, and finalizing our gear rentals.
Budget
Crew: to hire the creative and qualified people to bring the story to life. This rate covers a 5-day shoot for our skeleton crew. We are working with the minimum number of people to make this film excellent, and are proud to hire both Philadelphians and Angelenos that excel in their craft.
Cast: to pay our incredible talent for their skills. We are proud to utilize SAG-AFTRA union talent and fairly compensate artists for their work. These funds go to daily rates for a 5-day shoot for our cast.
Equipment: We will be renting our camera, lighting, and sound equipment from Philadelphia rental houses. This also covers wardrobe, hair, and makeup expenses. While this is a challenging part of the process, we intend to make the most of what we can afford!
Locations and Travel: We will be filming in a Philadelphia coffee shop, apartment, and a Bucks County home. These funds will go toward flight costs for the crew members that are flying to the East Coast and their lodgings, along with our film locations.
Production Expenses: Everything else! We need to feed our cast and crew, transport people, and essentially make a safe and effective set for everybody involved.
The second weekend in November, we will travel to the East Coast and begin filming in Philadelphia and Bucks County. We are fitting this ambitious shoot into 5 very busy days. This is the most intense and most fun part of the process, the part we prep for months to reach.
After filming is complete, we’ll start the work on post-production and the true life of the film. This film will be a perfect representation of the kinds of interpersonal and relational storytelling that we at Pretty Penny love to explore. As we submit the film to festivals around the country, especially in Los Angeles and Philadelphia, our hope is to further our creative voice and brand as we seek to grow our company into a successful media company that will continue to make and produce valuable and relatable work.
While the film will be shown in festivals, we’ll be able to share the finished project with you, our backers, through an exclusive link, or during one of our two exclusive premieres, one in Los Angeles, and one in Philadelphia!
Top: Once Upon a Time in Hollywood, Middle: Tag, Bottom: Normal People
The Team
This is one of our first ventures as the fully formed PRETTY PENNY MEDIA LLC!
We are so excited to kick off our company's first year with this project that is so dear to our hearts. We believe this film is an expression of the values of Pretty Penny Media, and intend for it to be a representation of the work we make.
Pretty Penny Media became an LLC in 2024. This is our first venture as a fully formed company, although we have been working as a creative team for many years. Jeff was in the first play Kristen directed in 2015! Zach and Kristen wrote their first play together in 2016. Since our college days, we've inspired each other, pushed each other, and made great art together. Since we all landed in Los Angeles in 2019, we've collaborated on films (We'll Find A Way- Nominee Best Actress and Woman Filmmaker of the Year, The Grievance, The Roommate, Teacher's Lounge), and produced other creative ventures. Our original play US AND YOU premiered at the 2022 Hollywood Fringe Festival directed by Zach and starring Jeff & Kristen, and the Phaneufs currently host a podcast about the Oscars called Thank The Academy.
As a company, we consider ourselves an artists collective focused on making relatable work exploring life's highest highs and lowest lows. We are passionate about stories that investigate our personal experience, foster empathy, and feed our creative hunger.
You can learn more about our work and projects here: https://www.prettypennymedia.com/
Top: Sunshine Cleaning, Middle: To All The Boys I Loved Before P.S. I Still Love You, Bottom: The White Lotus
Help us spread the word!
While your financial support is so important to us, there are many other ways you help make this film a reality. Share this page on your own social media. Tell your friends, coworkers, or others you know who might be interested in contributing to our fundraiser about the project!
Feel free to copy and paste the social media message below:
Join me in supporting FREE BIRD, a short film by @prettypennymedia !
And follow along here:
www.instagram.com/freebird.shortfilm
www.instagram.com/prettypennymedia
www.facebook.com/prettypennymedia
Thank you so much for your contribution!
Your support makes this film possible!
Wishlist
Use the WishList to Pledge cash and Loan items - or - Make a pledge by selecting an Incentive directly.
Gear
Costs $1,500
Movie magic happens through the great gear! This will help us create a film with the best production value we can muster!
Feed the Cast & Crew
Costs $500
We will be filming over 5 days, and need to keep our cast and crew fed! We will utilize local catering (we're coming for you, Wawa!)
Craft Services
Costs $200
Aka "crafty"- the snacks, coffee, and sustenance that keeps us going during long hours. Help us stay hydrated and nourished!
Flights
Costs $1,300
We're flying our writer, director, cinematographer, and producers from Los Angeles to Philadelphia. This covers the cost of plane tickets.
Sponsor the Cast!
Costs $3,000
Want to cover the cost of our whole cost? This covers our actors over a 5-day shoot.
Sponsor the Crew!
Costs $12,000
This is the biggest expense of our shoot- paying our creative and qualified crew to make this incredible story possible.
Pre-Production
Costs $1,000
This covers the cost of our Location Scouting trip, fundraising expenses, and prep time
Art, Hair, and Makeup
Costs $500
To cover the expenses of a baby shower set up, costumes, and makeup
Share this update!
About This Team
Meet The Team Behind Free Bird
Pretty Penny Media became an LLC in 2024. This is our first venture as a fully formed company, although we have been working as a creative team for many years. Jeff was in the first play Kristen directed in 2015! Zach and Kristen wrote their first play together in 2016. Since our college days, we've inspired each other, pushed each other, and made great art together. Since we all landed in Los Angeles in 2019, we've collaborated on films (We'll Find A Way- Nominee Best Actress and Woman Filmmaker of the Year, The Grievance, The Roommate, Teacher's Lounge), and produced other creative ventures. Our original play US AND YOU premiered at the 2022 Hollywood Fringe Festival directed by Zach and starring Jeff & Kristen, and the Phaneufs currently host a podcast about the Oscars called Thank The Academy.
As a company, we consider ourselves an artists collective focused on making relatable work exploring life's highest highs and lowest lows. We are passionate about stories that investigate our personal experience, foster empathy, and feed our creative hunger.
You can learn more about our work and projects here: https://www.prettypennymedia.com/
Kristen Phaneuf
Writer, Actress, Producer
Pretty Penny Media / SAG-AFTRA
Kristen Phaneuf is an actor, writer, and producer originally from Philadelphia. She has been acting as long as she can remember, some of her first memories are writing plays and forcing her sisters and friends to act them out. She discovered her passion for film after starring in the independent feature film KINGS from Jambalaya Productions. Shortly after, she appeared in the AMC series Dispatches From Elsewhere, and wanted to make the full transition to film and television. After three years in the Philadelphia theatre scene working with companies like The Arden, Philadelphia Artists Collective, The Philadelphia Theatre Company, Resident Theatre Company and others, she made the move with her husband Zach and puppy Penny to Los Angeles. Since living in Los Angeles, she has appeared on the Disney Channel (ZOMBIES Z-CAP), both joined SAG-AFTRA and was a captain during the 2023 strike, and has studied at The Last Acting Studio with Desean Terry and at Groundlings. She is a founding member of Pretty Penny Media and was recently nominated for Best Actress and Woman Filmmaker of the Year by WIF for the short film We'll Find A Way. She and her husband wrote the full length play US & You which premiered at the Hollywood Fringe, and she continues to help write, produce, and act in the Los Angeles and Philadelphia markets. Outside of her creative pursuits, she leads three different book clubs, hosts a podcast with her husband called Thank The Academy about the history of the Oscars, and loves spending time watching movies with her two pups Penny and Bosley.
Zach Phaneuf
Director
Pretty Penny Media
Zach Phaneuf is a writer, director, and scenic specialist from Northern Virginia. His favorite movies are dark comedies about emotional men, he likes eating chicken wings, and wishes he could’ve been a professional football player. His work as a painter can be seen on the current seasons of The Food That Built America and The Mega-Brands that Built America on The History Channel. He has worked on over 100 theater productions at many theaters around the country including Quintessence Theatre in Philadelphia, Antaeus and IAMA Theaters in Los Angeles, and with StarKid Productions on Nerdy Prudes Must Die and Cinderella’s Castle. Directing credits include the plays The Odd Couple, Little Shop of Horrors, Lemon Shaker Pie, and Us and You, as well as the Pretty Penny short film We’ll Find A Way. He is also one-half of the podcast Thank The Academy where he and his wife Kristen talk about every Academy Awards’ Best Picture winning film.
Jeff Goins
Producer
Pretty Penny Media / SAG-AFTRA
Jeff Goins is an actor, director, writer, and producer from a very small town outside of Chicago. After earning a larger scholarship for theater than football, he ended up with an MFA in Acting and making his way to Los Angeles. His acting work can be seen in the movie Imperium alongside Daniel Radcliffe and as a series regular for the military veteran streaming service VET-TV. Jeff has also had a hand in writing and producing several short films. Most recently, he directed the horror short, The Grievance. When he is not involved in film, he enjoys acting in plays around LA, building sets alongside Zach Phaneuf, and taking his motorcycle out for a spin.
Leonard P. Walsh II
Cinematographer / IATSE
Leonard Walsh is an award winning cinematographer with over 15 years of experience in the film industry. In 2022 he was chosen by the International Cinematographers Guild as an honoree for the Emerging Cinematographer Awards for his work on the short film, KINGSNAKE. His experience ranges from feature films, documentaries, commercials and music videos. In 2019 he shot his first feature film titled Bruiser. Recently, Leonard was the second unit director of photography on the feature film Black Spines, set to release in 2024. Much of Leonard’s work has been accepted into many film festivals in the US and internationally.
Beth Goins
Script Supervisor, Producer
Pretty Penny Media
Beth Goins is a proofreader, editor, and script supervisor from the Chicago suburbs. She provides valuable feedback during the final stages of writing, including novel and play manuscripts, thesis papers, and dissertations, and she does not hesitate to resolve story inconsistencies and prevent continuity issues. Beth has supported her talented husband, Jeff, in many film and theatre endeavors. She is not professionally involved in the film industry, but she has seen over 240 of them. She regularly quotes obscure lines from movies and tv, cheesy '90s rom-coms are her favorite genre, and she prefers to stay home with her two cats Rory and Jessie.
Spencer Drees
Producer
Spencer Drees is a producer, director, and overall creative hailing from Cincinnati, Ohio. Spencer discovered his passion for storytelling at an early age, which has grown into a decade-long career in the film and television industry. He has contributed to projects for major studios including Disney, Paramount, 20th Century Studios, Hulu, and Netflix. Currently, Spencer works at Universal Pictures under the Universal Monsters franchise, where he is part of a small, talented team alongside Vice President Holly Goline and the legendary concept and creature designer, Crash McCreery. Outside of his full-time role at Universal, Spencer loves to actively collaborate with fellow creatives, showcasing his talents in producing, directing, photography, and editing. With his independent endeavors, Spencer has produced four award-winning shorts with overall budgets between $25k-$35k and in 2024, he produced his first internationally shot short film, There’s Something I Have to Tell You. Spencer is currently based in Los Angeles but frequently traverses the nation, always looking for his next project.