Why This? Why Now?

This is a film about grief after the suicide of a loved one. Society seems to be losing its fear when it comes to talking about depression, mental illness and suicide. Though the films that cover the sorrow of grief are necessary and many, we want to make a film that highlights the weirdness of letting go. 

Here are some similar examples of tone:

A dark comedy, you say?

We as filmmakers think laughing about something -- or the things grief makes us do -- allows us to come to grips with its complexities. Dramas always have their place in the discussions about art and grief, but we want to add to the landscape that examines how nonsensical the process of mourning can be.

Suicide is the 10th leading cause of death in the US. We all know someone whose life has been touched by suicide. Or we know someone who knows someone. By contributing you can be a small part in creating healing for those of us left behind. 

A Winning Team 

Our team has won over 40 awards combined! That's outside of the recognition that Hangman has already received at script festivals.

Sarah Rodenbaugh is an award-winning actor and writer who received an acting scholarship to The New York Film Academy. Quitting her job as a television producer, she decided to move to Los Angeles to be a comedic actor. Since then she’s appeared in many commercials and has created acclaimed web content. This includes her webseries BROS, countless sketch and improv shows all over the country including Straitjacket Society (Winner of Funny Women Festival Los Angeles), The Groundlings and Upright Citizens Brigade. Sarah has a special ability to create stories in ways that are both funny and poignant.

Kelsey is an award-winning screenwriter and accomplished producer. She produced (as well as co-wrote and co-starred) in the webseries OVER EASY which was picked up by DB&A Television and aired on Roku. She co-wrote the feature film Unearth which is currently available on Amazon Prime, Hulu, and Showtime. She is a producer on two Roddenberry Podcast Network Podcasts, Fanaddicts with hosts Clare Kramer (Buffy, Bring it On) and David Magidoff (The Morning Show, Dexter: New Blood) and Quoting Gene Roddenberry which is hosted by Rachel True (The Craft) and Trent Vanegas (Pink is the New Blog). 

Megan is a director who is known for her ability to work fluidly with talent, while never losing sight of story. She earned her MFA in Acting at the A.R.T. at Harvard University, which included a residency at the Moscow Art Theatre in Russia. She trained at UCB Theater and directs content for Funny Or Die (her videos amassed more than 20 million views and ROMPER is the most watched FoD video to date).Megan’s short films EVERYBODY DOES IT and BUTTERCUP have earned awards including Audience Choice, Best Comedy, and Best Narrative Short. BUTTERCUP was selected to be part of a nine-film tour of the US and Canada and went on to be one of only five films selected to screen in Beijing.

Kevin Schlanser is an award-winning filmmaker and cinematographer. His film The Ataxian won Best Documentary at Dances With Films, Newport Beach International, and the Sedona International Film Festival. He has shot independent features, commercials and music videos for clients including the San Francisco and New York City Ballet. He has also shot shorts for Funny or Die. Kevin loves using the camera to help tell the story at hand in the most succinct, intuitive and powerful way possible.

Alexander is a writer, artist and producer living in Los Angeles. His writing has appeared in the Los Angeles Review of Books, Jacobin, Salvage, among others. He is an editor at Locust Review and a producer of its podcast Locust Radio. He is excited to bring the perspective he's gained in his decades-long career as an art critic to practical use. A return to his roots as a theater-kid, he is embracing a new style of story telling and putting the organizational skills he gained running multiple publications to use in the film world. 

#WeHaventHadAvocadoToastInTwoYears

Short films don’t make money. What shorts CAN do is help push boundaries by allowing filmmakers to experiment on low budget projects. They allow for more intimate, personal stories to be told. It allows us to approach a daring and sometimes scary subject matter to show audiences that grief can be approached from all angles.

A lot goes into making a movie and your support allows us to do that.

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The only way to reach our goal is to reach beyond our network.

Whether it's $10 or $1000 or somewhere in between, your contribution will go directly toward making this dream come to life.

That means making sure we can pay our crew, use quality equipment and book stellar locations to make sure this film looks and sounds like the award-winning film it will be. Then we're off to the festivals! 

Oh. And food. Duh. Nomnomnom. 

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Feel free to copy and paste any of the following:

Help filmmaker @sarahrodenbaugh by supporting her heartfelt film HANGMAN about a woman who loses her husband to suicide and struggles navigating the stages of grief.  Join her at www.hangmanfilm.com.

I just contributed to HANGMAN, starring @sarahrodenbaugh and directed by @meganbrotherton and WOW, you've got to support this short film about grief.  Join them at www.hangmanfilm.com.

I'm so excited to support the short film HANGMAN, starring and co-written by @sarahrodenbaugh and produced by @kelseygoldberg. Join me in supporting female filmmakers and mental health awareness at www.hangmanfilm.com. 

Your generosity and support means the world to all of us creative female filmmakers. We want to thank you for all your help, especially during a pandemic where we can offer jobs to filmmakers. Check out the perks!