Hellbent Lonesome Film
Cody, Wyoming | Film Short
Western, Drama
Hellbent Lonesome reimagines the Western through the eyes of a woman fighting to preserve her family's ranch and identity. By supporting this project, you're helping emerging filmmakers tell an authentic story about resilience, legacy, and women redefining the modern West.
37 supporters | followers
Enter the amount you would like to pledge
$5,525
Goal: $6,000 for production
Hellbent Lonesome reimagines the Western through the eyes of a woman fighting to preserve her family's ranch and identity. By supporting this project, you're helping emerging filmmakers tell an authentic story about resilience, legacy, and women redefining the modern West.
About The Project
- The Story
- Wishlist
- Updates
- The Team
- Community
Mission Statement
The Story
Hellbent Lonesome
A Short Film
Written & Directed by Libby Nook
Produced by Phoebe Wrycha
The Story
In the contemporary American West, a fiercely independent young woman returns to her struggling family ranch, where mounting financial pressure forces her to confront what it means to preserve a legacy that may no longer survive.
As she fights to keep her family's way of life alive, she must redefine her understanding of resilience, independence, and womanhood in a landscape that has long been shaped by expectations she never chose.
Hellbent Lonesome is a female-centered neo-Western that explores isolation, identity, family legacy, and the strength required to build a life on your own terms.
Combining the vast cinematic landscapes of the American West with an intimate emotional perspective, the film challenges traditional portrayals of women in Western stories and asks: What does strength look like when no one is watching?
Why This Story Matters
For generations, Western stories have celebrated cowboys, rugged masculinity, and individual freedom. Women have often been relegated to the margins, appearing as damsels in distress, virtuous wives, or saloon girls.
But the women I met while working on a ranch in Cody, Wyoming told a different story.
For three summers, I worked alongside women who were resilient, complicated, fiercely independent, and deeply connected to the land they called home. Their experiences rarely resembled the women I had seen represented in Western films.
Hellbent Lonesome was born from my desire to tell a Western story that feels honest to those women.
As a student filmmaker studying Radio/Television/Film and Creative Writing at Northwestern University, I wanted to create a film that combines the cinematic scale of the neo-Western with an authentic portrayal of contemporary rural life. This project draws directly from my experiences living and working in ranch communities and reflects a world that feels lived-in, complex, and deeply human.
Why We're Raising Funds
We're thrilled to share that Hellbent Lonesome has received a Northwestern Summer Undergraduate Research Grant in support of production. This grant gave us the opportunity to begin bringing the film to life and affirmed our belief that this story deserves to be told.
To fully realize the film's vision, we are raising an additional $6,000.
Producing an independent neo-Western comes with unique challenges. Because Northwestern equipment is unavailable during summer production, equipment rentals make up a significant portion of our budget. Additionally, filming on location in rural Wyoming requires extensive travel, transportation, and lodging for our cast and crew.
Your contribution will directly support:
- Camera, lighting, and sound equipment rentals
- Travel and transportation to remote filming locations
- Lodging and meals for cast and crew
- Production design and ranch logistics
- Post-production, including sound design and color correction
- Festival submission and distribution costs
Your Impact
At its heart, Hellbent Lonesome is about women redefining what strength looks like in the modern West.
It's a story for anyone who has struggled to define themselves within systems of expectation, especially women navigating spaces traditionally dominated by men.
Independent filmmaking exists because people believe stories like these deserve to be seen. Every contribution helps us create a film that authentically represents the women and communities that inspired it while supporting emerging filmmakers telling ambitious stories on a larger scale.
The more support we receive, the more opportunities this film will have to reach audiences through festivals and beyond.
Thank you for helping us bring Hellbent Lonesome to life.
— Libby Nook
Wishlist
Use the WishList to Pledge cash and Loan items - or - Make a pledge by selecting an Incentive directly.
Camera Bundle and Lenses
Costs $3,000
Help us rent the cameras and lenses needed to capture the raw beauty and grit of Hellbent Lonesome.
Transportation & Lodging & Food
Costs $3,000
Help us get our cast and crew to Cody, Wyoming, with funds for travel, lodging, and meals during production.
Direct link:
Share this update!
About This Team
Note from the Director
I grew up surrounded by romanticized stories of the American West–stories about cowboys, rugged masculinity, and freedom. Stories where women existed only as damsels in distress, virtuous wives, or saloon girls. Those portrayals couldn’t be further from the women I met while working on a ranch in Cody, Wyoming for three summers: women who are deeply complicated, resilient, independent, and emotionally richer than any of the versions I had seen portrayed onscreen.
Hellbent Lonesome was born from my desire to tell a Western story that feels honest to those women and to the realities of contemporary rural America.
As a sophomore at Northwestern University studying Radio/Television/Film and Creative Writing, this film is deeply personal to me. Drawing from my experiences working on ranches and film productions across the country, I wanted to create a world that feels lived-in and authentic while still embracing the cinematic scale and visual language of the neo-Western genre.
— Libby Nook
Current Team
Incentives
- The Story
- Wishlist
- Updates
- The Team
- Community
Mission Statement
The Story
Hellbent Lonesome
A Short Film
Written & Directed by Libby Nook
Produced by Phoebe Wrycha
The Story
In the contemporary American West, a fiercely independent young woman returns to her struggling family ranch, where mounting financial pressure forces her to confront what it means to preserve a legacy that may no longer survive.
As she fights to keep her family's way of life alive, she must redefine her understanding of resilience, independence, and womanhood in a landscape that has long been shaped by expectations she never chose.
Hellbent Lonesome is a female-centered neo-Western that explores isolation, identity, family legacy, and the strength required to build a life on your own terms.
Combining the vast cinematic landscapes of the American West with an intimate emotional perspective, the film challenges traditional portrayals of women in Western stories and asks: What does strength look like when no one is watching?
Why This Story Matters
For generations, Western stories have celebrated cowboys, rugged masculinity, and individual freedom. Women have often been relegated to the margins, appearing as damsels in distress, virtuous wives, or saloon girls.
But the women I met while working on a ranch in Cody, Wyoming told a different story.
For three summers, I worked alongside women who were resilient, complicated, fiercely independent, and deeply connected to the land they called home. Their experiences rarely resembled the women I had seen represented in Western films.
Hellbent Lonesome was born from my desire to tell a Western story that feels honest to those women.
As a student filmmaker studying Radio/Television/Film and Creative Writing at Northwestern University, I wanted to create a film that combines the cinematic scale of the neo-Western with an authentic portrayal of contemporary rural life. This project draws directly from my experiences living and working in ranch communities and reflects a world that feels lived-in, complex, and deeply human.
Why We're Raising Funds
We're thrilled to share that Hellbent Lonesome has received a Northwestern Summer Undergraduate Research Grant in support of production. This grant gave us the opportunity to begin bringing the film to life and affirmed our belief that this story deserves to be told.
To fully realize the film's vision, we are raising an additional $6,000.
Producing an independent neo-Western comes with unique challenges. Because Northwestern equipment is unavailable during summer production, equipment rentals make up a significant portion of our budget. Additionally, filming on location in rural Wyoming requires extensive travel, transportation, and lodging for our cast and crew.
Your contribution will directly support:
- Camera, lighting, and sound equipment rentals
- Travel and transportation to remote filming locations
- Lodging and meals for cast and crew
- Production design and ranch logistics
- Post-production, including sound design and color correction
- Festival submission and distribution costs
Your Impact
At its heart, Hellbent Lonesome is about women redefining what strength looks like in the modern West.
It's a story for anyone who has struggled to define themselves within systems of expectation, especially women navigating spaces traditionally dominated by men.
Independent filmmaking exists because people believe stories like these deserve to be seen. Every contribution helps us create a film that authentically represents the women and communities that inspired it while supporting emerging filmmakers telling ambitious stories on a larger scale.
The more support we receive, the more opportunities this film will have to reach audiences through festivals and beyond.
Thank you for helping us bring Hellbent Lonesome to life.
— Libby Nook
Wishlist
Use the WishList to Pledge cash and Loan items - or - Make a pledge by selecting an Incentive directly.
Camera Bundle and Lenses
Costs $3,000
Help us rent the cameras and lenses needed to capture the raw beauty and grit of Hellbent Lonesome.
Transportation & Lodging & Food
Costs $3,000
Help us get our cast and crew to Cody, Wyoming, with funds for travel, lodging, and meals during production.
Direct link:
Share this update!
About This Team
Note from the Director
I grew up surrounded by romanticized stories of the American West–stories about cowboys, rugged masculinity, and freedom. Stories where women existed only as damsels in distress, virtuous wives, or saloon girls. Those portrayals couldn’t be further from the women I met while working on a ranch in Cody, Wyoming for three summers: women who are deeply complicated, resilient, independent, and emotionally richer than any of the versions I had seen portrayed onscreen.
Hellbent Lonesome was born from my desire to tell a Western story that feels honest to those women and to the realities of contemporary rural America.
As a sophomore at Northwestern University studying Radio/Television/Film and Creative Writing, this film is deeply personal to me. Drawing from my experiences working on ranches and film productions across the country, I wanted to create a world that feels lived-in and authentic while still embracing the cinematic scale and visual language of the neo-Western genre.
— Libby Nook