Human Telegraphs (Post-Production!)
New York City, New York | Series
Comedy
The heightened comedy of Arrested Development meets the voyeurism of High Maintenance in a quirky female-driven series that captures the magic of strangers caught in unexpected intimate collisions in NYC. We’re three visionary women on a mission to create bold & authentic female protagonists.
Human Telegraphs (Post-Production!)
New York City, New York | Series
Comedy
2 Campaigns | New York, United States
Green Light
This campaign raised $14,180 for post-production. Follow the filmmaker to receive future updates on this project.
124 supporters | followers
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The heightened comedy of Arrested Development meets the voyeurism of High Maintenance in a quirky female-driven series that captures the magic of strangers caught in unexpected intimate collisions in NYC. We’re three visionary women on a mission to create bold & authentic female protagonists.
About The Project
- The Story
- Wishlist
- Updates
- The Team
- Community
Mission Statement
The Story
We‘re Making Magic!
We are so grateful that you helped us fund our 13-day production in locations all over NYC with an incredible team of (mostly) women! (Check out their beautiful faces below.) We’re now working hard in the editing room on post-production and want you to continue being part of our story. This crowdfunder is for editing, sound, composing, animation, and all the wonderful components of post-production that will finally get the entirety of Season 1 onto a screen near you!
Why Human Telegraphs Right Now...
We feel more driven and passionate than ever about releasing Season 1. In truth, we feel a real urgency and sense of purpose behind the creation of Human Telegraphs. In today’s politically and socially divisive times, the world needs an upbeat reminder that our similarities outnumber our differences, and ultimately, we’re all connected in deep and profound ways. We’re sharing this human experience together. Our words and actions matter—they have great power—and it’s up to us to spread kindness, joy, and the message of our connectedness. If we don’t, who will?
This is a central message in Human Telegraphs and one of the reasons why we were so inspired to write this specific show concept. We hope that it inspires and blesses you and your positive impact on the world, whether it’s giving a stranger a smile today or telling a friend or family member you love them. This life is precious. Let’s live it up and love it up to the fullest!
Our Team
Our Season 1 crew right after we wrapped! From left to right...
Gaffer Li George
Swing Ellen Reed
Cinematographer Samantha Pyra
Producer/Writer/Actor Rachel Barclay
Producer/Art/Actor Fern Lim
Producer/Director/Actor Kayla Conroy
3rd Assistant Director Savannah Osborn
Sound MP Kozak
2nd Assistant Director Taylor D Martin
Script Supervisor Alia Azamat
PA Desmond Holliday
1st Assistant Director Sam Winter
PA Alexandra Rose
Wardrobe Assistant Cassidy Rose
Not pictured:
HMU Emma Elizabeth
Wardrobe Caroline Duncan
And many more amazing PAs!
Story
When New York City roommates Trisha, Margot, and Lily find themselves in a financial pickle, they open a ‘human message delivery’ businesses that has them reciting verbatim messages for customers to whomever, wherever, and in whatever style the customer chooses—even including costumes and stage directions.
With personal and uncomfortably intimate messages conveyed to strangers, the budding entrepreneurs find themselves in bizarre interactions colored by varying hues of awkward, comedic, touching, and sexy pizzazz.
Human Telegraphs offers a hilarious voyeuristic view into personal relationships of friend and stranger alike by taking viewers behind New Yorkers’ closed doors to reveal the secret and authentic humans of New York.
In today’s digital age, the show also explores the difference between initiating a breakup or job resignation via text or email versus paying another person to deliver the message and experience the emotional results as a surrogate. What happens when we pay other people to say the things we feel too scared, vulnerable, busy, or angry to confess in-person?
At the heart of the show are the character journeys of Trisha, Lily, and Margot, who are trying to navigate the rocky waters of being millennial businesswomen and artists in sectors dominated by men. These women are real, raw, and filled with grit and heart—personas severely underrepresented on TV.
The World of Human Telegraphs
The heightened comedy of shows like Arrested Development meets the voyeurism of High Maintenance in this quirky series. Like 30 Rock and Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt, the expansive color and diversity of the city is present, yet elevated to an off-the-wall cartoonish playfulness that reflects the inner world of the protagonists and the outlandish characters they encounter. While the comedy is stylized and buoyant, the show is rooted in reality through the protagonists’ very human plight of trying to find their places in the world.
Season 1 Breakdown
Episode 2: Out on a Limb Part I
The joke's on Margot when a message delivery to a comedy club is more than she bargained for, while Trisha and Lily are asked to deliver a mysterious message that gives them the creeps, but will it be an offer they can’t refuse?
Episode 3: Out on a Limb Part II
The girls find themselves in the middle of a heated drama dating back to the Renaissance and Margot has the best day of her life.
Episode 4: H Team Vs. The Pemberlies
Apartment wars in Brooklyn mean blood --- what will the girls do for the perfect Brooklyn co-op next to their favorite farmer’s market and boasting a tree outside their window? Lily follows through on a promise.
Episode 5: This Isn’t What I Thought It’d Be Part I
Singing messages go sour, Margot gets a rude awakening, Trisha goes on a dream date and Lily’s feminist play debuts with an imposter on stage.
Episode 6: This Isn't What I Thought It'd Be Part II
Sparks fly when Lily meets her arch nemesis, the girls get entangled in doggie doodoo drama singalongs, and Trisha lets something go.
Episodes 7: Bringing It Back Part I
An office romance may be going asunder with one message, Human Telegraphs get the opportunity of a lifetime, and Trisha finds her groove.
Episode 8: Bringing It Back Part II
The girls attempt to pull off a message performance of a lifetime for the great French avant-garde artist, Eliza Bonheur, at her 80th birthday party without dying in the process.
Wishlist
Use the WishList to Pledge cash and Loan items - or - Make a pledge by selecting an Incentive directly.
Editing & Animation
Costs $4,796
You could watch 13 days of footage, but we’d rather you get the best-of with flair!
Sound & Composing
Costs $4,079
From the highest highs to the lowest lows, music and sound help you truly experience the journey!
Publicity & Advertising
Costs $3,055
Because going door-to-door only opens so many- um- doors.
Insurance & Legal
Costs $1,354
Sometimes things *gasp* go wrong! This helps us navigate mishaps with ease.
Festival Time!
Costs $551
Spread the news of HT far and wide! But submissions aren’t free, they come with a fee :(
Test Screenings
Costs $827
What better way to test the magic between strangers than to vet the entire season by strangers!
Share this update!
About This Team
Our all-female producing, writing, directing, cinematography, production designer, animator, and editing team features award-winning and critically-acclaimed writer, Rachel Kay Barclay, whose plays have premiered in London, New York City, Philadelphia, Washington DC, and most notably, The Kennedy Center, and the award-winning animation of Montana Hall. The show also features Samantha Pyra‘s cinematography, which has made its way through several film festival circuits, including the Tribeca Film festival, veteran actress Kayla Conroy’s directorial debut, editor Kate Fisher, whose multigrenre work is featured in independent shorts and webseries to performance art, and art director and actress Fern Lim, who has performed (and created art!) all over the world.
Your help, combined with the talents of these creative powerhouses, will bring Human Telegraphs Season 1 to life! (And to a laptop near you!)
Current Team
Incentives
- The Story
- Wishlist
- Updates
- The Team
- Community
Mission Statement
The Story
We‘re Making Magic!
We are so grateful that you helped us fund our 13-day production in locations all over NYC with an incredible team of (mostly) women! (Check out their beautiful faces below.) We’re now working hard in the editing room on post-production and want you to continue being part of our story. This crowdfunder is for editing, sound, composing, animation, and all the wonderful components of post-production that will finally get the entirety of Season 1 onto a screen near you!
Why Human Telegraphs Right Now...
We feel more driven and passionate than ever about releasing Season 1. In truth, we feel a real urgency and sense of purpose behind the creation of Human Telegraphs. In today’s politically and socially divisive times, the world needs an upbeat reminder that our similarities outnumber our differences, and ultimately, we’re all connected in deep and profound ways. We’re sharing this human experience together. Our words and actions matter—they have great power—and it’s up to us to spread kindness, joy, and the message of our connectedness. If we don’t, who will?
This is a central message in Human Telegraphs and one of the reasons why we were so inspired to write this specific show concept. We hope that it inspires and blesses you and your positive impact on the world, whether it’s giving a stranger a smile today or telling a friend or family member you love them. This life is precious. Let’s live it up and love it up to the fullest!
Our Team
Our Season 1 crew right after we wrapped! From left to right...
Gaffer Li George
Swing Ellen Reed
Cinematographer Samantha Pyra
Producer/Writer/Actor Rachel Barclay
Producer/Art/Actor Fern Lim
Producer/Director/Actor Kayla Conroy
3rd Assistant Director Savannah Osborn
Sound MP Kozak
2nd Assistant Director Taylor D Martin
Script Supervisor Alia Azamat
PA Desmond Holliday
1st Assistant Director Sam Winter
PA Alexandra Rose
Wardrobe Assistant Cassidy Rose
Not pictured:
HMU Emma Elizabeth
Wardrobe Caroline Duncan
And many more amazing PAs!
Story
When New York City roommates Trisha, Margot, and Lily find themselves in a financial pickle, they open a ‘human message delivery’ businesses that has them reciting verbatim messages for customers to whomever, wherever, and in whatever style the customer chooses—even including costumes and stage directions.
With personal and uncomfortably intimate messages conveyed to strangers, the budding entrepreneurs find themselves in bizarre interactions colored by varying hues of awkward, comedic, touching, and sexy pizzazz.
Human Telegraphs offers a hilarious voyeuristic view into personal relationships of friend and stranger alike by taking viewers behind New Yorkers’ closed doors to reveal the secret and authentic humans of New York.
In today’s digital age, the show also explores the difference between initiating a breakup or job resignation via text or email versus paying another person to deliver the message and experience the emotional results as a surrogate. What happens when we pay other people to say the things we feel too scared, vulnerable, busy, or angry to confess in-person?
At the heart of the show are the character journeys of Trisha, Lily, and Margot, who are trying to navigate the rocky waters of being millennial businesswomen and artists in sectors dominated by men. These women are real, raw, and filled with grit and heart—personas severely underrepresented on TV.
The World of Human Telegraphs
The heightened comedy of shows like Arrested Development meets the voyeurism of High Maintenance in this quirky series. Like 30 Rock and Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt, the expansive color and diversity of the city is present, yet elevated to an off-the-wall cartoonish playfulness that reflects the inner world of the protagonists and the outlandish characters they encounter. While the comedy is stylized and buoyant, the show is rooted in reality through the protagonists’ very human plight of trying to find their places in the world.
Season 1 Breakdown
Episode 2: Out on a Limb Part I
The joke's on Margot when a message delivery to a comedy club is more than she bargained for, while Trisha and Lily are asked to deliver a mysterious message that gives them the creeps, but will it be an offer they can’t refuse?
Episode 3: Out on a Limb Part II
The girls find themselves in the middle of a heated drama dating back to the Renaissance and Margot has the best day of her life.
Episode 4: H Team Vs. The Pemberlies
Apartment wars in Brooklyn mean blood --- what will the girls do for the perfect Brooklyn co-op next to their favorite farmer’s market and boasting a tree outside their window? Lily follows through on a promise.
Episode 5: This Isn’t What I Thought It’d Be Part I
Singing messages go sour, Margot gets a rude awakening, Trisha goes on a dream date and Lily’s feminist play debuts with an imposter on stage.
Episode 6: This Isn't What I Thought It'd Be Part II
Sparks fly when Lily meets her arch nemesis, the girls get entangled in doggie doodoo drama singalongs, and Trisha lets something go.
Episodes 7: Bringing It Back Part I
An office romance may be going asunder with one message, Human Telegraphs get the opportunity of a lifetime, and Trisha finds her groove.
Episode 8: Bringing It Back Part II
The girls attempt to pull off a message performance of a lifetime for the great French avant-garde artist, Eliza Bonheur, at her 80th birthday party without dying in the process.
Wishlist
Use the WishList to Pledge cash and Loan items - or - Make a pledge by selecting an Incentive directly.
Editing & Animation
Costs $4,796
You could watch 13 days of footage, but we’d rather you get the best-of with flair!
Sound & Composing
Costs $4,079
From the highest highs to the lowest lows, music and sound help you truly experience the journey!
Publicity & Advertising
Costs $3,055
Because going door-to-door only opens so many- um- doors.
Insurance & Legal
Costs $1,354
Sometimes things *gasp* go wrong! This helps us navigate mishaps with ease.
Festival Time!
Costs $551
Spread the news of HT far and wide! But submissions aren’t free, they come with a fee :(
Test Screenings
Costs $827
What better way to test the magic between strangers than to vet the entire season by strangers!
Share this update!
About This Team
Our all-female producing, writing, directing, cinematography, production designer, animator, and editing team features award-winning and critically-acclaimed writer, Rachel Kay Barclay, whose plays have premiered in London, New York City, Philadelphia, Washington DC, and most notably, The Kennedy Center, and the award-winning animation of Montana Hall. The show also features Samantha Pyra‘s cinematography, which has made its way through several film festival circuits, including the Tribeca Film festival, veteran actress Kayla Conroy’s directorial debut, editor Kate Fisher, whose multigrenre work is featured in independent shorts and webseries to performance art, and art director and actress Fern Lim, who has performed (and created art!) all over the world.
Your help, combined with the talents of these creative powerhouses, will bring Human Telegraphs Season 1 to life! (And to a laptop near you!)