"It's different for us. Love was different for us. But the person we loved was the same."

Grief is different for everyone. In 2012, when my mom (pictured below) passed away, I could not imagine anyone else in the world had felt like I had felt. It didn't seem possible that another person had experienced this sadness that felt so incredibly specific, so relentlessly mine. Over the past several years, I have discovered -- as we all do -- that this feeling, of course, isn't exactly fact. So many people experience so many different types of grief, and they are all different. Maybe nobody has felt exactly like I felt. But we've all felt it.

Oil & Water explores that liminal space, the bridge that connects two people, almost diametrically opposed, when they are both confronted with a grief that feels so specifically theirs. It views this through the lens of polyamory -- specifically parallel polyamory -- and places two disparate partners of a man together shortly after his untimely, sudden death.

Their overwhelming grief clashes with their complicated feelings about each other when they have to meet to distribute some of his things. Over the course of one long, intense conversation, they start to discover that maybe the community they need to push through their partner's death starts with each other. Keir and Myron pull back the layers on each other -- and on their separate relationships with Ford -- and begin to realize that there are as many reasons for them to work together, for them to build a friendship with each other, than there are for them to stay worlds apart.

Oil & Water examines the complexities of polyamory and ethical non-monogamy, along with the joy of opening yourself up to love wherever -- and however many times -- it may find you.

-- Jacob McKee, Writer/Director

"What would we talk about?"

After the sudden death of Ford, his husband, Keir, is left isolated in the home they shared, struggling to navigate the quiet aftermath of grief. When Myron, Ford’s second partner and a poet, with whom Ford shared a deep connection with, arrives to collect some of Ford’s belongings, unresolved tensions between the two men quickly rise to the surface. As memories of Ford linger throughout the house, both men are forced to confront the complicated emotions they have for one another.

Over the course of a long and emotionally charged day, Keir and Myron move through their resentment, heartbreak, and longing as they each attempt to hold onto the person they lost. Through fragments of Ford’s life and the spaces he once occupied, the two begin to recognize that despite their differences, they are bound together by a shared love and an overwhelming sense of absence and loneliness.

"I wish we could've met under different circumstances."

Keir (he/him) | Aaron Goldenberg

Husband to Ford (the deceased). A bit uncomfortable in his own skin and his own life, which causes him to be a bit more buttoned up than normal. Quick to snark. He understood Ford deeply, more than it may seem at first.

Myron (he/him) | Jordan Doww

Boyfriend to Ford (the deceased). Free spirit who is still trying to find his place in the world. Artistic and creative and emotional, very upfront with his feelings. Loves to talk about things and really get to the heart of the problem, even when that disquiets others.

Ford (he/him) | Kevin Roost

The mutual partner of Keir and Myron. Impulsive and adventurous in a way that is almost chaotic, he inspired a lot of forward motion in both his partners that they've lost their grip on since his death. He remains ever-present in their thoughts even several weeks after he's gone.

Producer | Will Fangmann (he/him)

Will Fangmann is a graduate student pursuing his M.A. in Film and Television at SCAD (Savannah College of Art and Design). During his time in production, he has served as the lead producer on numerous successful, award-winning short films and for multiple episodes of television, most notably as a story producer for the Emmy-winning series, chefATL. At SCAD, he has led the film department's Student Production Office for three years and served as an ambassador for the program at the Savannah Film Festival and SCAD TVfest. Professionally, he works as a 1st Assistant Director for a vertical feature company.

Writer/Director | Jacob McKee (he/they)

Jacob McKee is a queer filmmaker who recently received his MFA in Film and Television from SCAD (Savannah College of Art and Design). His film, My Dear Watson, began its festival run in April 2026. Previously, his first feature screenplay, Spread 'Em, was named the runner-up in Out on Film's 2024 Screenplay Competition, a semi-finalist in the 2024 Del Shores Foundation Writers Search, and a quarter-finalist in the Atlanta Film Festival's 2025 Screenplay Competition.

"Poetry wasn't paying the bills."

Above, you'll see a percentage breakdown of our budget. As you can see, our crowdfund succeeding means primarily that we are able to keep our cast and crew healthy and happy like they deserve. We're very lucky, as SCAD students, to have access to professional-grade filmmaking equipment, but a camera and some lights are not all it takes to make a movie. With your help, we'll be able to make sure our crew stays fed both with hot meals and expansive craft services, and take our film on the road to festivals once it's finished.

"And then I will never see you again."

With our previous film, My Dear Watson, we have thus far been very lucky to enjoy a fun, expansive festival run. As of the start of this crowdfund, My Dear Watson has been named an official selection at seven film festivals. The ones we're allowed to announce are named below!

With Oil & Water, we hope to take a similar path, hopefully expanding our reach even further than with this first film. Submitting to festivals -- and traveling to them, which is almost essential with a short film -- costs a surprising amount of money, and we would love be able to take this story about polyamory and the communal nature of love and grief on the road.