Kimmy and Victoria are both fed up with their dead-end jobs. Kimmy comes incredibly close to breaking away from her miserable lifestyle when she serendipitously gains fame from an online contest created by her favorite pop star: Nova Everly. When Kimmy fumbles the contest and her chance to meet the pop star she has serious feelings for, Victoria tries to lift her spirits (and get in on the social media stardom) by staging a false encounter that ends up destroying their and Nova Everly's reputation.

I remember when I was 13 years old, I hung an Andy Warhol poster with Marilyn Monroe’s face on it that read-

“In the future, everyone will be world-famous for 15 minutes.”

Well, here we are.

This short is an external manifestation of my fears surrounding social media: that it’s the only thing I could ever do to launch my career, and even worse, that it would turn me into a monster. Equally hilarious and dark, SLANDER shows that inside of all of us is a wolf that would do anything to be seen, loved, admired, and placated. The other wolf is busy scrolling on TikTok.

SLANDER points out that social media is not real life, even though we treat it as such. The film's buzzy and comedic premise strategically uses familiar building blocks: pop stars, viral videos, and makeup influencers, all painted in an absurdist light.

Drawing inspiration from dark comedy comps with somewhat objectionable but undeniably ambitious female characters, SLANDER depicts the kind of ride-or-die friendship with someone who doesn’t just help you hide the body but probably helped you stage the murder to look like an accident... but probably helped you stage the murder to look like an accident... and brought a pink, bedazzled gun.

~ Elizabeth Schuetzle

Elizabeth got her start directing theater, most notably with a production of the musical “Fun Home” in collaboration with USC Visions & Voices which was presented at USC's Bovard Auditorium to an audience of 1,000 people. This experience led to an opportunity to work as Musical Consultant on an Episode of Showtime's The Affair. She was also selected to complete a Directing Observership at LA's Center Theater Group, where she shadowed acclaimed director Les Waters during his work on the play "Dana H." which would go onto win a Tony Award. Elizabeth's most recent directing project is a verbatim theater piece titled “Femme” which explored femme-invisibility within the queer community. The show was constructed off of 30+ interviews given by real people. Elizabeth now works full-time in the Film & TV space, and is ready to show off her skill & vision with SLANDER.

This short is a compelling comedic story that we can tell using the resources we have as filmmakers. We've crafted the story to largely take place in one eclectically sad apartment so that we don't need many locations or a big production crew to realistically showcase our vision.

Our funding will instead primarily be put towards our camera, lighting, and sound equipment, the production design, paying our production crew fair wages, and making the final version of the film the best that it can be in post-production. We appreciate donations in any amount; every bit helps to bring this film to life!

Music plays a huge role in SLANDER. Our fictional pop star Nova Everly's super catchy hit song " Ass (Out the Window)," is featured in our teaser video! We hope to use the song not only in the film to help set the tone, but also as a marketing tool across our social media platforms.

Since the advent of TitkTok, music is embedded into the way we interact with social media. That combined with the themes of fame and fandom that we explore through Kimmy’s parasocial relationship with Nova require a bopping score. 

Our production team put in hard work to write, produce, and record this song in pre-production (shoutout to our amazing producer: Max Lorne). It serves as a creative jumping-off point. Plus, it's super catchy! However, our ultimate goal for this project is to have a veritable pop-producer compose a score that matches the exuberance and chaos of our story. With your help we can make this possible!

Kimmy's underwhelming life involves an infuriating call center job. "What's your five-year plan?" is the last question you'd ever want to ask her. A young woman who barely feels connected to her once vibrant aspirations, she's pulling at strings desperately trying to figure out what her next move is, and what her life is supposed to look like. Kimmy is the type of girl that will lock herself in her room for hours to dance and daydream about an alternate universe in which she is a pop star, or perhaps, one in which she is the object of affection of her idol.

Victoria is desperate, but unlike Kimmy, she knows exactly what she's meant to do in life, and she just needs to figure out a way to do it. She can't explain it, but she feels like she is destined for something greater, and she is looking for a sign from the universe to confirm that. Victoria is an opportunist who will tackle anything at full force, and will bet everything on her and Kimmy's success.

Despite having been roommates for years, these two best friends are too ashamed to share their true selves with each other.

When she's not being verbally abused by her customers, Kimmy spends her leftover energy fixating on her favorite pop star - Nova Everly. Her secret obsession, which includes a shrine in her closet, is a manifestation and a metaphor for her closeted sexuality and her volatile emotions.

Victoria is desperate for success, and Kimmy knows that, but she doesn't know how much of their friendship and dignity Victoria is willing to risk to get what she thinks she deserves.

Our fictional pop star, Nova Everly, is a new household name with an extremely catchy electro-pop song that's topping the charts. She connects with her fans, gets vulnerable online, and always lets people know exactly how she feels. Nova is NOT afraid to call out Kimmy and Victoria's BS. But, after news break of some crimes she's committed revolving around her assistant, Kimmy and Victoria might be the only people who can come to her rescue.

When TikToks, Instagram reels, and Zoom calls are presented in film they are usually directly transposed, with our TV or film screens becoming larger versions of a format we typically view on our phones. We plan to eschew that trope in SLANDER, choosing to instead watch our characters film themselves - instead of seeing what the phones see. This POV highlights the characters' relationships with technology itself. By marrying thematic content and form, this shift in perspective will force audiences to see behind the curtain, and point out the performativity often hidden in social media.

This short film showcases a heightened yet contained storytelling style. There is a whimsical and satirical feel to the story that allows it to feel almost like a fever dream. And yet Kimmy and Victoria’s bold, realistic, and gritty performances keep the story anchored to something familiar.

We are inspired by films that address this topic like, “Ingrid Goes West” & “Not Okay” because of the comedic and satirical tone they take. Humor is incredibly effective in disarming an audience to provide them with a fresh perspective.

The SLANDER team has been prepping to launch our fundraiser for around a year. In that time, we have drafted a robust, compelling and hilarious script, secured a top-notch team that shares a vision for the project, and produced "Ass (Out the Window), the hit song of the SLANDER universe that is emblematic of the story and tone. With all those pieces in place, SLANDER has now entered its pre-production phase, during which we will fundraise to secure the remaining crew, all equipment, the production design, and a post-production team.

The SLANDER team prides itself in having created a story that is contained largely in one location in order to keep it production-friendly. We believe that the single-location story creates a sense of isolation and detachment from the real world that works to establish Kimmy and Victoria's illusionary state of mind. With that being said, if we exceed our fundraising goal, we will use the extra funds to secure some locations to enhance the Nova Everly universe and emphasize how different her world is from Kimmy and Victoria's. In particular, we would find a home befitting for the pop star of the moment. Nova Everly's lore involves a life-changing altercation with her personal assistant- during which Nova accidentally injures her and ends up in legal trouble. We'd love to be able to give that tense scene the TLC it needs by affording it a proper location, action sequence, and the gory consequence of that frightful night at Nova's. We'd also use the extra cash flow for additional marketing materials for Nova, Kimmy, and Victoria.

If you cannot contribute to the campaign monetarily, we would love for you to share and promote the film!

Please find messages below that you can copy and paste onto social media, emails, or texts or spread the word about our project.

The comedy short film SLANDER is crowdfunding! If you are interested in contributing and supporting female and LGBTQ+ filmmakers, please check out their campaign here: https://seedandspark.com/fund/slander

Help the SLANDER team reach their crowdfunding goal! Contribute here: https://seedandspark.com/fund/slander