The Ball Method
Los Angeles, California | Film Short
Biography, Drama
"The Ball Method," written and directed by Dagmawi Abebe, tells the true story of Alice Ball (played by Kiersey Clemons of "Dope," "Hearts Beat Loud," "Neighbors 2") an African American woman who found an effective treatment for leprosy at the age of twenty-three in 1915 Hawaii.
The Ball Method
Los Angeles, California | Film Short
Biography, Drama
1 Campaigns | California, United States
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This campaign raised $6,540 for post-production. Follow the filmmaker to receive future updates on this project.
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"The Ball Method," written and directed by Dagmawi Abebe, tells the true story of Alice Ball (played by Kiersey Clemons of "Dope," "Hearts Beat Loud," "Neighbors 2") an African American woman who found an effective treatment for leprosy at the age of twenty-three in 1915 Hawaii.
About The Project
- The Story
- Wishlist
- Updates
- The Team
- Community
Mission Statement
The Story
How does a woman who solved a centuries old medical problem disappear in history?
What is the human cost of fear and ignorance?
OVERVIEW
The Ball Method written and directed by Dagmawi Abebe, is a short film which tells the true story of Alice Ball (played by actress Kiersey Clemons of Dope, Hearts Beat Loud, and Neighbors 2), an African American woman who found an effective treatment for leprosy at the age of twenty-three in Hawaii 1915. The film portrays the period of her life when she made her discovery, focusing on her time at the hospital in Hawaii, her scientific work discovering the properties of the herb chaulmoogra in the treatment of leprosy, and her relationship with a young boy whom she does not want to see sent to the leper colony on the island of Molokai.
The film also explores Ball's professional relationship with Dr. Harry Hollmann, her supervisor at the hospital. After Ball's untimely death at the age of 24, her work was published by Dr. Arthur Dean, the head of the chemistry department at the College of Hawaii. He did not properly credit her until Dr. Hollman spoke out.
The Ball Method tells a little known story about a young woman who made a crucial scientific discovery in the 1910s. The film's message is one of empowerment, hope, and achievement within a system designed to ignore and suppress diverse voices.
HOW YOU CAN HELP
We finished shooting the film in mid-August 2019. The shoot was immensely successful, and we now have beautiful footage to piece together. However, we need to raise $6,000 to cover post-production costs, including color correction, visual effects, and music. We have a composer attached (the wonderful and talented Rahman Altin), but require additional funding for the hired musicians needed for scoring.
As a potential donor, you can fill this gap and make all the difference in helping us complete the film. We are a passionate team who is prepared to give everything we have to make this film; all we need is the resources to do it. Please feel free to click on the "WishList" tab above to see which areas you can specifically help us fulfill!
ABOUT THE PROJECT / SPECS
Genre / Themes: Historical, Biography, Drama, Science
Run Time (Expected): 20 min
With the Support of:
USC School of Cinematic Arts
Alfred P. Sloan Foundation
Timeline:
Pre-Production May / June / July 2019
Production August 2019
Post September - December 2019
Film Completion December 2019
Key Crew:
Co-Producer: Tom Ogden
Director of Photography: Bash Achkar
Production Designer: Nikki Flemming
Costume Designer: Whitney Kyles, Jeresa Featherstone
Hair & Make-up: Robin Slater
Supervising Sound Editor: Chris Garcia
Editors: Steve Markowitz, Dag Abebe
Composer: Rahman Altin
Wishlist
Use the WishList to Pledge cash and Loan items - or - Make a pledge by selecting an Incentive directly.
Music
Costs $1,800
This funding would go towards the recording of the score in addition to the hiring of musicians.
Color Correction
Costs $1,300
We require this funding to hire a color correctionist to work on the film's palette and image.
Visual Effects (VFX)
Costs $2,900
This money goes towards all VFX particularly the lab scenes where Alice is working on her chemistry.
Cash Pledge
Costs $0
Direct link:
Share this update!
About This Team
CAST:
Kiersey Clemons ("Alice Ball")
Kiersey Clemons broke out with a scene-stealing performance as “Diggy,” the easy-going tomboy in Dope, Rick Famuyiwa’s hit geekz-n-the-hood comedy. Most recently, Kiersey starred in Rent: Live for Fox TV, and can be seen as the lead in the Blumhouse thriller Sweetheart, directed by DJ Dillard, the film premiered earlier this year at Sundance to great reviews. Up next, Kiersey will star opposite Thomas Mann in Disney’s live-action remake of Lady and the Tramp, as Lady’s owner, Darling. The 25-year-old has displayed chameleon-like range, effortless segueing between big-budget studio features and auteur-driven indie fare: from Nick Stoller’s comedy hit Neighbors 2, to Joe Swanberg’s grounded Netflix anthology series, Easy; and from Sony's remake of Flatliners which opened wide this past October, to Marc Webb’s sweet coming-of-age feature, Only Boy Living in New York opposite Jeff Bridges. She also played muse for Chanel in a short film from Alma Har’el, and was a steampunk superhero opposite Josh Hutcherson in director Colin Tilley’s music video for DJ Snake’s hit single, Middle. Previously, Kiersey can be seen in Brett Haley’s music-themed dramedy Hearts Beat Loud, the film closed the Sundance Film Festival last year, and sold to Sony Pictures International and Gunpowder and Sky. Kiersey is attached to the starring role of “Zee” in Jonás Cuarón’s feature Z., the futuristic re-imagining of the Zorro action franchise, opposite Gael García Bernal, as well as Michael Mayer’s filmed version of the bestselling novel The Language of Flowers.
Kyle Secor ("Dr. Harry Hollmann")
Kyle most recently starred in a recurring role on the most recent season of The Flash for The CW. Before that, Kyle starred in Blumhouse’s The Purge 3 and had a recurring role on ABC’s Resurrection. Prior to Resurrection, Kyle shot both ABC’s Scandal and NBC’s Aquarius. Kyle also shot the season finale of American Horror Story: Coven and booked a recurring role on Agent X for TNT. He is best known for his long stints on Commander in Chief and Homicide Life on the Streets.
CJ Uy ("Kalani")
CJ Uy was on the Lincoln Center Production First National tour of The King and I directed by Tony Award winner Bartlett Sher as the Royal Twin. He completed the 2-year tour never missing a performance of over 600 shows. His first project was a video for SXSW award presentation at the age of 5. He was in the viral video The ABC Who Can't Read Chinese as young Paul that got over 7 million views in a month. When not performing, he is interested in filmmaking, stop motion animation, golf, baseball and nerf wars. Other credits include: Midair ("Zhao"), Untitled Nicole Byer MTV Pilot ("Young Tony"), and Tosh.0 ("Little Orphan"). CJ is represented by Clear Talent Group and Erika Monroe Williams at The Green Room Management.
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Wallace Langham ("Dr. Arthur Dean")
Wallace Langham is widely known for his performance as "David Hodges" on CSI: Crime Scene Investigation. Additional television credits include series regular roles on The Larry Sanders Show, Veronica's Closet and What About Joan?, as well as guest appearances on Sex and the City, The West Wing, Medium, Las Vegas and ER. His feature film credits include The Great Buck Howard, Little Miss Sunshine, Daddy Day Care and Growing Up. He also starred in Weird Science, The Chocolate War and Soul Man, under the name Wally Ward. Langham voiced the lead character in the animated series Mission Hill, and starred in the television movies Daydream Believers: The Monkees Story, Behind the Camera: The Unauthorized Story of 'Three's Company', Behind the Camera: The Unauthorized Story of 'Charlie's Angels' and Sister Mary Explains It All. Born in Fort Worth, Texas, Langham moved to Los Angeles at the age of 9 with his mother, a costume designer on "Donny & Marie." Langham is the father of three and resides in Los Angeles with his wife, flamenco artist Karey Richard.
CREW:
Dagmawi Abebe (Writer and Director)
Dagmawi is a recent graduate of the MFA in Film and Television Production at the USC School of Cinematic Arts with a focus in Directing. He has written and directed several short films, as well as co-directing a segment of the feature Voodoo Macbeth for Warner Bros. and USC.
Yeon Jin Lee (Producer)
Yeon is a Korean-American filmmaker earning her M.F.A. in Film and Television Production at the USC School of Cinematic Arts. Her experiences as one of the few female engineers at UC Berkeley and NASA, and as a first-generation immigrant, have given her much insight into the unique challenges one faces as a minority. Her goal is to continue making films that bring voice to underrepresented communities whose experiences she shares.
Mehmet Gungoren (Producer)
Mehmet received his B.A. in Theater, Film, and Television from UCLA, and is finishing his M.F.A. in Film and TV Production at the USC School of Cinematic Arts with a focus in Producing. Mehmet continues to work as a producer in prestigious film projects that were screened and awarded at International Festivals such as Berlin, Yasujiro Ozu, Asiana, Clermont-Ferrand, Toronto Film Festivals.
Chris Bauer (Co-Producer)
Chris is Co-Founder of Rude Horse Productions, a production company based in Los Angeles and Virginia. He graduated from the University of Virginia in 2014 with a degree in Theater, and spent several years in Chicago focusing on live comedy and digital producing before moving to LA to continue to expand Rude Horse Productions.
Lauren Lukow (Co-Producer)
Lauren currently works for the Feature Film Program at the Sundance Institute, focusing on the discovery and nurturing of independent narrative filmmakers. Prior to Sundance, Lauren worked at Pixar Animation Studios, the Virginia Film Festival, and Arvold Productions. She double majored in Media Studies and Arts Administration at the University of Virginia, and collaborates frequently with Rude Horse Productions.
Incentives
- The Story
- Wishlist
- Updates
- The Team
- Community
Mission Statement
The Story
How does a woman who solved a centuries old medical problem disappear in history?
What is the human cost of fear and ignorance?
OVERVIEW
The Ball Method written and directed by Dagmawi Abebe, is a short film which tells the true story of Alice Ball (played by actress Kiersey Clemons of Dope, Hearts Beat Loud, and Neighbors 2), an African American woman who found an effective treatment for leprosy at the age of twenty-three in Hawaii 1915. The film portrays the period of her life when she made her discovery, focusing on her time at the hospital in Hawaii, her scientific work discovering the properties of the herb chaulmoogra in the treatment of leprosy, and her relationship with a young boy whom she does not want to see sent to the leper colony on the island of Molokai.
The film also explores Ball's professional relationship with Dr. Harry Hollmann, her supervisor at the hospital. After Ball's untimely death at the age of 24, her work was published by Dr. Arthur Dean, the head of the chemistry department at the College of Hawaii. He did not properly credit her until Dr. Hollman spoke out.
The Ball Method tells a little known story about a young woman who made a crucial scientific discovery in the 1910s. The film's message is one of empowerment, hope, and achievement within a system designed to ignore and suppress diverse voices.
HOW YOU CAN HELP
We finished shooting the film in mid-August 2019. The shoot was immensely successful, and we now have beautiful footage to piece together. However, we need to raise $6,000 to cover post-production costs, including color correction, visual effects, and music. We have a composer attached (the wonderful and talented Rahman Altin), but require additional funding for the hired musicians needed for scoring.
As a potential donor, you can fill this gap and make all the difference in helping us complete the film. We are a passionate team who is prepared to give everything we have to make this film; all we need is the resources to do it. Please feel free to click on the "WishList" tab above to see which areas you can specifically help us fulfill!
ABOUT THE PROJECT / SPECS
Genre / Themes: Historical, Biography, Drama, Science
Run Time (Expected): 20 min
With the Support of:
USC School of Cinematic Arts
Alfred P. Sloan Foundation
Timeline:
Pre-Production May / June / July 2019
Production August 2019
Post September - December 2019
Film Completion December 2019
Key Crew:
Co-Producer: Tom Ogden
Director of Photography: Bash Achkar
Production Designer: Nikki Flemming
Costume Designer: Whitney Kyles, Jeresa Featherstone
Hair & Make-up: Robin Slater
Supervising Sound Editor: Chris Garcia
Editors: Steve Markowitz, Dag Abebe
Composer: Rahman Altin
Wishlist
Use the WishList to Pledge cash and Loan items - or - Make a pledge by selecting an Incentive directly.
Music
Costs $1,800
This funding would go towards the recording of the score in addition to the hiring of musicians.
Color Correction
Costs $1,300
We require this funding to hire a color correctionist to work on the film's palette and image.
Visual Effects (VFX)
Costs $2,900
This money goes towards all VFX particularly the lab scenes where Alice is working on her chemistry.
Cash Pledge
Costs $0
Direct link:
Share this update!
About This Team
CAST:
Kiersey Clemons ("Alice Ball")
Kiersey Clemons broke out with a scene-stealing performance as “Diggy,” the easy-going tomboy in Dope, Rick Famuyiwa’s hit geekz-n-the-hood comedy. Most recently, Kiersey starred in Rent: Live for Fox TV, and can be seen as the lead in the Blumhouse thriller Sweetheart, directed by DJ Dillard, the film premiered earlier this year at Sundance to great reviews. Up next, Kiersey will star opposite Thomas Mann in Disney’s live-action remake of Lady and the Tramp, as Lady’s owner, Darling. The 25-year-old has displayed chameleon-like range, effortless segueing between big-budget studio features and auteur-driven indie fare: from Nick Stoller’s comedy hit Neighbors 2, to Joe Swanberg’s grounded Netflix anthology series, Easy; and from Sony's remake of Flatliners which opened wide this past October, to Marc Webb’s sweet coming-of-age feature, Only Boy Living in New York opposite Jeff Bridges. She also played muse for Chanel in a short film from Alma Har’el, and was a steampunk superhero opposite Josh Hutcherson in director Colin Tilley’s music video for DJ Snake’s hit single, Middle. Previously, Kiersey can be seen in Brett Haley’s music-themed dramedy Hearts Beat Loud, the film closed the Sundance Film Festival last year, and sold to Sony Pictures International and Gunpowder and Sky. Kiersey is attached to the starring role of “Zee” in Jonás Cuarón’s feature Z., the futuristic re-imagining of the Zorro action franchise, opposite Gael García Bernal, as well as Michael Mayer’s filmed version of the bestselling novel The Language of Flowers.
Kyle Secor ("Dr. Harry Hollmann")
Kyle most recently starred in a recurring role on the most recent season of The Flash for The CW. Before that, Kyle starred in Blumhouse’s The Purge 3 and had a recurring role on ABC’s Resurrection. Prior to Resurrection, Kyle shot both ABC’s Scandal and NBC’s Aquarius. Kyle also shot the season finale of American Horror Story: Coven and booked a recurring role on Agent X for TNT. He is best known for his long stints on Commander in Chief and Homicide Life on the Streets.
CJ Uy ("Kalani")
CJ Uy was on the Lincoln Center Production First National tour of The King and I directed by Tony Award winner Bartlett Sher as the Royal Twin. He completed the 2-year tour never missing a performance of over 600 shows. His first project was a video for SXSW award presentation at the age of 5. He was in the viral video The ABC Who Can't Read Chinese as young Paul that got over 7 million views in a month. When not performing, he is interested in filmmaking, stop motion animation, golf, baseball and nerf wars. Other credits include: Midair ("Zhao"), Untitled Nicole Byer MTV Pilot ("Young Tony"), and Tosh.0 ("Little Orphan"). CJ is represented by Clear Talent Group and Erika Monroe Williams at The Green Room Management.
Wallace Langham ("Dr. Arthur Dean")
Wallace Langham is widely known for his performance as "David Hodges" on CSI: Crime Scene Investigation. Additional television credits include series regular roles on The Larry Sanders Show, Veronica's Closet and What About Joan?, as well as guest appearances on Sex and the City, The West Wing, Medium, Las Vegas and ER. His feature film credits include The Great Buck Howard, Little Miss Sunshine, Daddy Day Care and Growing Up. He also starred in Weird Science, The Chocolate War and Soul Man, under the name Wally Ward. Langham voiced the lead character in the animated series Mission Hill, and starred in the television movies Daydream Believers: The Monkees Story, Behind the Camera: The Unauthorized Story of 'Three's Company', Behind the Camera: The Unauthorized Story of 'Charlie's Angels' and Sister Mary Explains It All. Born in Fort Worth, Texas, Langham moved to Los Angeles at the age of 9 with his mother, a costume designer on "Donny & Marie." Langham is the father of three and resides in Los Angeles with his wife, flamenco artist Karey Richard.
CREW:
Dagmawi Abebe (Writer and Director)
Dagmawi is a recent graduate of the MFA in Film and Television Production at the USC School of Cinematic Arts with a focus in Directing. He has written and directed several short films, as well as co-directing a segment of the feature Voodoo Macbeth for Warner Bros. and USC.
Yeon Jin Lee (Producer)
Yeon is a Korean-American filmmaker earning her M.F.A. in Film and Television Production at the USC School of Cinematic Arts. Her experiences as one of the few female engineers at UC Berkeley and NASA, and as a first-generation immigrant, have given her much insight into the unique challenges one faces as a minority. Her goal is to continue making films that bring voice to underrepresented communities whose experiences she shares.
Mehmet Gungoren (Producer)
Mehmet received his B.A. in Theater, Film, and Television from UCLA, and is finishing his M.F.A. in Film and TV Production at the USC School of Cinematic Arts with a focus in Producing. Mehmet continues to work as a producer in prestigious film projects that were screened and awarded at International Festivals such as Berlin, Yasujiro Ozu, Asiana, Clermont-Ferrand, Toronto Film Festivals.
Chris Bauer (Co-Producer)
Chris is Co-Founder of Rude Horse Productions, a production company based in Los Angeles and Virginia. He graduated from the University of Virginia in 2014 with a degree in Theater, and spent several years in Chicago focusing on live comedy and digital producing before moving to LA to continue to expand Rude Horse Productions.
Lauren Lukow (Co-Producer)
Lauren currently works for the Feature Film Program at the Sundance Institute, focusing on the discovery and nurturing of independent narrative filmmakers. Prior to Sundance, Lauren worked at Pixar Animation Studios, the Virginia Film Festival, and Arvold Productions. She double majored in Media Studies and Arts Administration at the University of Virginia, and collaborates frequently with Rude Horse Productions.