The Five Stas of Grief are Denial, Anger, Bargaining, Depression, and Acceptance. Each episode will explore a different stage as our protagonist, MAUDE (25), goes on a hilarious, heartwarming journey of self-discovery.

When MAUDE (25) sees KEITH (28) performing with his Improv team, it’s love at first ‘Yes, And’. They share a magical night flirting and kissing in an uber. They even make plans to see each other that upcoming Thursday. Then, things start to fall apart. Keith texts Maude on the day of their planned date, saying something came up and he can no longer make it. Maude’s best friend and roommate, CLARISSA (25), is used to guys being obsessed with her. She tells Maude to let Keith make all the moves. A week goes by and Keith doesn’t suggest a new time. Maude gives up on playing the game and texts him asking if he still wants to do something. He invites her to his birthday party--where Maude learns that he hooked up with ALEX (late 20s), a girl on his improv team. Despite telling Clarissa to act as a buffer, Maude ends up hooking up with Keith that night.

Meanwhile, Clarissa’s relationship with her boyfriend, TODD (27), starts to deteriorate. Maude’s fantasy of a relationship is quickly dashed when Keith only seems interested in hooking up. Clarissa tells Maude to just communicate with Keith. Maude tries to, but her fantasy just isn’t matching up with the reality. Out of things and people to blame, Maude descends into depression. Is something wrong with her? Maude’s so caught up in her own drama that she fails to be there for Clarissa when Todd breaks up with her. Time for a little self-reflection. After a heart-to-heart with Clarissa, Maude starts to realize that maybe Keith is just--not it.

I got the idea for this web series when I realized I had finally accepted a certain situationship for what it was--a meaningless hookup. Acceptance was the last stage of The Five Stages of Grief. Had I gone through the other stages to get to this point? It felt ridiculous pairing a framework for grief with casual sex, but it also felt surprisingly fitting. After-all, I had forced a framework of a happy relationship on to something that was never going to be more than a hookup.

This web series is GenZ Girls (2012-2017). It’s The Sex Lives of College Girls (2021-2025) if it was actually written by twenty-somethings who understand what intimacy looks like in 2025. It should feel as cringe and realistic in its exploration of intimacy as The Rehearsal (2022 -) or Pen15 (2019-2021). I’m a big fan of recent shows like Adults (2025), I Love LA (2025), and Overcompensating (2025), but, in my opinion, they have yet to truly capture the anxiety and overthinking that has become so prevalent in modern relationships. I want to see TV characters crash out when a guy doesn't text them back. I want to see people having uninspiring sex with guys who keep begging not to use a condom. I want to show what it looks like to date in the era of ghosting, social media, and bad communication.

Specificity lends itself to universality. As a twenty-five year old trying to find love in 2025, this story is based on lived experience - but it reveals deeper truths about fantasies vs. reality, our search for meaning, and what it means to be vulnerable.

Poor communication isn't solely reserved for situationships - MAUDE and CLARISSA'S friendship goes through its own break down in communication, as well as TODD and CLARISSA'S long-term relationship. This web series explores multiple relationship dynamics in all their messiness, heartache, and humor.

As a fellow situationship survivor myself, I was immediately drawn to the relatability of this story. Overthinking, second-guessing, and obsessing over the most minute interactions with a man who probably can’t remember your middle name is all-too-familiar. Given the anxiety of Maude’s headspace, the series will be shot too close for comfort, isolating Maude in her environment the same way she feels isolated by Keith. Tones will be muted, leaning further into pastels than bold and bright colors, similar in style to Ladybird (2017) and The Edge of Seventeen (2016). But when inside Maude’s fantasy scenarios the aesthetics will take on a more surreal, stylistic approach. This is a story about messy, complicated relationships, so it’s only fair for that to show in its production design. Lived-in apartments covered in clutter and decor, realistic costuming, and everyday people. Maude’s journey is something that many young women are experiencing in the current dating scene, so our job is to capture the reality as closely as possible in both performance and visuals.

Writer: Kyla Frieden

Director: Marissa Dutton

Producers: Claire de Vries, Breanna Losey

Casting Director: Sophia Spezialy

We are currently in pre-production, and aiming to shoot over weekends in January and February 2026. Overall, we hope to raise $10,000.

If everybody gives just $5-10, it will make a huge difference!

****STRETCH GOALS****

$6,500 - CRUSH

This is the minimum amount to make this web series and release it

$7,500 - FIRST DATE

We can offer more compensation for our cast and crew, and increase the quality of the product

$10,000 - FALLING IN LOVE

The best possible product, released to the widest possible audience!

YOUR SUPPORT HELPS US

• MAKE THE WEB SERIES
• Bring on a full cast and female-led crew and pay them fairly
• Secure key camera, light, and sound equipment
• Find proper locations 
• Production design 
• Feed everyone 
• FINISH THE WEB SERIES
• Work with editors and sound designers to complete the film in post-production
• Score the series
• SHARE THE WEB SERIES
• Submit to Festivals and pay for distribution costs and fees 
• Make Promotional materials and cover PR costs 
• Organize community screenings and local events 

• We are looking for any production support we can get!
• We'd love to feature/partner with local LA businesses (there’s a scene I'd love to shoot at Community Goods, so...)
• Be an Extra! 
• Follow our socials (Instagram @fivestagesofkeith, TikTok: @thefivestagesofkeith, Facebook )