The Grey Veil Haunt
Shelburne, Massachusetts | Film Feature
Thriller, LGBTQ
The Grey Veil Haunt is a haunting exploration of belief, isolation, and the false divide between “Us” and “Them.” Through a transgender medium grappling with doubt, the film asks audiences to confront fear, faith, and how self-doubt turns into harm.
The Grey Veil Haunt
Shelburne, Massachusetts | Film Feature
Thriller, LGBTQ
1 Campaigns |
Green Light
This campaign raised $12,218 for production. Follow the filmmaker to receive future updates on this project.
67 supporters | followers
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The Grey Veil Haunt is a haunting exploration of belief, isolation, and the false divide between “Us” and “Them.” Through a transgender medium grappling with doubt, the film asks audiences to confront fear, faith, and how self-doubt turns into harm.
About The Project
- The Story
- Wishlist
- Updates
- The Team
- Community
Mission Statement
The Story
The Grey Veil Haunt is centered around a simple idea that has horrifying ramifications – that there exists an “Us” and a “Them.” There is an ever-present veil that splits us off from others, clouding our vision, separating, isolating, and preventing us from connecting to each other. This stops us from seeing the truth. The film’s core themes navigate this unknown space, swim in the isolating self-doubt it creates, and reveal the hidden horrors of being treated as one of “Them.”
We envision placing the audience alongside our main character in the narrative – alone, with everyone else she relies on distant. To achieve this effect, we place the audience behind the dense foggy forest, inside the solitary spirit cabinet, dialing unanswered phone calls, and standing behind the vandalized windows of our main character’s home. In this isolated space, we wish to paint more questions than answers.
We want audiences to leave asking about their own beliefs. Why do we believe what we believe? Is it for selfish or destructive reasons? Are our beliefs damaging? Are we afraid to have faith in anything else besides ourselves? We hope raising these questions in a film starring a trans character will take that self-reflection a step further—asking why people hate others, and how we might lift this veil.
Though this story began from a deeply personal place, we cannot make it alone. We value working with a small, personally invested crew and using the limitations of a smaller production to make intentional creative choices. The Grey Veil Haunt is more than a film, it is a conversation about belonging and an attempt to be understood.
The Story:
Melanie is a transgender woman and medium living alone in a foggy New England forest. Isolated and quietly unraveling, she struggles with a growing crisis of faith in her abilities and her place in the world. As she moves through her routines, the boundaries between the ordinary and the supernatural begin to blur. In the surrounding woods, Melanie discovers a fogless clearing with seven tree stumps arranged in a perfect circle, a sacred space that offers momentary peace as her belief in herself begins to falter.
Seeking to prove her self worth and share her experiences, Melanie forms a seance circle of seven clients drawn from letters expressing a need to connect with the spirit world. Among them are Harriet, a writer with hidden intentions, and Tom, a man dedicated to God. As the sessions deepen, unexplained events occur—strange lights appear, objects move, and the group is shaken by moments that resist rational explanation.
When hidden truths are suddenly revealed the status quo is threatened - doubt spreads, motivations clash, and belief within the circle becomes unstable. Melanie is branded a fraud and the circle is broken. Melanie’s home is vandalized, threats escalate, and fear turns violent. Forced to flee into the forest, Melanie is drawn back to the sacred clearing, where she faces a final test of her faith.
As the unknowable truths close in, Melanie, Harriet, and Tom must reckon with what it means to believe – in themselves, in each other, and in the world beyond the veil.
Team
Slanted Ceiling Pictures is made up of three Massachusetts based filmmakers that write, direct and produce indie films. Starting together at Massachusetts College of Art, we’ve spent over a decade bouncing between each other’s projects, including our feature-length premiere, The Making of a Deathbed, in addition to a myriad of smaller projects. Discover more about our previous projects and what we’re currently working on at https://www.slantedceilingpictures.com/
Where are we?
We are currently in the process of casting, we have a full script and storyboard, a detailed script breakdown, we’ve identified and reached agreements with the majority of our locations, key crew members have signed on for most creative roles, as well as our lead actress, Daphne Always.
Through a partnership with the Western Massachusetts LGBTQ business collaborative, Bloom Local , we’ve been able to create meaningful connections in the Pioneer Valley with local businesses and creatives. We’ve had the pleasure of already collaborating with the Queer Joy Chorus from Northampton, MA. By recording samples of their voices we’ve begun crafting elements for the original musical score of the film.
We have the benefit of a collection of equipment, pulled together over the course of our first feature film and a myriad of other, small productions and projects since then. This positions us uniquely to produce a film like this, as we have no need to rent or source equipment. We are aiming to start production in the spring, with the majority of it taking place in the summer. Ideally finishing post-production in December 2026, and releasing The Grey Veil Haunt into festivals for the beginning of 2027.
How else can you support?
Beyond financial support, you can help by spreading the word, amplifying the campaign online, engaging with our updates, and sharing the project with communities that value independent cinema. Community visibility is vital to this film’s success. If you are simply inspired by this project, feel free to reach out! If you’re local to western Massachusetts, there will be plenty of opportunities to be involved – if you aren’t as physically accessible, reach out anyways! We’re excited to see this community grow as The Grey Veil Haunt comes to life.
Wishlist
Use the WishList to Pledge cash and Loan items - or - Make a pledge by selecting an Incentive directly.
The Places
Costs $2,000
Western Massachusetts is an ethereal kind of place, magic still needs to be rented sometimes. This fund helps us secure these locations.
The People
Costs $5,000
Filmmaking is built on performance. Our biggest investment is fairly paying the talented collaborators who make this work possible.
The Vibes
Costs $1,500
Great cinematography needs a great world. Production design creates the spaces where the camera can truly shine.
The Mechanism
Costs $2,000
Films are made by many hands. The more skilled and thoughtful the team, the better the film—and fair pay lets that happen.
Maslow's Basic Necessities
Costs $1,500
Keep us fed! Film sets frequently run too rigidly to allow a rolling lunch hour, catering and food help keep us on schedule and happy!
Cash Pledge
Costs $0
Direct link:
Share this update!
About This Team
We are three Massachusetts based filmmakers that write, direct and produce indie films. Starting together at Massachusetts College of Art, we’ve spent over a decade bouncing between each other’s projects, including our feature-length premiere, The Making of a Deathbed, in addition to a myriad of smaller projects.
Lilly Dickinson
DIRECTOR
Lilly Dickinson is a transgender director, writer, and film music composer from western Massachusetts. Since 2011 Dickinson has been writing, directing, and scoring micro budget DIY Short and Feature Length films that explore existential questions, mental health, and identity. With metaphoric imagery and voyeuristic cinematography, Dickinson’s abstract narratives mix the disorienting and harsh world of nonlinear storytelling with vignettes of vulnerability and intimacy. Dickinson’s first feature film The Making of a Deathbed premiered at the New Hampshire Film Festival in 2022 and was awarded Outstanding Achievement in the Experimental Feature category at the 2023 Massachusetts Independent Film Festival. Dickinson’s music scores and sound designs have also been featured in films screened at the New York Film Festival in Lincoln Center and the NYC Performa Biennial in 2021. Since graduating with a Bachelors of Fine Arts in Film and Video from Massachusetts College of Art and Design in 2017, Dickinson has worked as a Video Producer and Production Coordinator for Berklee College of Music’s online school, Berklee Online.
Jagger Perusse
ASSISTANT DIRECTOR/CO-PRODUCER
Jagger Perusse is a multidisciplinary filmmaker, having worked professionally in nearly every production department across a career in independent film. Most relevant, Perusse has assistant directed and assistant produced on several independent horror short films. The driving force of his career has been to help support a director achieve their vision however possible. Using the cross departmental knowledge of filmmaking to effectively communicate and keep a production moving on schedule has been one of the most vital achievements on any of his projects. Perusse graduated from the Massachusetts College of Art and Design in 2017 having studied Film and Video, spent a number of years working freelance in Grip and Electric, as a DIT, and heading the audio department for a number of projects, both personal and commercial. Most recently, starting in 2020, he has held the Video Editor position at Berklee College of Music’s online school, Berklee Online, while holding down a robust freelance practice, involving himself in a broad number of production communities across Boston, Somerville, and Cambridge, MA.
Casey Cann
PRODUCER
Casey Cann is a visual media artist whose work straddles the boundaries of traditional visual mediums. Making his first music video as early as high school, film has been a driving passion all through his life. Cann pursued a dual degree in Film/Video and Studio for Interrelated Media (SIM) at Massachusetts College of Art and Design. Cann's creative projects reflect an enduring fascination with collective efforts and the unexpected beauty of shared artistic spaces. Following graduation, Cann joined the Derek Bok Center for Teaching and Learning at Harvard University. This role evolved over the course of 9 years, where Cann honed a huge variety of skills in motion graphics, 3D modeling, game design, programming, and machine learning tools for image manipulation. As part of an R&D lab dedicated to supporting faculty in creating distinctive media experiences, Cann thrives on the diverse challenges and niche requests that each project brings, cultivating an inventive problem-solving approach and a deep technical expertise. These days, Cann has moved over to teaching multimedia and making at Thayer Academy. Cann’s personal work is marked by an enduring commitment to low-budget, high-impact filmmaking. Cann collaborated with fellow artists on an ambitious five-year micro-budget feature film project, The Making of a Deathbed, with director Lilly Dickinson. Premiering at the New Hampshire Film Festival and receiving several nominations and awards across its festival run, it was a labor of love that solidified his belief in the power of experimental narratives and community-driven production.
Daphne Always
MELANIE
Daphne Always is a performing artist with over a decade in New York nightlife, stage, and screen. Praised as "the exceedingly charming star chanteuse" by TimeOut New York and "a beacon of resilience, joy, and authenticity" by GayIceland, she's a resident hostess at Alan Cumming's East Village cabaret Club Cumming, as well as the House of Yes, Bathtub Gin, and the Lower East Side's variety theater, the Slipper Room. Acting highlights include "Regina" in the Drama Desk-nominated play The Voices In Your Head, features in HBO's The Deuce and Marc Webb's The Only Living Boy in New York, and music video appearances for Ezra Furman, Fred Schneider, The Knocks, and ZHU. Her own short film with Emmy-nominee Amanda Mustard, SECONDS, appeared in festivals around the world.
Current Team
Incentives
- The Story
- Wishlist
- Updates
- The Team
- Community
Mission Statement
The Story
The Grey Veil Haunt is centered around a simple idea that has horrifying ramifications – that there exists an “Us” and a “Them.” There is an ever-present veil that splits us off from others, clouding our vision, separating, isolating, and preventing us from connecting to each other. This stops us from seeing the truth. The film’s core themes navigate this unknown space, swim in the isolating self-doubt it creates, and reveal the hidden horrors of being treated as one of “Them.”
We envision placing the audience alongside our main character in the narrative – alone, with everyone else she relies on distant. To achieve this effect, we place the audience behind the dense foggy forest, inside the solitary spirit cabinet, dialing unanswered phone calls, and standing behind the vandalized windows of our main character’s home. In this isolated space, we wish to paint more questions than answers.
We want audiences to leave asking about their own beliefs. Why do we believe what we believe? Is it for selfish or destructive reasons? Are our beliefs damaging? Are we afraid to have faith in anything else besides ourselves? We hope raising these questions in a film starring a trans character will take that self-reflection a step further—asking why people hate others, and how we might lift this veil.
Though this story began from a deeply personal place, we cannot make it alone. We value working with a small, personally invested crew and using the limitations of a smaller production to make intentional creative choices. The Grey Veil Haunt is more than a film, it is a conversation about belonging and an attempt to be understood.
The Story:
Melanie is a transgender woman and medium living alone in a foggy New England forest. Isolated and quietly unraveling, she struggles with a growing crisis of faith in her abilities and her place in the world. As she moves through her routines, the boundaries between the ordinary and the supernatural begin to blur. In the surrounding woods, Melanie discovers a fogless clearing with seven tree stumps arranged in a perfect circle, a sacred space that offers momentary peace as her belief in herself begins to falter.
Seeking to prove her self worth and share her experiences, Melanie forms a seance circle of seven clients drawn from letters expressing a need to connect with the spirit world. Among them are Harriet, a writer with hidden intentions, and Tom, a man dedicated to God. As the sessions deepen, unexplained events occur—strange lights appear, objects move, and the group is shaken by moments that resist rational explanation.
When hidden truths are suddenly revealed the status quo is threatened - doubt spreads, motivations clash, and belief within the circle becomes unstable. Melanie is branded a fraud and the circle is broken. Melanie’s home is vandalized, threats escalate, and fear turns violent. Forced to flee into the forest, Melanie is drawn back to the sacred clearing, where she faces a final test of her faith.
As the unknowable truths close in, Melanie, Harriet, and Tom must reckon with what it means to believe – in themselves, in each other, and in the world beyond the veil.
Team
Slanted Ceiling Pictures is made up of three Massachusetts based filmmakers that write, direct and produce indie films. Starting together at Massachusetts College of Art, we’ve spent over a decade bouncing between each other’s projects, including our feature-length premiere, The Making of a Deathbed, in addition to a myriad of smaller projects. Discover more about our previous projects and what we’re currently working on at https://www.slantedceilingpictures.com/
Where are we?
We are currently in the process of casting, we have a full script and storyboard, a detailed script breakdown, we’ve identified and reached agreements with the majority of our locations, key crew members have signed on for most creative roles, as well as our lead actress, Daphne Always.
Through a partnership with the Western Massachusetts LGBTQ business collaborative, Bloom Local , we’ve been able to create meaningful connections in the Pioneer Valley with local businesses and creatives. We’ve had the pleasure of already collaborating with the Queer Joy Chorus from Northampton, MA. By recording samples of their voices we’ve begun crafting elements for the original musical score of the film.
We have the benefit of a collection of equipment, pulled together over the course of our first feature film and a myriad of other, small productions and projects since then. This positions us uniquely to produce a film like this, as we have no need to rent or source equipment. We are aiming to start production in the spring, with the majority of it taking place in the summer. Ideally finishing post-production in December 2026, and releasing The Grey Veil Haunt into festivals for the beginning of 2027.
How else can you support?
Beyond financial support, you can help by spreading the word, amplifying the campaign online, engaging with our updates, and sharing the project with communities that value independent cinema. Community visibility is vital to this film’s success. If you are simply inspired by this project, feel free to reach out! If you’re local to western Massachusetts, there will be plenty of opportunities to be involved – if you aren’t as physically accessible, reach out anyways! We’re excited to see this community grow as The Grey Veil Haunt comes to life.
Wishlist
Use the WishList to Pledge cash and Loan items - or - Make a pledge by selecting an Incentive directly.
The Places
Costs $2,000
Western Massachusetts is an ethereal kind of place, magic still needs to be rented sometimes. This fund helps us secure these locations.
The People
Costs $5,000
Filmmaking is built on performance. Our biggest investment is fairly paying the talented collaborators who make this work possible.
The Vibes
Costs $1,500
Great cinematography needs a great world. Production design creates the spaces where the camera can truly shine.
The Mechanism
Costs $2,000
Films are made by many hands. The more skilled and thoughtful the team, the better the film—and fair pay lets that happen.
Maslow's Basic Necessities
Costs $1,500
Keep us fed! Film sets frequently run too rigidly to allow a rolling lunch hour, catering and food help keep us on schedule and happy!
Cash Pledge
Costs $0
Direct link:
Share this update!
About This Team
We are three Massachusetts based filmmakers that write, direct and produce indie films. Starting together at Massachusetts College of Art, we’ve spent over a decade bouncing between each other’s projects, including our feature-length premiere, The Making of a Deathbed, in addition to a myriad of smaller projects.
Lilly Dickinson
DIRECTOR
Lilly Dickinson is a transgender director, writer, and film music composer from western Massachusetts. Since 2011 Dickinson has been writing, directing, and scoring micro budget DIY Short and Feature Length films that explore existential questions, mental health, and identity. With metaphoric imagery and voyeuristic cinematography, Dickinson’s abstract narratives mix the disorienting and harsh world of nonlinear storytelling with vignettes of vulnerability and intimacy. Dickinson’s first feature film The Making of a Deathbed premiered at the New Hampshire Film Festival in 2022 and was awarded Outstanding Achievement in the Experimental Feature category at the 2023 Massachusetts Independent Film Festival. Dickinson’s music scores and sound designs have also been featured in films screened at the New York Film Festival in Lincoln Center and the NYC Performa Biennial in 2021. Since graduating with a Bachelors of Fine Arts in Film and Video from Massachusetts College of Art and Design in 2017, Dickinson has worked as a Video Producer and Production Coordinator for Berklee College of Music’s online school, Berklee Online.
Jagger Perusse
ASSISTANT DIRECTOR/CO-PRODUCER
Jagger Perusse is a multidisciplinary filmmaker, having worked professionally in nearly every production department across a career in independent film. Most relevant, Perusse has assistant directed and assistant produced on several independent horror short films. The driving force of his career has been to help support a director achieve their vision however possible. Using the cross departmental knowledge of filmmaking to effectively communicate and keep a production moving on schedule has been one of the most vital achievements on any of his projects. Perusse graduated from the Massachusetts College of Art and Design in 2017 having studied Film and Video, spent a number of years working freelance in Grip and Electric, as a DIT, and heading the audio department for a number of projects, both personal and commercial. Most recently, starting in 2020, he has held the Video Editor position at Berklee College of Music’s online school, Berklee Online, while holding down a robust freelance practice, involving himself in a broad number of production communities across Boston, Somerville, and Cambridge, MA.
Casey Cann
PRODUCER
Casey Cann is a visual media artist whose work straddles the boundaries of traditional visual mediums. Making his first music video as early as high school, film has been a driving passion all through his life. Cann pursued a dual degree in Film/Video and Studio for Interrelated Media (SIM) at Massachusetts College of Art and Design. Cann's creative projects reflect an enduring fascination with collective efforts and the unexpected beauty of shared artistic spaces. Following graduation, Cann joined the Derek Bok Center for Teaching and Learning at Harvard University. This role evolved over the course of 9 years, where Cann honed a huge variety of skills in motion graphics, 3D modeling, game design, programming, and machine learning tools for image manipulation. As part of an R&D lab dedicated to supporting faculty in creating distinctive media experiences, Cann thrives on the diverse challenges and niche requests that each project brings, cultivating an inventive problem-solving approach and a deep technical expertise. These days, Cann has moved over to teaching multimedia and making at Thayer Academy. Cann’s personal work is marked by an enduring commitment to low-budget, high-impact filmmaking. Cann collaborated with fellow artists on an ambitious five-year micro-budget feature film project, The Making of a Deathbed, with director Lilly Dickinson. Premiering at the New Hampshire Film Festival and receiving several nominations and awards across its festival run, it was a labor of love that solidified his belief in the power of experimental narratives and community-driven production.
Daphne Always
MELANIE
Daphne Always is a performing artist with over a decade in New York nightlife, stage, and screen. Praised as "the exceedingly charming star chanteuse" by TimeOut New York and "a beacon of resilience, joy, and authenticity" by GayIceland, she's a resident hostess at Alan Cumming's East Village cabaret Club Cumming, as well as the House of Yes, Bathtub Gin, and the Lower East Side's variety theater, the Slipper Room. Acting highlights include "Regina" in the Drama Desk-nominated play The Voices In Your Head, features in HBO's The Deuce and Marc Webb's The Only Living Boy in New York, and music video appearances for Ezra Furman, Fred Schneider, The Knocks, and ZHU. Her own short film with Emmy-nominee Amanda Mustard, SECONDS, appeared in festivals around the world.