The Sound a Soul Makes

Los Angeles, California | Film Short

Drama, Experimental

Karl Stelter

2 Campaigns | California, United States

Green Light

This campaign raised $6,575 for post-production. Follow the filmmaker to receive future updates on this project.

72 supporters | followers

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Using the universal language of music and dance, The Sound a Soul Makes brings to life the emotional journey of a miscarriage by imagining a world where the child and parents get to meet and fall in love, if only for a short time.

About The Project

  • The Story
  • Wishlist
  • Updates
  • The Team
  • Community

Mission Statement

Miscarriage is an unspoken word in our culture - yet it’s both shockingly common, and profoundly painful. And people are often going through it alone. Based on a poem I wrote the day we lost our first pregnancy, this film recognizes all the souls we’ve never met, but loved with our whole hearts.

The Story

All good things start, and end, with love.

My wife and I were married 5 years before we decided we were ready to be parents, and 2 years later in 2019, we found out my wife Rachel was pregnant for the first time. And we were psyched. We bought silly t-shirts that said ‘Mama Bear’ and ‘Papa Bear’ to tell our parents. We came up with silly nicknames for our unborn child. We got silly cards for our grandparents.

But those cards we never sent.

Shortly after ordering them we found out our Little Bean was gone at a routine check up. We sat in the room as the doctor searched and searched for a heartbeat, eventually looking to us to break the news - but we already knew. The next few days were a blur, but I distinctly remember putting my head next to Rachel’s stomach, and allowing myself to say goodbye. It was the hardest I’ve ever cried in my life.

And we both grieved in secret - not because we meant to, but because everything around us made it impossible to talk about it. Seeing kids at a park. The baby stuff we had at home and didn’t know what to do with. Friends announcing they were pregnant.

But no one ever, not once, talked openly about loss in the process of creating life.

Which made grieving that much harder, isolating, and unexpected.

Yet as we slowly opened up to our closest friends, something surprised us: everyone we talked to had either experienced a miscarriage, or was close to someone who had. And we drew some level of comfort there, because there’s nothing anyone can say or do in those moments, other than to just be there.

Just as we publicly grieve, acknowledge and cherish the moments we had with loved ones who walked this earth with us - this film is meant to do the same for those souls we keep in our hearts.

So before going further, I want to acknowledge those who have had, or continue to have difficulty starting a family. My heart goes out to you, and I want you to know that you are not alone.

Below is the poem I wrote the day we lost Little Bean, which evolved into The Sound a Soul Makes.

We waited at the Glass Wall.

Searching through the shifting darkness

until we found you

shaping our imaginations.


We waited at the Glass Wall.

Barriers melting as our hearts raced together

through time

for the first time.


We waited at the Glass Wall.

But you couldn’t say hello.

Your silence.


Our silence.

 

Unwillingly etched in time.

1. CONTRIBUTE. If you resonate with the project, your financial support will enable us to bring The Sound a Soul Makes to life with the same level of artistry and craftsmanship we’ve put into it over the last 1.5 years. But even moreso, you’re empowering a conversation around something that words fail to adequately express.

2. SHARE. Film is meant to be a shared experience, and emailing a few close friends who you think would resonate is the best way to share, followed closely by social shares. Every additional person we get involved matters.

3. FOLLOW. This one’s easy - just click the blue ‘follow’ button at the top of the page! By following the project, you’ll get to track with the film as it moves towards completion, and as a bonus, it helps us unlock incentives Seed&Spark offers as we gain followers. So...let’s get clicking!

Excited to share the campaign? So are we! Here are a few words you can use to kick off your social posts:

  • Miscarriage is shockingly common, painful, and difficult to talk about - so I'm proud to be supporting a film that gives voice to those who've experienced it. It absolutely looks breathtaking.
  • Art is meant to give voice to those moments that take our breath away - and this film does just that. So excited to be supporting The Sound a Soul Makes, and can't wait to see it come to life!

After sharing the poem to Rachel, I asked her permission to try and translate this into a film - something that could search for understanding, or at least bring some amount of catharsis to our lives. To remember the moment we got to say hello. To search for a way to say goodbye.

With her support, I slowly translated this poem into the bones of a short film that would use only the universal language of music, movement, and light - because after months of trying, there are simply no words that can express the journey of falling in love with and losing a soul you thought you'd meet.

I put together a team of the most talented people I know - starting with Sundance composer and The Long Goodbye collaborator Christy Carew to craft the music that would represent the journey. And wow did she deliver.

Listen to the score composed for "The Sound a Soul Makes"

The next stroke of luck was finding Arian Winn, a brilliant choreographer who delicately paired the music with dance to tell a visual story that is absolutely breathtaking. And to bring it all together, I tapped long-time collaborator and cinematographer Luc Delamare, who masterminded all the beautiful shots on the beach.

That day was 3/9/20 - just before COVID. Our next shoot day was 3/15...which as you may have guessed, was cancelled. 

And we waited almost one and a half years to safely film the second half - and on 6/8/21, it was brought to life by the exceptionally talented cinematographer Nathaniel Regier.

Yes! And as you can see from the production stills above, we are so, so excited about the footage, and we’ve navigated through every challenge in the book to get this far - but that’s only half the battle.

Everything to this point has been entirely self-funded, and we need your support to bring this film home in post-production (editing, color, sound design, mixing / mastering), VFX, and to help cover festival fees (Slamdance, SXSW, Cannes, etc).

STRETCH GOALS

  • If we raise $7,000 we'll be to cover the cost of running our campaign!
  • If we raise $9,500 we'll be able to cover equipment rentals.
  • If we raise $11,500 we'll be able to cover location costs.
  • If we raise $13,500 we'll be able to record the original score with LIVE musicians in a studio!

Frames from The Sound a Soul Makes, Day 1

Frames from The Sound a Soul Makes, Day 2.

Some behind-the-scenes!

As you may have felt from my first film The Long Goodbye, my raison d'être as a filmmaker is to take the most difficult moments I’ve experienced personally, and channel them into a format that can make a difference for others.

The Sound a Soul Makes is by far my most personal endeavor, and if it resonates with you, your support means the world to me.

Wishlist

Use the WishList to Pledge cash and Loan items - or - Make a pledge by selecting an Incentive directly.

Editing

Costs $3,000

Breathing life into the footage we so beautifully captured!

Color

Costs $1,500

The only grade we'll settle for is A+. This is a bad joke. I'm sorry.

Festival Fees

Costs $750

Butts in seats y'all - let's get this film out there!

VFX

Costs $750

Adding that extra "umph" to a few select shots to really make them shine!

Cash Pledge

Costs $0

About This Team

KARL STELTER | WRITER, DIRECTOR, PRODUCER

Initially drawn to film because he felt it was the most powerful way to try and understand and connect with the world, at 24 Karl committed to moving to Los Angeles and teaching himself filmmaking from scratch. Now, 11 years later, his "day job" is directing commercials and documentaries for brands, most recently directing a spot for Mother's Day 2020 that has gone on to be recognized as one of the top broadcast commercials of the year by the ADCC. 

Additionally, Karl's consistent passion for powerful stories has led him to write, direct and produce deeply personal films like The Long Goodbye, Fight Forever, and The Good Wolf

This film is set to be his most personal yet.

PAUL MAJOR | PRODUCER

Paul Major is a multi-hyphenate storyteller with two decades of credits in various aspects of filmmaking, from pre-through-post. He is most recently a semi-finalist In ScreenCraft's 2020 Stage Play competition and has been thrilled to advise and assist Karl as needed.

CHRISTY CAREW | COMPOSER

Christy is a Canadian-American composer of music for film, TV, advertising, multi-media and the concert world. She considers herself first and foremost a storyteller, and feels honored to collaborate with directors on pieces of art that impact, uplift, transport and comfort those who experience them. She is also an alumna of the prestigious Sundance Institute Film Music and Sound Design Lab at Skywalker Sound (2018) and the renowned ASCAP Film Scoring Workshop (2019).

ARIAN WINN | CHOREOGRAPHER

Arian Winn Russell is an LA based choreographer and movement educator. Originally from Atlanta, she graduated from The Boston Conservatory, and has since performed professionally with esteemed choreographers in San Francisco, Portland, Atlanta, Boston and Los Angeles.

Having spent her entire life studying the art of dance, Arian is happy to be sharing her passion for movement in a variety of forms. Whether it is collaborating on film and music video projects, teaching ballet to 3 year olds, or exploring the biomechanics of movement one-on-one with clients in her private training practice, Arian’s approach is to help bring awareness and grace to movement that encourages creative and fulfilling expression.

ARIANA DAUB | DANCER

Ariana is an LA based contemporary dancer inspired by the human body and movement.

NATALIE ISCOVICH | DANCER

Natalie is an LA based dancer, assistant, and choreographer. She has been working regionally in SoCal since graduating from Chapman University with a BFA in Dance Performance. 

MICAH MOCH | DANCER

Selected by the renowned Dance Magazine as 25 dancers to watch worldwide, Micah Moch is a Los Angeles based dancer, choreographer, creative movement director, and performance capture artist. With performances in Brazil, China, Russia, Serbia, Canada, and Mexico and over 40 states in the U.S. at the world’s leading concert halls such as Lincoln Center, Jacob’s Pillow, the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion,  and the Hollywood Bowl, Micah is known for his seamless, visually striking, and powerful use of movement and space.

With 17 years of dance training and professional experience, he has performed works by legendary choreographers Rennie Harris, Donald McKayle, Lewis Johnson, and James Truitte. In 2015, Micah was the principal male leader dance for David Middendorp’s multi-media ballet Blue Journey in NBC’s 42 city America’s Got Talent tour.

LUC DELAMARE | CINEMATOGRAPHER

Luc Delamare is a Los Angeles based Director of Photography whose initial passion for film developed as a self taught Visual Effects Compositor. Born in Silicon Valley, Luc Delamare grew up splitting his time between his hometown of Los Altos and Southern France.

After studying graphic design and film production at the Freestyle Academy of Communication and Arts Technology, Luc moved to Los Angeles to attend the School of Film and Television at Loyola Marymount University where his passion for cinematography grew.

Following his formal education, Luc has built an extensive portfolio that encompasses a diverse array of formats and genres, including feature film, documentary, web series, music videos, and now virtual production. Luc’s commercial DP work has featured personalities such as Olivia Munn, Alex Morgan and Canelo Alvarez.  As a VFX supervisor he has worked with various clients including Apple, NASA, Western Union, Vivo, and 20th Century Fox.

NATHANIEL REGIER | CINEMATOGRAPHER

Nathaniel was born in the beautiful landscape of Calgary, Canada only to quickly be swept off to the bustling city of Houston, TX. His combined love for the mountains and city was stimulating his visual mind long before he discovered film making. Once that discovery was made, he never looked back, passionately pursuing visual storytelling.

His portfolio includes a variety of projects and directors including many narrative pieces and music videos; many of which have gone on to receive several different awards around the country. He is currently located in Los Angeles, working abroad and is available for freelance.

RACHEL STELTER | SPECIAL THANKS

Rachel is Karl's wife and loving mom to their 15 month old daughter Leah. She has been by Karl's side for life's ups and downs, and throughout the journey of bringing this deeply meaningful film to life. She hopes it will give voice to what many couples are feeling in their hearts but often can't put words to. 

Current Team

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