The Right Key
Glen Ellyn, Illinois | Film Short
Drama
In life, we often find ourselves in front of closed doors, believing we don’t have a key to open them. The Right Key is about searching for a deeper meaning and reminding you that the right key to open any closed door is always with you, it just might not be what you’d think.
The Right Key
Glen Ellyn, Illinois | Film Short
Drama
1 Campaigns | Illinois, United States
Green Light
This campaign raised $4,010 for production. Follow the filmmaker to receive future updates on this project.
44 supporters | followers
Enter the amount you would like to pledge
In life, we often find ourselves in front of closed doors, believing we don’t have a key to open them. The Right Key is about searching for a deeper meaning and reminding you that the right key to open any closed door is always with you, it just might not be what you’d think.
About The Project
- The Story
- Wishlist
- Updates
- The Team
- Community
Mission Statement
The Story
The Right Key tells a story of a little girl named Julie who moves into a new house with her mother, Amelia, after their family just went through a divorce. Carrying heavy boxes into the home together, they also bring with them a heavy feeling. Nothing will be the same anymore.
Julie is given a handful of keys and is tasked to find each key's rightful door all while her mother is preoccupied with the difficulties of settling into their new home and dealing with feelings of her own. Between catching glimpses of her mother struggling and struggling in her own way, little Julie comes to a realization that maybe, there is another key she has besides physical ones but within herself. She has a special key that will always unlock her mothers heart, her unconditional love and now she knows exactly how to use it.
When I was a kid, I remember, I was given a little red bag full of keys. My family, I suspect, found it in the cemetery where all the useless things in my house reside — the attic. They entrusted me with the mission of finding a purpose for it. At the time, I failed the task. The bag of keys, after some time of senseless babysitting in my hands, was forgotten who-knows-where. However, the idea of finding a purpose for it never left my mind. Years later, I am finishing my original task by giving it another meaning. I found a use for it in the film.
In life, from time to time we find ourselves in front of closed doors, obstacles that do not let us move forward. Sometimes, it’s because of someone’s unwillingness to listen, our own anger, grief, tiredness, disappointment, lack of will or desire, you name it. We need a key to open this door and overcome it. And very often we forget that actually we’ve always been carrying this key withs us: a kind word, a warm hug, willingness to be present in the moment or listen to others when they need it. It’s been with us all along.
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Julie
Julie's color scheme will have a bright and warm feel to it bringing innocences and light to the film.
Julie is a clever yet naïve, little 7 year old who looks for the brightness in everything.
With a new situation at hand that entails, moving houses and leaving behind memories and people, Julie is faced with a lot of confusion. Life as she knew it is getting flipped on its head and she needs to come up with a solution.
Her character represents simplicity, creativity and the desire to make the world around us kinder than it is.
She brings, to the film, the idea that sometimes, you're inner child knows more than your adult self and it's important to keep them with you always!
Amelia
Amelia's color scheme will stay in the warmer hues while also bringing in a bit of darkness to the film.
Amelia is a woman that just went through a divorce. It takes a lot of her emotional and physical energy to deal with such stress.
Her character represents the idea that in our adult lives, we sometimes fall down. Overwhelmed and consumed by stress and responsibilities, we forget to see the light around us.
We want to create an arch for this character giving her a resolution at the end showcasing a deeper emotional triumph through connection and new understandings with her daughter.
We are a group of like minded individuals on a path in filmmaking.
We are working to create a meaningful project for us and you while sharpening our skills and growing to be stronger filmmakers together.
Coming from a place of each of our own inner childs, we want this film to be something meaningful to everyone.
We’ll be producing this film as our capstone production for our film degree. Working together from screenwriting to coloring and everything in between, we can't wait to share our film film you.
This campaign will help us with distribution, securing locations, production design, and a lot more. Here’s where we will be allocating the funds we raise.
We need your help to make this film a reality.
Film production is a costly endeavor and any contribution goes a long way in helping us bring our story to life. We need all the support we can get to reach our goal and at least 80% of our goal to receive any funds from this campaign.
Even if you can’t help out financially there is so much you can do to support our journey.
One of the most valuable things you can do to help is simply by spreading the word about our project.
Either by sharing our Seed&Spark link: www.seedandspark.com/fund/therightkeyfilm or our progress throughout the journey.
Share The Right Key!
- With your friends and family
- Post about it on social media
- Tell anyone who may be interested
We are working really hard to make something that we fully believe in and think you’ll really like.
We were all children once and bringing light to those little moments is something we strongly believe in.
Stay updated on our fundraising journey!
Follow Us!
- Here on Seed&Spark! www.seedandspark.com/fund/therightkeyfilm
- Our other social media pages: Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook
We look forward to sharing our progress with you!
We truly appreciate your support and can't wait to share the final product with you. Thank you for being a part of our journey.
Wishlist
Use the WishList to Pledge cash and Loan items - or - Make a pledge by selecting an Incentive directly.
Child Actor Accommodations
Costs $400
Following SAG guidelines, we want to make sure our main actor, Julie, will be properly cared for.
Distribution
Costs $1,000
For getting our story seen and submitted to as many film festivals as we can!
Contingencies
Costs $550
For any hiccups along the way making sure we will finish our film on schedule!
Share this update!
About This Team
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Zoia Shumak - Director
Zoia is an international exchange student from Ukraine. Her life has never been predicting any connection to the film industry before but once she came to the United States that changed. Back home, she used to be involved in theatrical plays and at some point tried both, acting and directing. However, only as a hobby. In Ukraine, she has graduated from college in Journalism, Publishing and Editing major but nearly two years ago she switched her major to Film/Video Production. All her life she has been passionate about the process of creating and sharing stories with the world. Now, she does it through films. Her favorite movies are of all the different genres, but what’s in common about them, they are the ones that leave her thinking deeper afterwards.
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Nadia Sanane - Producer
Nadia is originally from London, England. She has a wide range of skills in the field including Camera, Lighting and Producing. Nadia has always been fascinated by cinematography and color in film but also loves bringing people together through film. With her skills, Nadia has worked on multiple films including The Puppet by Sergio Bauza, Birthday by Sean Lee, Afterparty by Everardo Garcia and various other short films. Her favorite films include Arrival (2016) Whiplash (2014) and La La Land (2016).
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Oleksii Horbatenko - Director of Photography
Oleksii is originally from Ukraine but came to study in Illinois. He has always enjoyed creating unique ideas in different industries. He has sought to try new hobbies and through that has developed many skills including Modelling, Graphic Design, Film Composing and Sound Design. Recently, he has found his passion for film and began studying Film Production. Today, he focuses primarily on Cinematography and developing himself as a Director of Photography.
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Calum Draper - Editor
Calum is a filmmaker in the west suburbs of Chicago who has experience in Directing, Editing and Screenwriting. He has directed and edited multiple short films at The College of DuPage and will continue making short films in years to come. Some of his favourite films are Close Encounters of the Third Kind (1977), Days of Being Wild (1990) and Malcolm X (1992).
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Catherine Antlept - Head of Production Design
Catherine is a film student who grew up in Skokie Illinois. She has many different talents in the field. She’s had experience directing, producing, acting, and production designing for many different short films. She fell in love with the aesthetic composition in film, and how it can make someone feel, and grew to take up a special interest in the art department. Catherine has experience being a production designer on Birthday, The Puppet, and many other films. She has an eye for beauty and loves making aesthetics come to life. Some of her favorite films include La La Land (2016), The Grand Budapest Hotel (2014), The Sound of Music (1965), and Singin’ in the Rain (1952).
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David Cohn - Assistant Director
David is a film student who specialises in creating music videos, he has worked with handful of Chicago land artists for different types of events such as punk shows, rap shows etc. He also works his hands into corporate video production filming for local companies such as Mi Box. He continues to work had he finishes his associates and strives to create a long-lasting career in the cinematography industry. His favorite films include The Batman (2022), Goodfellas (1990) and Baby Driver (2017).
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Kseniia Kolos - Casting Director
Kseniia is originally from Ukraine. She moved to the United States 5 years ago and decided to change her career from medicine to art. She is getting her associate's degree in filming at the College of DuPage. Writing novels and short stories has always been her passion since she was 9 years old. Being a Casting Director for The Right Key is something that is very exciting for Kseniia. Looking into the psychology of characters is something she finds very interesting and she can't wait to assist the director in finding the perfect cast. Her favorite films include Pulp Fiction (1994), Devil Wears Prada (2006), Snatch (2000).
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Mikolaj Dabrowski - Screenwriter
Mikolaj is a film student, originally from Warsaw, Poland. He is passionate about film and hopes to transfer to DePaul next year to continue film studies. His favorite movies include Casablanca (1942), Good Will Hunting (1997), The Dark Knight (2008) and How I Became a Gangster (2020).
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Nic Paar - Gaffer
Nic is originally from Vancouver, Canada. He is a talented young filmmaker who’s passionate about making visually stunning scenes. He is skilled in both lighting and visual effects which makes him a valuable team member to any film production team. He has had experience on multiple films including Seeds of Change and The Puppet. His favorite movies include I'm Thinking of Ending Things (2020), The Big Short (2015) and 99 Homes (2014).
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Andrew Umana - Key Grip
Andrew is a Latino Cinematographer from Illinois. He loves bike riding, collecting vinyls, film photography and reading manga. Andrew is passionate about working in film because he likes to explore the visual possibilities of film storytelling. His favorite films include Scott Pilgrim vs. the World (2010), The Social Network (2010) and Y tu mama tambien (2001).
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Alexia Lukose - Assistant Production Design
Alexia is an aspiring filmmaker who shows skills to be a part of the production design department. From starting off as a script supervisor to Assistant Director, she found a passion to make scenes come to life through the visuals seen on screen when put on as a Production Designer. The details entail the story you just have to look close enough, everything shown has a meaning, a purpose and she finds joy in connecting the set to the story. Her favorite films include any film from the Harry Potter series or Solo (2017).
.jpg)
Solonenko Oleksandra - Set Photographer
Solonenko Oleksandra grew up in a small village in western Ukraine where her love for the arts and creativity first developed. During her school years, she was involved in a variety of activities including acting, singing, poetry recitation, and playing the flute in the school orchestra. After completing her secondary education, Oleksandra decided to study computer engineering in college. However, her interests shifted when she was awarded a scholarship to study digital media and mass communication in the US. She discovered her passion for photography at College of Dupage. Now, as she nears graduation, Oleksandra is pursuing a career in photography. While she takes on a variety of subjects, she has a particular interest in fashion photography. Her long-term goal is to start her own photography business and studio. With her diverse background and love for capturing beautiful moments through her lens, she is ready to take the next step in her photography journey.
Current Team
Incentives
- The Story
- Wishlist
- Updates
- The Team
- Community
Mission Statement
The Story
The Right Key tells a story of a little girl named Julie who moves into a new house with her mother, Amelia, after their family just went through a divorce. Carrying heavy boxes into the home together, they also bring with them a heavy feeling. Nothing will be the same anymore.
Julie is given a handful of keys and is tasked to find each key's rightful door all while her mother is preoccupied with the difficulties of settling into their new home and dealing with feelings of her own. Between catching glimpses of her mother struggling and struggling in her own way, little Julie comes to a realization that maybe, there is another key she has besides physical ones but within herself. She has a special key that will always unlock her mothers heart, her unconditional love and now she knows exactly how to use it.
When I was a kid, I remember, I was given a little red bag full of keys. My family, I suspect, found it in the cemetery where all the useless things in my house reside — the attic. They entrusted me with the mission of finding a purpose for it. At the time, I failed the task. The bag of keys, after some time of senseless babysitting in my hands, was forgotten who-knows-where. However, the idea of finding a purpose for it never left my mind. Years later, I am finishing my original task by giving it another meaning. I found a use for it in the film.
In life, from time to time we find ourselves in front of closed doors, obstacles that do not let us move forward. Sometimes, it’s because of someone’s unwillingness to listen, our own anger, grief, tiredness, disappointment, lack of will or desire, you name it. We need a key to open this door and overcome it. And very often we forget that actually we’ve always been carrying this key withs us: a kind word, a warm hug, willingness to be present in the moment or listen to others when they need it. It’s been with us all along.
Julie
Julie's color scheme will have a bright and warm feel to it bringing innocences and light to the film.
Julie is a clever yet naïve, little 7 year old who looks for the brightness in everything.
With a new situation at hand that entails, moving houses and leaving behind memories and people, Julie is faced with a lot of confusion. Life as she knew it is getting flipped on its head and she needs to come up with a solution.
Her character represents simplicity, creativity and the desire to make the world around us kinder than it is.
She brings, to the film, the idea that sometimes, you're inner child knows more than your adult self and it's important to keep them with you always!
Amelia
Amelia's color scheme will stay in the warmer hues while also bringing in a bit of darkness to the film.
Amelia is a woman that just went through a divorce. It takes a lot of her emotional and physical energy to deal with such stress.
Her character represents the idea that in our adult lives, we sometimes fall down. Overwhelmed and consumed by stress and responsibilities, we forget to see the light around us.
We want to create an arch for this character giving her a resolution at the end showcasing a deeper emotional triumph through connection and new understandings with her daughter.
We are a group of like minded individuals on a path in filmmaking.
We are working to create a meaningful project for us and you while sharpening our skills and growing to be stronger filmmakers together.
Coming from a place of each of our own inner childs, we want this film to be something meaningful to everyone.
We’ll be producing this film as our capstone production for our film degree. Working together from screenwriting to coloring and everything in between, we can't wait to share our film film you.
This campaign will help us with distribution, securing locations, production design, and a lot more. Here’s where we will be allocating the funds we raise.
We need your help to make this film a reality.
Film production is a costly endeavor and any contribution goes a long way in helping us bring our story to life. We need all the support we can get to reach our goal and at least 80% of our goal to receive any funds from this campaign.
Even if you can’t help out financially there is so much you can do to support our journey.
One of the most valuable things you can do to help is simply by spreading the word about our project.
Either by sharing our Seed&Spark link: www.seedandspark.com/fund/therightkeyfilm or our progress throughout the journey.
Share The Right Key!
- With your friends and family
- Post about it on social media
- Tell anyone who may be interested
We are working really hard to make something that we fully believe in and think you’ll really like.
We were all children once and bringing light to those little moments is something we strongly believe in.
Stay updated on our fundraising journey!
Follow Us!
- Here on Seed&Spark! www.seedandspark.com/fund/therightkeyfilm
- Our other social media pages: Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook
We look forward to sharing our progress with you!
We truly appreciate your support and can't wait to share the final product with you. Thank you for being a part of our journey.
Wishlist
Use the WishList to Pledge cash and Loan items - or - Make a pledge by selecting an Incentive directly.
Child Actor Accommodations
Costs $400
Following SAG guidelines, we want to make sure our main actor, Julie, will be properly cared for.
Distribution
Costs $1,000
For getting our story seen and submitted to as many film festivals as we can!
Contingencies
Costs $550
For any hiccups along the way making sure we will finish our film on schedule!
Share this update!
About This Team
Zoia Shumak - Director
Zoia is an international exchange student from Ukraine. Her life has never been predicting any connection to the film industry before but once she came to the United States that changed. Back home, she used to be involved in theatrical plays and at some point tried both, acting and directing. However, only as a hobby. In Ukraine, she has graduated from college in Journalism, Publishing and Editing major but nearly two years ago she switched her major to Film/Video Production. All her life she has been passionate about the process of creating and sharing stories with the world. Now, she does it through films. Her favorite movies are of all the different genres, but what’s in common about them, they are the ones that leave her thinking deeper afterwards.
Nadia Sanane - Producer
Nadia is originally from London, England. She has a wide range of skills in the field including Camera, Lighting and Producing. Nadia has always been fascinated by cinematography and color in film but also loves bringing people together through film. With her skills, Nadia has worked on multiple films including The Puppet by Sergio Bauza, Birthday by Sean Lee, Afterparty by Everardo Garcia and various other short films. Her favorite films include Arrival (2016) Whiplash (2014) and La La Land (2016).
Oleksii Horbatenko - Director of Photography
Oleksii is originally from Ukraine but came to study in Illinois. He has always enjoyed creating unique ideas in different industries. He has sought to try new hobbies and through that has developed many skills including Modelling, Graphic Design, Film Composing and Sound Design. Recently, he has found his passion for film and began studying Film Production. Today, he focuses primarily on Cinematography and developing himself as a Director of Photography.
Calum Draper - Editor
Calum is a filmmaker in the west suburbs of Chicago who has experience in Directing, Editing and Screenwriting. He has directed and edited multiple short films at The College of DuPage and will continue making short films in years to come. Some of his favourite films are Close Encounters of the Third Kind (1977), Days of Being Wild (1990) and Malcolm X (1992).
Catherine Antlept - Head of Production Design
Catherine is a film student who grew up in Skokie Illinois. She has many different talents in the field. She’s had experience directing, producing, acting, and production designing for many different short films. She fell in love with the aesthetic composition in film, and how it can make someone feel, and grew to take up a special interest in the art department. Catherine has experience being a production designer on Birthday, The Puppet, and many other films. She has an eye for beauty and loves making aesthetics come to life. Some of her favorite films include La La Land (2016), The Grand Budapest Hotel (2014), The Sound of Music (1965), and Singin’ in the Rain (1952).
David Cohn - Assistant Director
David is a film student who specialises in creating music videos, he has worked with handful of Chicago land artists for different types of events such as punk shows, rap shows etc. He also works his hands into corporate video production filming for local companies such as Mi Box. He continues to work had he finishes his associates and strives to create a long-lasting career in the cinematography industry. His favorite films include The Batman (2022), Goodfellas (1990) and Baby Driver (2017).
Kseniia Kolos - Casting Director
Kseniia is originally from Ukraine. She moved to the United States 5 years ago and decided to change her career from medicine to art. She is getting her associate's degree in filming at the College of DuPage. Writing novels and short stories has always been her passion since she was 9 years old. Being a Casting Director for The Right Key is something that is very exciting for Kseniia. Looking into the psychology of characters is something she finds very interesting and she can't wait to assist the director in finding the perfect cast. Her favorite films include Pulp Fiction (1994), Devil Wears Prada (2006), Snatch (2000).
Mikolaj Dabrowski - Screenwriter
Mikolaj is a film student, originally from Warsaw, Poland. He is passionate about film and hopes to transfer to DePaul next year to continue film studies. His favorite movies include Casablanca (1942), Good Will Hunting (1997), The Dark Knight (2008) and How I Became a Gangster (2020).
Nic Paar - Gaffer
Nic is originally from Vancouver, Canada. He is a talented young filmmaker who’s passionate about making visually stunning scenes. He is skilled in both lighting and visual effects which makes him a valuable team member to any film production team. He has had experience on multiple films including Seeds of Change and The Puppet. His favorite movies include I'm Thinking of Ending Things (2020), The Big Short (2015) and 99 Homes (2014).
Andrew Umana - Key Grip
Andrew is a Latino Cinematographer from Illinois. He loves bike riding, collecting vinyls, film photography and reading manga. Andrew is passionate about working in film because he likes to explore the visual possibilities of film storytelling. His favorite films include Scott Pilgrim vs. the World (2010), The Social Network (2010) and Y tu mama tambien (2001).
Alexia Lukose - Assistant Production Design
Alexia is an aspiring filmmaker who shows skills to be a part of the production design department. From starting off as a script supervisor to Assistant Director, she found a passion to make scenes come to life through the visuals seen on screen when put on as a Production Designer. The details entail the story you just have to look close enough, everything shown has a meaning, a purpose and she finds joy in connecting the set to the story. Her favorite films include any film from the Harry Potter series or Solo (2017).
Solonenko Oleksandra - Set Photographer
Solonenko Oleksandra grew up in a small village in western Ukraine where her love for the arts and creativity first developed. During her school years, she was involved in a variety of activities including acting, singing, poetry recitation, and playing the flute in the school orchestra. After completing her secondary education, Oleksandra decided to study computer engineering in college. However, her interests shifted when she was awarded a scholarship to study digital media and mass communication in the US. She discovered her passion for photography at College of Dupage. Now, as she nears graduation, Oleksandra is pursuing a career in photography. While she takes on a variety of subjects, she has a particular interest in fashion photography. Her long-term goal is to start her own photography business and studio. With her diverse background and love for capturing beautiful moments through her lens, she is ready to take the next step in her photography journey.