FML - a short film

Hello, friend! However you found this little fundraiser, welcome. We're making a short! In a month. It's a little nuts, but we want it to be the best it can, so we're hoping to raise a little money so we can compensate the wonderful folks we've got working on it. Our industry got hit quite hard in the past year and people have been out of work, so it's never been more important to take care of film crews well when we can.

This short film is a part of the Canadian Comedy Film Igniter, launched by Canadian Film Fest (CFF) and Firecracker Department to amplify the stories of emerging women and non-binary Canadian filmmakers. The month-long Igniter provides participants with a prompt to create a short film, with the support of both organizations. This is their first year and we are so excited to participate!

Beyond the Igniter, we are hoping to submit our film to various festivals and to do that, we want it to be the best quality we can achieve in the short amount of time.

So what is the film? Well, much of it takes place in a bathroom...

Cassie (40) squeezes by party-attendees in her parent's house and waddles into the bathroom, tossing her clothes into the tub (her pants are, regrettably, soaked through with blood). Her mom - lovely but wouldn't know a personal bubble if she burst it - barges in to check on her. Mortifying on all levels. Even more mortifying when Cassie realizes what's actually going on...

A story told in dissociation and sardonic humour, FML looks at the sometimes harrowing and startling nature of being person who can get pregnant. A dark comedy told in under 5 minutes and atop a toilet bowl. Tonally it's the personality of Phoebe Waller-Bridge in Fleabag, paired with the heart of Greta Lee in Past Lives.

So that's what we're doing! And who are we?

My name's Thea Gagliardi - I'm a queer producer/creator. I worked on TallBoyz, a wonderful sketch comedy series by four of the most delightful men in the world. Since then I've helped produce a couple of shorts.

Last year I helped with a short film called, Sara, and met my current collaborator, writer/director, Jess Hinkson.

Jess is an incredible artist, a talented creator and intuitive soul. She tears pages right out of her own story and bravely renders her pain in a darkly funny and painfully real way. I got to witness it on Sara and I'm excited to see it happen again on FML. Not only does she write fabulous art, but she is a sharp and sensitive director.

On top of that we also get to work with a few of our favourite people:

Naiyelli Romero Agüero, who is consulting and guiding us through all the tricky waters of short film work on low budgets; Matt Irwin: superstar cinematographer and sweetheart; and brand new to our team is Arielle Skolnik, who is our editing wizard.

Any funds we receive will go towards:

Any amount you can contribute is immensely appreciated. All donors will be included in the credits and cemented in our hearts!