Support a college student's newest horror-comedy short!

From the twisted minds behind THE CROONER comes a new absurdist horror comedy!

Welcome fiendish friends, perturbed parents, capricious college students, and anyone else who stumbles across our decrepit page. Thank you for clicking on the Medical Leave GoFundMe!

My name is John Earling. I'm a filmmaker from New Jersey and currently an anthropology/film double major at Wesleyan University in my second year. I have experience with all aspects of filmmaking, from writing, to directing, editing, and so much more! If you're interested, you can see some of my sample work here.

Last semester I worked with Cardinal Pictures, Wesleyan's student-run production house, to bring to life a short film known as THE CROONER. Medical Leave is its spiritual successor, bringing back the writing team and many in the crew and cast for another round!

THE CROONER (2023). Dir. John Earling.

Medical Leave is partly inspired by my own medical leave, which I took my first semester at college. I wanted to capture the feeling of a world where nothing made sense, including who I was. We discussed with other students about their own medical leaves, and we hope to reduce the stigma and celebrate their shared experiences/absurdities. We also hope people who have never taken a medical leave might see parts in the film that speak to them, such as trying to "perform" on a campus that doesn't always make sense! This is all tied together by a comedic and absurd storyline, as we think balancing stories about mental health with comedy can be an effective way to open up discussion surrounding it.

We've already received some generous support from the Wesleyan budget committee and other individuals, but we need just a little bit more to push us over the finish line and allow us to break even on the film. Anything, even just $5, will go a long way to help!

Keep on reading ahead for more info, I hope you'll consider funding this project!

LOGLINE: Medical Leave is a satirical and absurdist horror comedy following a Wesleyan student faking a nervous breakdown to trick the school into giving them medical leave. Planning to use their “vacation” time partying on campus; thrills, puppetry, and camp arise as their journey of reckless debauchery quickly thrusts them head over heels into Wesleyan’s secret underground society.

DONATION BENEFITS: Donations of any size will earn you a special thanks in our film's credits, special BTS photos and videos, immediate access to the film upon its completion, and status updates on the GoFundMe page!

CREW:

Writer: Giovanni Kear

Writer, Director: John Earling

Writer, Director of Photography: Lilly Hoefflin

Assistant Director: Mia Alexander

Executive Producer: Daniel Anton

1st Assistant Camera: Ronald Ceesay

Gaffer: Owen Muratore, John McGawon

Sound: Elsinore Palmer, Ella Rosenson, Jorge Hussey

SFX Artist: Lilah Steinberg