Alumni Shoot Horror-Comedy Feature About Mental Illness Skye Braband (BFA/FP '18) and Sarah de Leon (BFA/FP '18) Start Seed and Spark to Finish Project
April 11, 2019
It all started with a man and his big mouth. Skye Braband, a recent graduate of Dodge College’s Television Writing and Production program, is an un-apologetically loud storyteller with plenty to say.
In 2017, Skye finished a draft of Chompy & The Girls: a horror-comedy feature film about a depressed woman who reaches out to her estranged father that never knew she existed. Their meeting goes from awkward to alarming when they witness a man in the park open his mouth four feet wide and swallow a 10-year-old whole.
The film, in all of it’s craziness, hopes to open up a discussion about mental health in a way that’s both fun and thrilling. Featuring a strong female lead who perfectly embodies what it means to grow, thrive, and live with mental health problems, Chompy & The Girls addresses suicide, depression, divorce, and fear through a surreal adventure.
The out-of-this-world story on screen may take place over the course of a night, but this film has been over two years in the making. Skye partnered up with writer/producer Sarah de Leon (BA Screenwriting ’18), and together they built a team of nearly 60 fellow filmmakers to help make “Chompy & The Girls” a reality.
Fellow Dodge College alumni include editor Alan Macchiarolo (B.F.A. Film Production, ’17), production designer Kelsi Teramae (B.F.A. TV Writing/Production ’17), UPM Shamola Kharker (M.F.A. Creative Producing ’17), and script supervisor Jalen Marcus (B.A. Screenwriting, ’17), among others.
The film was shot over 19 crazy days full of huge prosthetic mouths, overnight shoots, and lots of (in character) screaming. The movie has been entirely shot and edited. The team is now raising money for post-production funds including VFX, sound design, music composition, and color correction.
In the words of one of our lead actors, Hari Williams, “If you want to support a film with a lot of heart to it that has been put together by a lot of creative, industrious people who want to tell a great story and entertain you at the same time, support Chompy & The Girls.”
Please visit www.seedandspark.com/fund/chompy to learn more about Chompy & The Girls and how you can help support a film that you aren’t going to want to miss!