PORTLAND, Ore. (KOIN)-- An Oregon-made film is slated to premiere at the South by Southwest (SXSW) Film Festival in
Austin, Texas, this month, checking out parts of the veteran experience while supporting seasoned companies throughout the United States.
" My Dead Friend Zoe" is a dark comedy following the story of a female Afghanistan veteran and her relationships with her dead friend from the Army, in addition to her estranged Vietnam veteran grandpa.
The movie stars Sonequa Martin-Green, and Natalie Morales, in addition to Ed Harris, Morgan Freeman, Utkarsh Ambudkar, and Gloria Reuben.
" It's a film about relationship, family, humor, heart, and loss, and based on a great deal of my experiences throughout and after the military with PTSD and the whole veteran experience," "My Dead Friend Zoe" author and director Kyle Hausmann-Stokes told Nexstar's KOIN.
Enlisting in the military one month before 9/11, Hausmann-Stokes served 5 years in the U.S. Army and received a Bronze Star in Iraq.
As a veteran, he champions efforts supporting mental health, gun safety, and his fellow veterans, co-founding Veterans in Media & & Entertainment, a not-for-profit company that connects existing and former members of the military to tasks in the entertainment industry.
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Now, he's making his feature movie launching with "My Dead Friend Zoe"-- with a three-time Super Bowl champion as an executive manufacturer.
Kansas City Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce on the red carpet at the
Kansas City Chiefs ring event at Union Station on June 15, 2023 in
Kansas City, Missouri. (Photo by Jason Hanna/Getty Images).
" I hope that people come away from this movie seeing veterans in a much deeper or more nuanced method. I think so often, in film and TV, we're represented in these extremes of this epic hero that's literally in battle or war. On the other end of the spectrum, we're broken veterans with some sort of anger, or alcohol or drug dependency, and it does not actually represent all the middle parts, which is where the majority of us live," Hausmann-Stokes said.
" I'm delighted for individuals to come out of the film seeing veterans for the humans that we are, for the substantial property that we are to society and to the country," he furthered.
" My Dead Friend Zoe," was originally set to movie in the Midwest, where Hausmann-Stokes is from, before a last-minute choice to film in Oregon.
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" We both discovered all that it was just a fabulous experience [to movie in Oregon,] said Paul Scanlan, co-founder and CEO of Legion M, among the production business behind the film.
The movie was filmed around
Portland, Forest Grove, and Molalla during the summer season of 2023, and inspired Hausmann-Stokes and Scanlan to film future jobs in Oregon, crediting the state's "impressive" film tax rewards and its friendliness towards independent filmmaking.
" I've done a great deal of commercials and a few TV programs that have taken me all over the world, but
Portland was one of my favorite places, among the most accommodating," Hausmann-Stokes said.
The filmmakers enjoyed Oregon's variety of locations for the movie, from industrial areas in
Portland to a rodeo in Molalla, where they discovered a sense of community both on and off set, together with another military connection.
Scanlan remembered among his preferred memories shooting the film was when the director of the Molalla rodeo-- who is also an Army veteran like Hausmann-Stokes-- allowed them to movie the rodeo as long as the community could honor the film director for his service.
" The only method he would allow us to film there is if I agreed to be honored at this rodeo, which included putting me in the back of a pickup and eliminating into the middle of the rodeo with pyrotechnics, and music, and I'm simply I'm behind the camera guy, and there's all these people there cheering and it was quite surreal," Hausmann-Stokes stated.
" My Dead Friend Zoe" follows an Afghanistan Army veteran's relationship with her dead buddy as she reconciles with her separated relationship with her Vietnam veteran grandfather-- starring Sonequa Martin-Green, Natalie Morales, and Ed Harris. (Shared with KOIN by means of Christopher Black).
The movie also brought community members together for a scene at a Molalla park, including a craft fair with regional artisans during a Fourth of July event.
" Everybody heard that this was a movie about veterans, and it was so unique to see all those individuals come out and support us like that," Hausmann-Stokes stated.
That assistance is likewise shining a light on veteran organizations throughout the United States, including The Mission Continues, the Bob Woodruff Foundation, and EveryTown for Gun Safety: Support Fund, who are effect partners of the movie.
The filmmakers additionally partnered with Radiant Media Studios, which offered extra financing with green energy tax credits, marking the first movie to be moneyed with the tax incentive, as reported by Variety. It likewise brought
Kansas City Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce to the job as an executive producer.
Kelce, whose prominent love with Taylor Swift has triggered a frenzy, has hinted about plans to dip his toes into home entertainment following his "Saturday Night Live" appearance in 2015.
" My Dead Friend Zoe" premieres at SXSW on March 9, in
Austin Texas.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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