Homeward Bound PSA

For 2021 I produced a 1 minute PSA I made for Homeward Bound:

https://vimeo.com/568665533

Here is a link to the longer documentary "Invisible" I also produced for Homeward Bound, from which we pulled the PSA footage: https://vimeo.com/538876421

Housing is Healthcare Documentary

I recently produced a short documentary for an amazingly wonderful non-profit: Homeward Bound.  They work to permanently end homelessness.  Homeward Bound does such important work, especially now with the Covid-19 pandemic raging across our country.  How can you stay healthy and escape the crowds of people, if you don't have a home to go to?  If you do get sick, how can you recover, if you don't have a safe place to rest and heal?  You can watch this informative and hopeful look at a group of people dedicated to solving these problems.

Hope Reviewed

Hope got a great review on Film Threat! 7 out of 10.

"It is powerful"

https://filmthreat.com/reviews/hope-2019

By Chris Salce | July 29, 2019

The suicide rates in America have been growing year by year. Suicide is currently the tenth leading cause of death in the U.S. It is a growing epidemic that is hard to understand, and it is hard to control how often it happens. There are many hotlines and counseling services available if one feels the need to harm oneself, but it is not always easy to ask for help. Hope is a film that may help someone who has felt lost or needs help.

Based on a true story, Hope (Emily Tynan McDaniel) is a widowed single mother who is suffering from depression after losing her husband. Hope feels that her son would be better off without her. After an attempted suicide, Hope is taken to a mental facility where she will stay for some time. Once she gets out of the mental facility, she is homeless and has lost custody of her son. Hope struggles to get her life back on track but uses her son as motivation to pick herself up from rock bottom.

“After an attempted suicide, Hope is taken to a mental facility… Once she gets out, she is homeless and has lost custody of her son.”

The short film tells a very real story in a matter of roughly twelve and a half minutes. It does this by displaying quite real and sometimes graphic scenes and gets through the rest with montages. The montages are necessary to help the film move forward in a timely manner. Even though half of the film is done through montages, it is a film that has a lot of emotion.
McDaniel, who plays the lead, does a great job at making her character seem real. It is based on a real person, but that person wishes to remain anonymous (as it is later mentioned just before the credits). The name of the character is the title of the film–and it is quite clear why writer and director, Katie Damien, chose the name.
Hope is a very real film. It is powerful because the subject hits home for quite a few of us. Most of us have known someone that has either hit rock bottom or attempted–or died of– suicide. This film is meant to bring hope to those who feel lost. The short film does also feel almost like an ad or promotional video for Homeward Bound, which is a homeless shelter. In this way, not only does it tell a story about the fall and rise of a woman, but it also lets others know that there is a program that can help them if needed.

Saving Jake at RAD

Behind the scenes on the short "Saving Jake" in the River Arts District. I love this graffiti building! I feel so lucky to have been able to shoot a scene at this gem of a location.  When you're working with a great team, magic happens and these scenes were magic.

Hope Trailer

homewardboundwnc.org

Trailer for the short film "Hope." Based on a true story. When a widow with mental illness attempts suicide, she survives only to find herself homeless and unable to reconnect with her son. After a year of living in a shelter with no hope of overcoming her situation, she has a chance encounter that changes her life.

Hope Poster

The one and only Robert Klein, local graphics guru, designed not only this awesome poster, but the opening titles for the movie.  I found him on Instagram, if you like graphic design, cool photos of Asheville and stop motion animation check out his feed: https://www.instagram.com/kleindigital/

Hope Production Stills

We just wrapped production on the short film "Hope" for Homeward Bound.  The cast and crew have been beyond amazing!  I can't believe how smoothly everything went, from the cat who stuck out her scenes like a champ and even turned to the camera like she had been trained to do that, to the volunteers who showed up to be extras, to the cast who gave me goosebumps more than once, to the crew who worked with speed and precision.  I loved this shoot! 

Hope Behind the Scenes

These are some fantastic behind the scenes photos shot by my awesome set photographer Ben Aviv.

Homeward Bound PSA

PSAs

I do a lot of public service announcements (PSAs.)  I love making them.  I usually get to be creative and the organizations are all non-profits that are championing a good cause.  I get to help them and that's just good for the soul.  Recently I've been doing a lot of stop motion animation.  Below is a PSA I made for the Asheville Humane Society for a fundraising event they're having.


I've been doing PSAs for Homeward Bound for years now and soon I'll be releasing their 3rd PSA. I'm very excited to share this one that focuses on veteran homelessness.  I got to work with Greg Hudgins as Cinematographer.  He was so great to work with and the footage looks amazing!  Brian Alexander was invaluable on set, as always.  Our actors were all top notch, but I have to give special thanks to our lead Allen T. Law who not only turned in brilliant performances, but he did them in freezing rain and through some pretty adverse conditions.

We couldn't afford to shoot at the airport.  It was $3000 just to have the insurance we would need for 1 hour! So we used a blue screen in my living room coupled with some stock footage.

Brian and I got to play doctors!  FYI: Stethoscopes are fun to play with and the human body makes a bunch of strange noises.

The war scene shots were the most complex and expensive.  I didn't keep the gas mask shot in the PSA because it didn't work in end.  It was hard to let it go because it took so much to make it happen, but that's the nature of storytelling through film.  If it doesn't work, it doesn't work.

We shot in a torrent of rain from a hurricane.  Yes, a hurricane.  Everyone was soaked to the bone and shaking with cold.  I think it gave us all a new perspective on what people who don't have a home and shelter have to go through.

PSA Homeward Bound

I just finished an incredibly awesome, incredibly painstaking PSA for Homeward Bound (www.homewardboundwnc.org) We shot over the course of 2 weekends, almost entirely stop-motion animation using real people.  Keresey Proctor was so wonderfully patient and displayed amazing stamina holding poses on the ground for hour after hour as we moved her into place inch by inch. Brian Alexander and Cythina Smith who both work for Homeward Bound and who helped me with the last PSA, were also heavily involved in the making of this one.  Shane Meador was our incomparable art director giving everything the right tone and personally taking care of every detail even down to the little girl's drawing.  And speaking of little girls, I was blown away by Vivi, our young actress who preformed brilliantly. Silas Hite (http://www.silashite.com) who I met at the Cleveland International Film Festival was the marvelous composer.  You can see the finished PSA here:


http://youtu.be/Ta4T-B08dNU

and the making of here:


http://youtu.be/STIkImP-BgQ

Katie

Holding the Hope (short documentary)

A while back I made a short documentary for Homeward Bound of Asheville.  They help put homeless people into permanent housing.  I've always loved their mission and think it makes a lot of sense.  Don't worry, it's not sad.  It's actually kind of uplifting.  You can watch the video here:

http://youtu.be/A5MMYWZW048

And this is Homeward Bound's website: www.hbofa.org

Katie

ADDY Award Winning PSA

The PSA I made for Homeward Bound just won two ADDY Awards! The ADDYs are given out by the American Advertising Federation for many different aspects of advertising. They give out Gold and Silver awards, plus Best-in-Show and a Mosaic Award for multiculturalism and diversity in advertising. We took home Gold and the Mosaic Award! All Gold winners are automatically sent to the regional competition and if it wins Gold there, we'll be sent on to the national competition! Attached are some pictures from the Awards Ceremony published by the Asheville Citizen-Times.

Katie

P.S. - here's a link to the PSA: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-waS0ZxaDRo

PSAs for Homeward Bound

I just finished a new Series of PSAs (Public Service Announcements) for Homeward Bound, a local non-profit in Asheville that helps move homeless people into permanent housing. Check out the one minute spot below:

Katie

Homeward Bound PSA from Katie Damien on Vimeo.