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.
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Katie DamienDirectorMy Toxic Backyard, Second Parent, Ghost Image, One Hell of an Angel
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Katie DamienWriter
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Katie DamienProducer
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Emily Tynan McDanielKey Cast"Hope Jacobson"
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Ben McIntireKey Cast"Brandon Jacobson"TCB Thunder Missions, American Animals, What Lies Beyond
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Marisa BlakeKey Cast"Sara"Full Disclosure, Room 8
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Tamara HopkinsKey Cast"Dr. Williams"The Righeous, Seven Days 'till Midnight, Sinkhole
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Project Type:Short
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Genres:Drama, Biography
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Runtime:14 minutes 30 seconds
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Completion Date:June 24, 2018
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Country of Origin:United States
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Country of Filming:United States
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Language:English
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Shooting Format:Digital 4k
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Aspect Ratio:2.35
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Film Color:Color
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First-time Filmmaker:No
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Student Project:No
Katie Damien is an award-winning filmmaker with over a decade of commercial production and independent filmmaking experience, she has been awarded various accolades including eight Emmy Awards for her short form work, and both Gold and Mosaic American Advertising Federation awards.
“Joint Effort” a short film she produced and directed won the grand prize in an international competition, the National Film Challenge and screened at the Cannes Film Festival. Her short film “Ghost Image” was awarded best short film at three different film festivals. Her first feature film, “My Toxic Backyard,” also won Best Documentary Film at the Greenpoint Film Festival and received 4 Emmy nominations.
This film is the inspiring true story of a single mother from Western North Carolina who perseveres through mental illness and emotional hardships to overcome homelessness. I strive to strengthen the voice of women in front of the camera and behind it. Two of our three producers are women and seven female crew members were hired for this production.
I hope that audiences will be as moved as I was when this true story was shared with me. There are homeless, hungry children living in the United States today. There are women who have had to make impossible choices where their best chance of escaping domestic abuse, is living on the street. There are veterans who have been forgotten and left to fend for themselves. There are so many Americans suffering from mental illness that are simply lacking a support system in their lives and end up without a home. I hope that audiences will be inspired into action and that their negative notions and judgements around homelessness will shift toward empathy and understanding.