Hot Toddy

HOT TODDY is a queer animated half-hour comedy "proof of concept" and teeny-bopper whodunnit about two ex-BFFS and the buckets of blood between them, only some of which from their periods. Between lunch lady mobsters and killer gym teachers, these two jilted vixens uncover the seedy underbelly of their hometown while discovering that they may be, in fact, lesbians — a fate worse than death, OBVIOUSLY.

Starring comedians Anna Seregina, Atsuko Okatsuka, and Katrina Davis. Featuring music by LA punk riot girl band, Slutever. Written and directed by Mary Sette (MFA, '17, USC) and animated by Anna Cangellaris (MFA, CalArts ’18).

  • Mary Sette
    Director
  • Mary Sette
    Writer
  • Anna Cangellaris
    Designed and Animated
  • Mary Sette
    Producer
  • Anna Cangellaris
    Producer
  • Anna Seregina
    Key Cast
    "Darlene Cooper "
  • Atsuko Okatsuka
    Key Cast
    "Suzie Sue "
  • Katrina Davis
    Key Cast
    "Bridget Maxwell "
  • Allison Powell
    Key Cast
    "Jenny Z "
  • CJ Ballesteros
    Score and Sound Design
  • Mike Rice
    Editor
  • Slutever
    Featuring songs by
  • Genres:
    Comedy, Murder Mystery
  • Runtime:
    16 minutes 34 seconds
  • Completion Date:
    July 1, 2021
  • Country of Origin:
    United States
  • Country of Filming:
    United States
  • Language:
    English
  • Film Color:
    Color
  • First-time Filmmaker:
    Yes
  • Student Project:
    No
  • SeriesFest
  • Flickers' Rhode Island International Film Festival
  • Outfest LA LGBTQ Film Festival
  • Brooklyn Film Festival
  • Bushwick Film Festival
  • Montclair Film Festival
  • Oakville Film Festivals of Film and Art
  • Middlebury New Filmmakers Festival
  • HollyShorts Month Screening Selection
  • Los Angeles Animation Festival
  • San Francisco Independent Film Festival
  • Montreal International Animation Film Festival
  • Lighthouse International Film Festival
  • San Diego Underground Film Festival
Director Biography - Mary Sette

Mary Sette is a comedy writer/director, cartoonist, and horror-obsessed indie filmmaker. She makes animated genre stories about the queer proletariat hungry for blood, cheese, anti-depressants, and money to pay for the anti-depressants. Think if Daria was an ax-murderer, Agatha Christie made Liquid TV, or Wes Anderson was poor and gay(er).

She is currently writing and illustrating her first graphic novel, HORRIBLE CORPSES, based on her hilarious teenage years as a suicidal wannabe goth — freelancing as a script consultant, comedy writer and illustrator.

Her teeny-bopper murder mystery and animated pilot, HOT TODDY premiered at Flickers' Rhode Island International Film Festival, Outfest LA LGBTQ Film Festival, Brooklyn Film Festival, Bushwick Film Festival, Montclair Film Festival, Oakville Film Festivals of Film and Art, Middlebury New Filmmakers Festival, and many more!

She previously worked for Comedy Bang! Bang!, Snapchat, Disney Channel, Partizan Entertainment, Dancing Atoms Studio, Digomind Productions, Coquette Productions, and New Artists Alliance. Her scripts have been short-listed by Warner Bros. Television Writers' Workshop, Sundance Institute, Hedgebrook Screenwriting Lab, Austin Film Festival, Los Angeles Animation Film Festival,and Stage 32's New Voices in Animation to name a few. As an artist, Mary was a resident in the St. Nell's Humor Residency and CalArts Animation Residency, where she studied 2D animation and character design; she’s commissioned illustrations for Slackjaw Humor, Digominds Productions, Whohaha, Panoramic Melody Presents, Little Joy LA, NonPlusUltra LA, The Bellhouse NY, and more.

Mary received her Master's in Fine Arts from USC's John Wells Division of Writing for Screen and Television and her Bachelor's Degree from The George Washington University, where she studied English and Creative Writing. She is originally from a small farm town in New Jersey known for its meatballs and regret. She is full of regret.

Add Director Biography
Director Statement

Hello!

HOT TODDY is a teen queer love story gone wrong and a wacky murder mystery inspired by all my failed relationships that ended in (emotional!) bloodshed and an animated pilot I've raised over fifty thousand dollars to produce independently over the last two years. The pilot stars LA comedians Anna Seregina, Atsuko Okatsuka, and Katrina Davis — and features songs by the underground riot girl band, Slutever. The project is an entirely DIY, punk film made by and for women, non-binary, and trans people. I wrote and directed the project while my collaborator, Anna Cangellaris, designed and animated the film.

HOT TODDY is animated queer-centered genre show blending in equal parts: comedy, camp, mystery, and heartfelt drama. In the past, maybe animated queer genre work would have been considered a niche interest, but, recently, there has been a renaissance of adult animation (Bojack Horseman, Tuca and Bertie, Teenage Euthanasia, Harley Quinn), elevated genre work (Get Out, The Babadook,Hereditary, Raw), and queer-centered stories (The Other Two, Feel Good, Hacks, Harley Quinn again!). If the last ten years are any indication, the future of animation, horror, and comedy is unapologetically bold, female, and queer. Through utilizing classic murder mystery tropes and subverting them from an intersectional queer lens, the series showcases repressed gender-fueled rage, blossoming queer sexuality, and teenage knife-wielding angst in a crumbling late-stage-capitalism-driven world. (But, like, in a funny way. Don’t freak out; it’s still a cartoon, my dudes!)

As a creative team, we're committed to diversity and inclusivity at all production levels across race, gender expression, sexuality, and socioeconomic backgrounds. Our director identifies as queer and gender non-conforming. All the animation was done and run by queer and/or female-identifying artists. Our cast and producing team are made up of women, BIPOC, and LGBTQIA+ creatives. HOT TODDY is still on the festival circuit but so far has premiered at the 2022 Flickers' Rhode Island International Film Festival, Outfest LA LGBTQ Film Festival, Brooklyn Film Festival, Oakville Film Festivals of Film and Art, Bushwick Film Festival, Montclair Film Festival, Hollyshorts Film Festival Monthly Series, and Middlebury New Filmmakers Festival.

As a director, I'm particularly drawn to animation because sometimes the world feels so painstakingly fake, and you have to work comically hard to feel real in it. Great animation encapsulates this paradox perfectly by showcasing characters feeling genuine emotions that seem at odds with the increasingly unhinged world they find themselves in. As a queer lady writer in Los Angeles, I can empathize with this dilemma; as people who happen to be alive in this bananas moment in this increasingly bananas universe, we are living this dilemma. Sometimes the world can feel like a horror movie without a hero, a mystery without a detective, a punchline without a joke, and a kid without a friend. We want this show to be a weird, wacky, warm place to call home for anyone who doesn't feel like they have one. We want this show to be where the small, sad, scared, poor, angry weirdos of the world can take up space.

HOT TODDY is here to say you deserve to take up space.

Sincerely,
Mary Sette
Writer/Director of HOT TODDY