Experiencing Interruptions?

Spies In Corsets

After three months of careful preparation, it’s finally the night to carry out their mission. Marcy and Odi ready themselves to attend the 18th century ball of an overtly rich prison owner. If riding the high stakes of disabling his plans were not enough, they tease to reveal their individual professional missions and as a result their unprofessional feelings for each other start to unveil at the non-promise of tomorrow. Through the course of their last conversations before the ball, they also reveal their self appointed missions that showcase opposite values. What happens when longing comes up against belief? At the height of a complex argument with no time to spare, they have to stay true to their missions for they fundamentally want the same end result; to eat the rich.

  • Joey J. Haley
    Director
  • Olivia Cade
    Producer
    Lesbian Ditch Day
  • Vic Brant
    Producer
    She's the He
  • Chloe Baldwin
    Key Cast
    "Marcy"
    Chicago Fire, Utopia, Shining Girls, Morning Is Broken, Steppenwolf Thearter
  • Jewell Karinen
    Key Cast
    "Odi"
    The Party
  • Project Type:
    Short
  • Genres:
    Drama, Romance
  • Runtime:
    13 minutes 53 seconds
  • Completion Date:
    November 20, 2024
  • Production Budget:
    800 USD
  • Country of Filming:
    United States, United States
  • Language:
    English
  • Shooting Format:
    Digital ARRI Alexa Mini
  • Aspect Ratio:
    16:9
  • Film Color:
    Color
  • First-time Filmmaker:
    No
  • Student Project:
    No
Director Biography - Joey J. Haley

Joey J. Haley is a genderfluid Director, Steadicam operator & dance creative from New Hampshire and Fortaleza, Brazil. He graduated from Mount Holyoke College (MHC) with a BFA in film and dance. She studied abroad at the Film and TV School Academy of Performing Arts in Prague (FAMU) and a Sarah Lawrence College feature film program in 2019. He directed and choreographed Off the Air which won the “Best of Mount Holyoke” award in the Five College Film Festival (2019) and screened at the Massachusetts Multicultural Film Festival (2019). Joey has Steadicam operated since 2019 and most notably in Lucia di Lammermoor at the LA Opera, Dorian Electra, Sinhead Hartnett, and She’s the He. She’s been invited to speak at many panels on their operating and directing including FLUX’s Trans Film Production Panel, “Crafting A Life In the Art’s” at MHC and at the University of California Santa Barbara (2023). Joey is an award winning two time feature writer with both projects in development on an international scale.

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Director Statement

What one creates is reflective of the period in which one creates it in. Spies In Corsets was a project born out of the 2023 WGA, SGA, & DGA strikes which heavily impacted my crew and I. Spies’ is reflective of many of the union and non-union film workers' conversations as unions and studio executives deny humane conditions. Now in its release, it’s reflective of the larger expression of separation amongst the American people in the face of a fascist administration.The same type of conversations between crew members a year ago are happening now between most American citizens; except instead of arguing about complying to less-than AMPTP and studio executive offers, it's arguing about whether to comply in an oligarchy.

I’m fascinated with how different perspectives, especially on a political scale, shape conflict in our private conversations. Spies In Corsets is a re-imagining of how these types of conversations could go when both the physical and emotional stakes are so entwined for the main characters. Political division is intrinsically a part of the queer experience and it’s steadfastly coming to light that the patterns we perpetuate that enact political division, whether we are aware of it or not, start with how we arrive in conversations and space with one another. The short film isn’t a blueprint for hard dialogue. This is purposeful to engage the audience in asking a different set of questions when engaging in this type of strenuous conversation.