Private Project

Humpty

Learning his girlfriend Dani is pregnant, Dean is surprised, delighted, and a bit unsure. To prove himself responsible, the father-to-be seeks confirmation from an unlikely source: a high school parenting test.

  • Clare Sackler
    Director
  • Clare Sackler
    Writer
  • Jean Pesce
    Producer
  • Cathy Yan
    Producer
  • Clare Sackler
    Producer
  • David Rysdahl
    Key Cast
  • Sarah Burkhalter
    Key Cast
  • Arlen Konopaki
    Key Cast
  • Todd Bartels
    Key Cast
  • Sarah Clements
    Key Cast
  • Corey Sullivan
    Key Cast
  • Brian Lannin
    Director of Photography
  • Project Type:
    Short, Student
  • Genres:
    Comedy, Drama, Romance
  • Runtime:
    15 minutes
  • Completion Date:
    December 15, 2014
  • Production Budget:
    12,000 USD
  • Country of Origin:
    United States
  • Country of Filming:
    United States
  • Language:
    English
  • Shooting Format:
    RED
  • Aspect Ratio:
    2:35:1
  • Film Color:
    Color
  • First-time Filmmaker:
    No
  • Student Project:
    Yes
  • Cleveland International Film Festival
  • Aspen Shortsfest
  • Rocky Mountain Women's Film Festival
  • Napa Valley Film Festival
  • Berkshire International Film Festival
  • Art of Brooklyn Film Festival
  • Leiden International Short Film Experience
  • KQED's Film School Shorts
Director Biography - Clare Sackler

Clare Sackler is a filmmaker currently based in San Francisco. After graduating from Duke University, she spent several years working in the film industry in Los Angeles for a number of inspiring individuals. She moved to New York City to pursue an MFA in directing and writing from NYU's Tisch School of the Arts and is now back on the West Coast developing her first feature film as her thesis. Her short films have screened at festivals around the world including Aspen Shortsfest, Cleveland International Film Festival, Napa Valley Film Festival, and Cannes Short Film Corner. Her short film Humpty will be airing on PBS later this year as part of KQED's Film School Shorts program.

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Director Statement

The idea for Humpty sprung out of watching my childhood friend and her husband decide to start a family. Surprise was the most common response to their news in our community of late bloomers. I loved watching this excited young couple as they settled into family life, but it threw into sharp relief my own lack of readiness for family. I started thinking “wouldn’t it be funny if adults had to carry an egg around like those kids do to prove themselves parent material.”

I considered the phase most of my friends and I were in, the fuzzy period where you are still in between “pregnancy is my biggest fear” and “my uterus is going crazy every time I see a child, I’m having kids now, I don’t care what you say.” Does anyone feel ready when they decide to jump into that unknown - albeit overwhelmingly documented - world of parenthood?

I related to Dani’s instinctive reaction to her situation, but I thought about what it would be like to be someone sure of what they want, like Dean. I imaged a world - a silly, fun, Dean-filled world where anything could happen - and explored what followed.