Crowdfunding Spotlight: NEUMAN
This comes to us from our friends at A+M Creative.
Recovery is often portrayed in film as chaos and despair, with characters longing to do what they can no longer do safely. With Neuman, director T.J. Elledge aims to shift that narrative. This film is about a few of the lucky ones — those who have stopped drinking and are living sober, imperfect lives, one day at a time.
Timothy Jacob Elledge is a filmmaker based in New York City and has been directing commercials, music videos and shorts for the past decade. His work has been featured by Vimeo Staff Picks, NOWNESS, One Point Four, NoBudge, BOOOOOOOM, Film Shortage, HYPEBEAST, and Stereogum. To create Neuman, he’s partnered with Executive Producer Max Gardner of A+M Creative ( Go/Don’t Go, Three Meals, Through the Stars) and producer Alexander Spenser Gould ( By Way of Water, Stopgap) to crowdfund and bring Neuman to life on-screen.
Neuman is a dark-comedy short film set over the course of a single morning in the New York City recovery community. We follow a woman called Aoife as she tries her best to keep busy in her home group after the newcomer she’s gotten ‘involved’ with disappears on the eve of his first sober anniversary. At its core, Neuman is a love story between two middle-aged characters rediscovering feelings typically associated with youth. It’s a story about the awkwardness of love and the stubborn habits that persist as we grow. It just so happens to take place in the sober community. Neuman aims to be a rare film about alcoholics where no one is drinking, nor is anyone pining for a drink. It’s not a film about hitting rock bottom — the story begins after that. The film bears witness to the more subtle realities of a life in recovery: the bonds that form, the humor that carries people through, and the resilience that emerges from embracing the messiness of life.
Neuman will be TJ’s first professional short, and the production will be supported by Director of Photography Michael Faller, Production Designer TV Alexander, and Casting Director Charlotte Arnoux. Additionally, post-production recruitment has begun with editor Courtney Marquand joining to help cut the film.
On the genesis of the film, director TJ Elledge describes his process: “As a filmmaker, I approach everything I write with the intention of directing and my screenplay for Neuman exemplifies this approach. The narrative is deliberately contained-two locations and a minimal lead cast-designed to be both artistically and logistically achievable. It’s written to be filmed; to be made. Neuman marks an artistic turning point for me. After years of creative resistance, a period of talking myself into and out of film ideas, this project stands as a re-entry into the arena I want to live in. A period of writing, directing, and making -with less waiting. Most everything is in place, we now just need your help as we attempt to gather the remaining funds necessary to make the film we know this can be.”
The Neuman crowdfund will run until February 15th, finishing after principle photography has concluded — the film shoots February 8th and 9th in Brooklyn, NY. For more information on how you can contribute and be a part of this project, visit: https://seedandspark.com/fund/neuman#story
Originally published at http://behindtherabbitproductions.wordpress.com on February 6, 2025.
