An Industry Case Study
Narrative | Dramatic Features
Film Name: Last Chance Moms
Genre: Comedy
Length of film: 10min 18 seconds
Date: 10/5/21
Director: Mandy Fabian
Producer: Sarah Chaney & Heather Olt
Executive & Creative Producer: Sarah Chaney & Heather Olt
Writer: Sarah Chaney & Heather Olt
Cinematographer: Robert Murphy
Editor: Robert Murphy
Composer: Logan Stahley
Production Company: 6 With Heels Productions
Budget: $1500
Financing: Self-financed
Shooting Format: 4k
Screening Format: DCP
World Premiere: HollyShorts
Awards: SagIndie/Helix Collective Grant for Free composition
Website: Last Chance Moms
The Official Trailer for Last Chance Moms
Watch The Trailer for Last Chance Moms directed by Mandy Fabian
A Short Biography of Mandy Fabian
Mandy Fabian is a FANTASTIC director of award-winning shorts, music videos, theater and web series, and an EXTREMELY funny writer. She co-created and directed The Young Hillary Diaries, Lifetime’s first digital series, and wrote the Amazon digital series Dropping the Soap, which won Jane Lynch an Emmy for Best Actress in a Short Form Original in 2017. Mandy was also awarded a fellowship in the Sony Pictures Television Directing Program, and was named “Best New Filmmaker of the Year” by NewFilmmakers LA.
Most recently, she directed the independent pilot Vicarious, which won the audience awards at the Dances With Films Film Festival and LA Indie Film Festival and Best Ensemble at the Chicago Comedy Film Festival.
The Mandy Fabian Interview
indieactivity: What is your film about?
Mandy Fabian (MF): Two best friends in their 40s, one pregnant and unexpectedly dumped by her man-child boyfriend, the other unable to get pregnant despite countless efforts, decide to raise a baby together.
Last Chance Moms is inspired by a true story. We’ve been there. You’ve focused on your career and when you finally feel stable enough to have a family…you’re 40…and single. Cue: PANIC. “Is it too late?” “Can I even have a baby?” “If I can, am I forced to go it alone???” OR, conversely, you’re riding high, thinking you’ve beat the clock, have it all planned out, and BOOM, the world drops out from underneath you and you’re left alone…alone and pregnant. “Last Chance Moms” is what happens when two best friends get creative while trying to achieve the “have it all” goal.
We wanted to address this issue by following two women who decide to forge their own path to parenting. Nowadays, more and more women are becoming single mothers by choice and really leaning into the old adage, “it takes a village to raise a baby.” So why not create a more stable village…a village where two best friends raise a baby together.
Tell us about the festival run, marketing and sales?
Mandy Fabian (MF): We have just completed two screenings at The Catalyst Stories Festival in Duluth, Minnesota. Prior to that we enjoyed our premiere screening at HollyShorts. We will be participating in a few more festivals in the near future. During these runs, we have enjoyed participating in multiple podcasts, interviews, and panels including: The Nerd Daily, Candid Cinema, Salt Lake Dirt (podcast), Catalyst Spotlight Interviews with Michelle McLean and Catalyst Podcast Lounge.
Give the full Official Synopsis for your film?
Mandy Fabian (MF): Emily, a successful entrepreneur, waited too long to have a baby. Despite her best efforts to have a child on her own, she’s now told it’s physically impossible. Her best friend, Kristen, is nine months pregnant and is left by her “I can’t be a parent until I’m a person” boyfriend, Mark. After meeting up to commiserate over their recent losses, they concoct a plan to raise Kristen’s baby together.
Through the eyes of Emily and Kristen, we see how the power and beauty of friendship helps them brave some of the most difficult times in their lives. In “Last Chance Moms,” we explore the difficulties that women in their 40s experience when confronted with their biological clocks. They want it all, but what happens when it seems they can’t have it? They find a way…
Development & Financing?
Mandy Fabian (MF): Last Chance Moms is an original story by us, Sarah Chaney & Heather Olt, loosely inspired by our true story. We wrote this short as the beginning of a greater story we want to tell. We are currently working towards developing it into a tv series. The entire production was self-financed and we were lucky to have some very talented friends come together to help us tell this story.
Production?
Mandy Fabian (MF): We filmed the entire production over one weekend in 4 different locations. Our DP not only handled all of the camera work but he also aptly handled the sound and lighting. Besides the DP, director, and cast, we had one other person on set each day who became a catch all/production designer/1st AD, and pa. Because we wrote, produced and starred in it, being organized and ready to go on the shoot day was key so that we could focus on our performance.
We did one line of ADR in Sarah’s closet/ sound booth and our DP served as editor. We, along with our director, sat with the editor and took the time we needed to get our first cut ready. Once the picture was locked, we worked with our composer on the score. And once that was locked in and recorded, we passed it on to our sound editor and then back to our DP/editor for color correction and final touches! We were all hands on during the entire post production and really collaborated well until we all had a final cut we were happy with!
Festival Preparation & Strategy?
Mandy Fabian (MF): For the festival run, we wanted to make sure we were as prepared as possible. Having done some of our own PR in the past, we created a press kit and sent it out to various media outlets that we thought would be a great fit for Last Chance Moms. We also made promotional postcards for the festivals, a website, and posted interviews (podcast and written) on our various social media sites.
The Release?
MF: We are in the midst of our festival circuit… so it has not yet been released.
Advice from the Filmmaker?
MF: Know the things to spend money on (sound, camera, food, etc…) and also know the things you can do yourself (press, website, promo materials, etc…) Never be afraid to ask for help or advice. You never know what you can get if you never ask. If you have an idea that you’re passionate about, film it! You could wait for more time or more money…but that may never come. So tell the stories you want to see when and how you want to tell them!
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