a film by Christina Hulen
Everything's Fine
WINNER
Best Sound
and Music
WINNER
Best Actress and
Supporting Actress
WINNER
Best Drama Short
and Screenplay
WINNER
Best Narrative Short
WINNER
Award of Excellence
WINNER
Best Drama Short
WINNER
Award of Excellence
WINNER
Best Actress
WINNER
Best Actress
FINALIST
Connie Kurtew
Kurtewphotography.com
A young woman suffering from trauma induced memory loss finds herself spiraling dangerously out of control as the impending anniversary of the event nears, threatening to destroy her carefully crafted veneer of normalcy, her relationships and her life.
This
narrative short film
revolves around Hannah, the sole survivor of a mass shooting. Rather than focus on the event, this film explores how trauma not only affects Hannah, but everyone around her. Everyone in her orbit; her wife, her parents, the parents of her students and the community as a whole are all suffering from PTSD in various degrees and with different manifestations.
When the hollow sentiment of “thoughts and prayers” starts to fade and the TV cameras are packed away after a high profile trauma event, the people involved are still affected. What happens next is what this film explores. It hopes to shine a light on the journey to heal in a society that stigmatizes mental health issues and places more value on gun rights than on human lives.
Connie Kurtew
Kurtewphotography.com
Meet The Crew
CHRISTINA HULEN
Writer/Director
Christina Hulen is an award-winning Writer / Director / Producer. Her female centric work has won the Meryl Streep / Nicole Kidman funded Writers Lab and was a top 20 semifinalist in the Academy Nicholl Fellowship. She's been a selected participant to the Cinestory Feature Lab, the Stowe Story Lab and the exclusive Imagine Impact writers platform. She writes across genres, specializing in historical dramas featuring LGBTQ + experiences.
As a producer she was part of the producing teams for SHELTER which won a GLAAD Media Award for Best Narrative Feature Limited Release as well as multiple award-winning, festival favorite, A MARINE STORY.
Kim Turner is a writer/actor/producer. She is a graduate of the Second City Conservatory in Chicago, Second City’s writing program and IO’s (formerly Improv Olympic) writing programs. She’s performed improv and written sketches for almost 20 years and her screenplay, CHRISTY’S GOT CANCER! was selected for the inaugural Meryl Streep Screenwriters’ Lab (and the only comedy!). Her half hour comedy pilot, GOOD IN A ROOM, was a Second Rounder at Austin. Her feature comedy, DINNER WITH THE QUEEN, was selected for the Stowe Story Lab and her current drama feature, TOMÁS, is a quarterfinalist at Cinestory and Scriptapalooza. Kim is currently writing a biography picture about mountain biker, Grace Ragland, with Mountain Dirt Productions. Additionally, she is cultivating new projects with Suzanne Dunn and Anna Hozian under their production company, Lioness Productions.
ANDERSON "DREW" BOYD
Producer
Anderson "Drew" Boyd is a North Carolina-based filmmaker who began his career in New York. His first major screen credit was the Oscar-nominated Winter’s Bone as an additional editor, followed by contributions to Cold Weather, The Tillman Story, Joan Rivers: A Piece of Work, and the Independent Spirit Award-nominated The History of Future Folk. His directorial debut, the comedic parable Well Wishes, exhibited on Netflix from 2016-2018 after an award-winning festival run. He’s since produced and edited Random Media’s Dead Envy and the Madison Iseman-starring film The Fox Hunter. His screenplay The Lease of Nature won several major awards and placements while his latest, the Western odyssey Mescalero, is the #1 Western screenplay of all time and within the Top 50 of all screenplays on the Coverfly Red List. Boyd is a member of the Producers Guild of America, an affiliate member of American Cinema Editors, a United Arts Council Grant Recipient, and a Stowe Story Labs/Sidewalk Narrative Lab alum.
LISA CRNIC
Producer
Lisa is a producer who has resided in Los Angeles the past 15+ years working in the film industry. Her experience spans working on $100+ million studio films to ultra-low-budget independent productions across all genres. She has worked at prominent entertainment companies such as CAA, Paradigm, Paramount, Sony and Sony Pictures Animation. Most recently, she served as Executive Producer on Paramount’s Clifford the Big Red Dog, which was the most streamed original movie in Paramount+ history. Prior, she ran Jordan Kerner's development slate and worked on Sony's Smurfs franchise, which grossed over $1 billion worldwide. In 2021, she launched her own production company, and in her first year she produced a psychological thriller film titled Daft State, which is set to release in 2023. Currently, she has several feature film projects in various stages of development which all focus on telling socially impactful narratives from underrepresented voices in front of and behind the camera.
ANDY HAMMER
Production Designer
Andrew Hammer’s vast and eclectic experience in the entertainment industry spans over 25 years. Production Designer for music videos including Mika Ben-Yami Nothing is Wrong. Art Director for feature films including The Final Song. Assistant Art Director for feature films and TV including Primal Doubt, and Day of Independence
An award winning theatrical set designer, with over 100 productions, including Broomstick; Ovation award nominated for best set design. My Fair Lady; Winner: San Diego Critics Circle award for best set design. At Walt Disney Imagineering; lead set decorator for Shanghai Disney’s Fantasyland. Before that he was a paint and color specialist, working on such projects as color designing and painting the Hat Box ghost inside Disneyland’s Haunted Mansion.
Recently he was the Colorist for Universal Studios Japan’s Super Mario Land An accomplished Scenic Artist, Andy has worked on hundreds of projects for television, film, theatre and theme park projects, including the Academy Awards, Jim Henson’s Creature Shop Challenge, Fear Factor, and RuPaul’s Drag Race. Most recently, he black light painted the Peter Pan attraction going to Tokyo Disney Seas in 2023.
We are honored to have collaborated with Manuel Oliver, the father of Joaquin “Guac” Oliver, who was tragically killed in the Parkland shooting. Manuel and his wife Patricia helm
ChangeTheRef.org
which was formed to empower our Future Leaders. CTR gives the kids of today the tools they need to be empowered to make changes to critical issues that affect our nation, through education, conversation, and activism. It uses urban art and nonviolent creative confrontation to expose the disastrous effects of the mass shooting pandemic. Manuel’s vision and passion will help fuel and inform our production and we are humbled by his commitment of participation. He sees the potential of this project as we do - as an incredible way to spark empathy in people and renew the call to action for gun reform and mental health care in the U.S.
Starring
CHARLOTTE ROTHWELL
as Hannah Ehrlich
Originally from North-West England, Charlotte Rothwell was named one of BAFTA - Los Angeles’ Emerging Talents and has won the Liverpool Actress of the Year award three times. Charlotte was recently cast in Justin Chon’s feature film, JAYOJAMA, alongside Henry Ian Cusick. Earlier this year, she played the lead in HEAR THE DARK, where she can be seen as a late-deafened woman in 1915 searching for her missing son. Charlotte also creates her own content - writing, producing and acting in a film called STRANGERS, which takes place in a Los Angeles strip club.
MCKENNA SLONE
as Paige Donovan
McKenna Slone is an actress and writer based in Los Angeles. She most recently appeared as CAROLINE in the Netflix series ON THE VERGE, created by Julie Delpy. McKenna also played the role of BARBARA MCGINTUK in Peter Mattei’s TV show, OUTSIDERS. She will next be seen in the independent thriller MURDER IN THE VINEYARD as the role of BETH. McKenna graduated with a BFA in Acting from Carnegie Mellon University.
RICK OTTO
as Peter Malley
Rick was born in Baltimore, Maryland, the youngest of three siblings, raised by working class parents. His father, a Major who oversaw the Homicide Division, influenced Rick’s desire to attend law school upon graduating from Loyola College. His path was abruptly changed when he found himself on the set of NBC’s critically acclaimed drama, HOMICIDE: LIFE ON THE STREET. Rick moved to New York and began studying at the renowned Herbert Berghof studio under the watchful eye of Uta Hagen. Terrence Malick casting him in THE THIN RED LINE and his Best Actor award for his work in R.S.V.P. at the 2002 Screamfest caught the eye of late producer Robert Colesberry, who ironically brought Rick back to Baltimore as a recurring character Officer Kenneth Dozerman in HBO”S Peabody Award winning drama, THE WIRE. Since then, Rick has been cast in RED TAILS, THE PEOPLE VS OJ SIMPSON, UNSOLVED and on Amazon Primes’s Emmy Nominated series, BOSCH.
MICHELLE CLUNIE
as Rachel Ehrlich
Award winning Actress Michelle Clunie has appeared in numerous stage and televsision productions but her most memorable role was that of Melanie Marcus in the groundbreaking Showtime show QUEER AS FOLK. Michelle wrote and starred in the original off- Broadway play, US; A PROGRESSIVE LOVE STORY which explored the abuse inflicted upon an actress at the hands of a narcissistic politician. She is always looking for projects that are change makers and is proud to be involved in EVERYTHING'S FINE.
CHOPPER BERNET
as David Ehrlich
Chopper Bernet started acting in his teens and has never looked back. He has done theatre in cities in Colorado, across the Bay Area and throughout Los Angeles. He has worked in the voice over world for twenty plus years doing animation (SPIRIT), commercial (Charles Schwab), promo (NBC, MSNBC), long form and industrial. He has been on TV shows, worked on micro budgeted films and massively budgeted films (TERMINATOR 3). He has produced, written, directed and acted in a feature film and numerous shorts.
EVERYTHING’S FINE is a sponsored project of Film Independent, a non-profit independent media arts organization. Film Independent will receive grants for the charitable purposes of Everything’s Fine, provide oversight to ensure that grant funds are used in accordance with grant agreements, and provide reports as required by the grantor. Contributions for the charitable purposes of Everything’s Fine must be made payable to Film Independent and are tax-deductible to the extent permitted by law.
Praise for
Everything's Fine
"Gorgeous script, small story with so much power that it gets the reader to feel Hanna's struggle from the beginning. Being surrounded by her loved ones brings her to a point she can't breathe anymore. Coming back to her old house, her old trauma gives this whole story so much weight. You built this character in such a delicate, organic way. I love your choice of her getting to her darkest point in her most safe place. I think it's working very well and the ending is brilliant in my opinion."
-Tomar Shushan
Oscar nominated writer/director of White Eye