A Short Film by Andee Kinzy & Chiara McCarty

SYNOPSIS

Traumatized by body shaming during her childhood, a mother struggles to separate her past from her daughter’s present.

Dr. Bethany Carter-Fuentes has been invited to attend her high school reunion as the Guest of Honor. Her ten-year-old daughter and her husband are proud of Bethany and excited about her achievements however, the invite dredges up Bethany’s long-buried wounds as the victim of childhood body shaming.

Fearful of the same trauma happening to her own self-assured daughter, Bethany must decide which is better: to encourage her daughter's strong sense of self-esteem or to prepare her for the painful reality of judgment.

WINNER "TEXAS DRAMA SHORT" - AUSTIN REVOLUTION FILM FESTIVAL 2023

THE FILM

Click the image below to view the video on YouTube.

WHY THIS FILM

Our media is saturated with perfection.

There is so much pressure to appear a certain way - we glorify bodies and faces that don't exist without filters or photoshop. With women and girls, there's an additional insidious layer rarely discussed: the cycle of insecurity passed down from mother to daughter, woman to girl.

Andee found herself caught in the cycle when her daughter approached puberty. Writing was a means to deal with her own feelings of guilt and shame. When Chiara read the script, it was immediately relatable. She recognized the cycle in her own family life. Her own insecurities resurfaced as well.

These insecurities, especially body image issues, begin at a very young age. They mess with your mind. We hope that this film will help women and girls to stop the cycle of insecurity and find that the image reflected back at them is perfect just the way they are.

THE TEAM

Written, Directed, Produced by Andee Kinzy

ANDEE KINZY is a writer/producer/director from Austin, TX. She has a BA in Drama from UT Austin and trained at the American Academy of Dramatic Arts in NYC. In New York, she was president of the nonprofit women’s film organization, CineWomen NY. Later, that group was absorbed into NYWIFT.

Andee has written, produced, and directed over twenty Shakespeare for Kids productions and has worked with hundreds of students in Texas, San Francisco, Philadelphia, Berlin, Bangalore, and Melbourne. Shakespeare’s Global Hamlet, which Andee wrote, produced, directed, and edited, is an episodic web series and feature film showcasing youth around the world. As Festival Director for the Girl Improved Film & Television Festival, now in its fourth year, Andee continues to inspire girls and nonbinary youth to challenge gender inequality in entertainment.

She served on the board of WIFT Austin. She's currently in development on her feature, Dolores and Howard Kick the Bucket.

Directed, Produced by Chiara McCarty

CHIARA MCCARTY is an actress and director originally from Ortona, Italy. She received extensive training in Los Angeles where she attended the American Academy of Dramatic Arts in Hollywood and the Theatre Academy at Los Angeles City College, a three-year acting conservatory focused on theatre, and earned a Certificate of Advanced Acting in Theatre as well as an Associates of Arts in Theatre. She continues to study the craft of acting at Crash Acting Studio under the guidance of Benjamin Mathes. She also holds a Bachelor of Arts in Comparative Literature from UCLA.

Chiara has acted in over two dozen films and over a dozen theatrical productions. You can catch her on Amazon Prime as Cleo in the filmed stage performance of Kill All Politicians and as the Schoolteacher in the short independent film Spindletop: The Beginning. She was nominated for Best Acting Performance in the short film Vivían at Austin After Dark Film Festival 2022.

Shame Full is Chiara’s directorial debut. She serves on the board of Women In Film & Television Austin.

CAST

KATE FERGUSON as

KAT MORRISON

Kate is an L.A.-based Actor, Writer, Filmmaker, and Photographer with a deep love of storytelling and all things art.

BETTY ARMBRUSTER

as

ELLA MORRISON

Betty is based in Austin, TX. She enjoys dancing, singing and all types of sports.

CREW

Directed and Produced by

Andee Kinzy & Chiara McCarty

Written AND EDITED by

Andee Kinzy

Director of Photography

Lance Seymour

Consulting Editor

Spenser Reich

Music by

Analia Lentini

SOUND MIXER

Joseph Cooke

BOOM OPERATOR

Victoria Linares

SOUND SHADOW

Teresa Y. Roberson

GAFFER

Zack Kearns

KEY GRIP

Calvin Henson Jr.

G&E SWING

Caden Conaway

SCRIPT SUPERVISOR

Jenny de la Fuente

PRODUCTION ASSISTANT

Rosheena Daniels

LYRICS

Moniq Guevara

COLORIST

Maria Forsythe

Grace Goen

SOUND DESIGN

Victoria Linares

GRAPHIC DESIGN

Pamela Oliver Munoz

SCREENINGS AND AWARDS

COMMUNITY PARTNERS

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We need your help to stop the cycle of insecurity and spread

the message of body positivity.

We are raising funds to help bring this film and its message to schools and organizations.