DANSE MACABRE: A SHORT FILM

If you had seven minutes with someone you’ve loved and lost, how would you spend them?

Years after being separated by suicide in high school, a woman encounters her first boyfriend in a fleeting moment of pain and love. Set to the titular classical piece by Camille Saint-Saëns, Danse Macabre explores the rawness and complexities of grief, and serves as a reminder that we are the only ones who can give ourselves closure.

When I was sixteen, my first boyfriend took his own life. After years of struggling with grief and survivor’s guilt, I’m aiming with this film to make his death not a statistic, but a catalyst for change in how we talk about suicide awareness and prevention, grief, and general mental health. With your help, we can help others realize they are not alone in these normal, albeit difficult, human tribulations, including not only those suffering with these feelings, but those who have loved–or lost–someone who has.

Melanie Ehrlich is a New York-born actor and filmmaker based in LA. Melanie plays Helen in THE MISEDUCATION OF CAMERON POST, winner of the U.S. Dramatic Grand Jury Award at the 2018 Sundance Film Festival, and has also appeared on Netflix’s THE OA, AwesomenessTV’s MY DEAD EX, Ryan Murphy’s FEUD: BETTE AND JOAN, FX’s LEGION, and in Alexander Payne’s DOWNSIZING. A voice actor as well, Melanie can be heard as Vella Wilde, the lead female protagonist in surreal RPG YIIK, as well as a number of characters in Disney Junior’s P. KING DUCKLING and Adult Swim Games’ BATTLE CHEF BRIGADE. Melanie is the owner/head producer of LTM Productions, a full-service production company that specializes in voiceover production for animation and video games. Under the LTM moniker, she fully cast and directed the voice acting for the game NORSE NOIR, notable for including veteran voice actors from games like LEAGUE OF LEGENDS, GRAND THEFT AUTO V, SUPER SMASH BROS., and BIOSHOCK INFINITE alongside up-and-coming voiceover talent.

Leah Gottfried is an award-winning director, writer, producer and actor, and founder of Dignity Entertainment – a full-service production company dedicated to creating meaningful visual content. She is the creator of the hit comedic web series SOON BY YOU, which centers on young Orthodox Jews dating in NYC and currently has over 900K views on YouTube, as well as the creator and first graduate of the Film Studies program at Stern College for Women. Her short film THE SETUP won Best Short Film at the Washington Jewish Film Festival and has screened in numerous film festivals all around the world.

Natalie Procter is the co-creator of THAT’S GAY, an LGBTQ comedy news segment that challenges the often clueless media portrayal of LGBTQ stereotypes. On THAT’S GAY, she supervised the full post-production process, including editing, audio finishing, and color correction, and led concept development, graphics, storytelling, and delivery of the show for air. Natalie’s editing experience also includes serving as lead editor for the half hour show INFOMANIA, a weekly satirical news show, as well as freelance editing work for the comedy website Funny or Die and rock band The Scissor Sisters.

M.W Leitzel is a visual storyteller whose video and design work has appeared on CNN, Comedy Central’s THE DAILY SHOW, Time Magazine, the Boston International Film Festival and various film festivals and galleries across the country. He has worked with clients such as Dreamworks, Fox, Sony, SEGA, Ford, and many more. Additionally, he has worked with local organizations and mentorship programs to bring the arts to those who need it most in the community.