2024 Woodstock Film Festival: A Conversation with Filmmaker Kyle Hausmann-Stokes

One more week to go before the 2024 Woodstock Film Festival hits town! In celebration of this exciting Hudson Valley event, now in its 25th year, we’re excited to share a series of exclusive interviews showcasing a select group of filmmakers participating in this year’s festival, and that brings us to filmmaker, Kyle Hausmann-Stokes.

What better imaginary friend than a spirited, deceased friend to act as your enduring conscience and guide? Check out My Dead Friend Zoe, premiering at this year’s Woodstock Film Festival. This beloved movie is about enduring friendship, grief, and hope. From US Army veteran Kyle Hausmann-Stokes comes a dark comedy/drama about Merit (Sonequa Martin-Green), a veteran grieving the loss of her Army friend Zoe (Natalie Morales), though she continues their connection beyond the physical form. The film leans heavily towards the value of healing rather than the horrors of war, bringing refreshing levity in a powerful recounting of tragedy and the long, complex search for catharsis. Winner of the Audience Award at this year’s SXSW and currently with a 100% rating on Rotten Tomatoes, Hausmann-Stokes’ film sheds light on the healing nature of talking to people and the dangers of keeping too much to yourself.

Connect with Kyle Hausmann-Stokes @mydeadfriendzoe | website
Let’s get to know Kyle, My Dead Friend Zoe‘s Director, Co-writer and Producer, in our Exclusive Interview…

Now in its 25th year, 2024 promises to be as exciting as ever!
October 15 to October 20, 2024
Check out the 2024 Woodstock Film Festival Schedule | Get Your Tickets HERE.

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INSIDE+OUT: What does it mean for you to be included in the Woodstock Film Festival?

It’s an honor to be included in a festival like the Woodstock Film Festival, which has such a rich history and reputation for curating some of my favorite films from the past two decades.

Kyle Hausmann-Stokes: Tell us about your film at this year’s Woodstock Film Festival.

MY DEAD FRIEND ZOE is a dark comedy-drama that follows the journey of Merit (Sonequa Martin-Green), a US Army Afghanistan veteran who is at odds with her family thanks to the presence of Zoe (Natalie Morales), her dead best friend from the Army. Despite the persistence of her VA group counselor (Morgan Freeman), the tough love of her mother (Gloria Reuben) and the levity of an unexpected love interest, Merit’s cozy-dysfunctional friendship with Zoe keeps the duo insulated from the world. That is until Merit’s estranged grandfather (Ed Harris) — holed up at the family’s ancestral lake house — begins to lose his way and needs the one thing he refuses… help. At its core, this is a buddy film about a complicated friendship, a divided family, and the complex ways in which we process grief.

What is the importance of film festivals to you and your work?

I’ve been attending film festivals, as both a spectator and filmmaker, for over 20 years, and I usually attend a handful each year. The expression “find your tribe” always feels very apt for me when thinking about film festivals. Being a film lover and a filmmaker, both can be very solitary endeavors. So, to be together with people who love what you love and do what you do always comes as a much-needed refill of the proverbial tank.

Aside from the obvious things (connection, community, exposure), some of the things I’ve come to really value about film festivals are a bit more tangible: they are a deadline, they are an IRL destination that is not online, and they involve competition and selection. All of these things have direct parallels to Hollywood. Whether a filmmaker/artist is conscious of it or not, there are valuable lessons to be gleaned from observing what it takes to “make the cut.”

What inspired you to choose a career in the film business, and what was your journey?

I was one of those who, from a young age and my first exposure to my dad’s Hi-8 camcorder, was instantly drawn to film as an artistic expression, medium and passion.

I’ve dedicated almost my entire filmmaking career to telling stories about the military and veteran experience—both are such formative parts of my background and identity. MY DEAD FRIEND ZOE is a culmination of everything I’ve experienced, everything I’ve grown from since leaving the military in 2008.

This film began as a mission (literally), one assigned to me by a wise battalion commander of mine twenty years ago. I enlisted in the US Army in August 2001…one month before 9/11. I served as a paratrooper in the 509th Airborne Infantry for three years, and in August of 2004, I was weeks away from the end of my enlistment. But, because of the war in Iraq, my unit was suddenly “Stop Loss-ed,” and my plans to discharge and attend college would be put on hold until we returned from a 12-month combat tour in Iraq. Then, and I still can’t believe this, because I had become known as the “battalion film guy”—I was always secretly filming our airborne jumps, jungle warfare training and tank battle maneuvers, editing them into short films in my barracks room and handing out copies on VHS—I was ordered to report to the Colonel’s office one night late – this is rarely a good thing.

He said, “Sergeant Hausmann, I’ve seen your films, the impact they have on morale, and…I think you may be destined for something else. So I’ve made arrangements for you, and only you, to be exempt from our Stop Loss. You’ll be allowed to leave the Army on your discharge date, but in exchange for not deploying with us, I have a mission for you. You will seek out the best film school in the country, hone your skills and…you will be our voice. You will tell the soldier’s story. I was floored. But never so inspired.

I found my way to USC film, used my GI Bill, and have spent the last 14 years of my filmmaking career dedicated to living up to that promise. I’ve checked in with that Colonel a few times over the years; he doesn’t know about this film yet, but…he will.

Ironically, I was recalled back into the Army in 2007. It was the beginning of “The Surge.” I was a junior at USC, hadn’t yet deployed, and knew if I didn’t, someone else would go in my place. So I dropped out for 18 months, put film school on pause, and served a yearlong combat tour in Iraq with the 1-160th Infantry as a convoy commander. Coming back to film school after that experience, now 5 years older than my peers, was a surreal experience. But it only further cemented for me the Colonel’s mission to tell the soldier’s story. I spent the next ten years writing, producing, and directing PSAs, campaigns, and short films about the veteran experience. Also, a lot of commercials to pay the bills. But my focus was always on the military and vets. I’ve done a ton of work for the VA—about mental health, homelessness, suicide, medical care—and poured into all of them my personal experiences with PTSD and reintegration.

It wasn’t until the pandemic that I finally mustered the guts to start writing the script for MY DEAD FRIEND ZOE. It’s based on so much of me: my post-war relationship with my Vietnam vet grandfather, my friendship with platoonmates, and the push into talk therapy I got from a wise Vietnam veteran. After a year of trying to set up the film, I got restless and decided to spend a big chunk of personal savings and shoot-a-proof of the concept of a short film. I did a premiere of the film at the Hollywood American Legion. At that screening was someone named Richard Silverman, who loved the film and sent it to Paul Scanlan, the CEO of Legion M. They embraced the project right away and, along with Radiant Media Studios, have been amazing “filmmaker champion” partners throughout the entire process.

Do you have any advice for young filmmakers?

Everyone will tell you to always be creating, always be making your own films or being a part of other people’s films. I agree with this 1000%, also that it’s true that the basic smartphones and computers everyone owns are more than enough to create with. So, at a foundational, prerequisite level…the “maker” part of a filmmaker should go without saying. In addition to that–acknowledging that filmmaking is one of the most resource-intensive art forms–my advice to aspiring filmmakers is to always be in film school. One of your own making. Sure, you can attend a proper film school (I did, and it was essential for me), but you can/should also be seeing everything. Studying everything. Reading everything. Watching “Making Of” videos on YouTube. Going to screenings and festivals and QnAs. I like Malcolm Gladwell’s “10,000 hours” approach. There are no shortcuts. You have to pay your dues, and that takes old-fashioned time, determination, and elbow grease (both mental and physical).

What was the biggest challenge in making this film?

Going from zero to one, starting from nothing and willing it into something, was the hardest part of making this film for me. So much of this industry, and the career of a writer/director, is convincing people to trust you. The easiest, something only, way to do that is to point to the last thing(s) you did. And when you don’t have a feature to point to, everything else you present—about the film and yourself as the filmmaker—becomes much more essential. Convincing people, whether it be an experienced producer or production company or, investor or talent, to commit to you and your project…is an intensely fraught, uphill battle and one that thousands of other filmmakers are doing at the same time. For me, this meant spending two years refining the script, a year of phone calls and pitch decks, thousands of emails and follow-up emails, and, in the end, the huge decision to use a huge portion of my life savings to make a proof-of-concept short. Thanks to all the work that went into all of those materials and some cosmic luck, it paid off in the end.

How do you feel this film will impact people’s perspective of the veteran narrative?

My hope is that people will come away from this film—having laughed and cried and smiled a lot—with an optimistic outlook on veterans. Most on-screen portrayals of veterans fall into tropes and stereotypes, and I think that’s because so few of us vets have had the chance to tell our own stories. We’re much more resilient, dynamic, funny, and heartfelt than people may think.

Do you feel that using comedy when discussing serious topics can make the content more accessible to the audience?

Absolutely. For us soldiers, humor is fundamental, especially in the worst of situations. It’s hard for non-veterans to know when/if/how to laugh at things related to serving in the military or war or being a veteran, so it was my intention from day one of writing this script to let the audience in on the special blend of humor and heart that we veterans share.

Want to share about any upcoming projects?

Since the film won at SXSW and thanks to my reps at Grandview and CAA, I’ve had a ton of great meetings around town with producers, development companies and studios. In some exciting conversation there. Then, personally, I’m just finishing two scripts that I would direct. One is a comedy about a men’s group and the other is a sports film inspired by the true story of two brothers and an unlikely journey to the NFL.

What is your favorite pearl you personally gleaned from co-creating this project?

Vulnerability can be power.

Photos courtesy of Kyle Hausmann-Stokes + Mike Moriatis + Josh Telles

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About Kyle Hausmann-Stokes

Enlisting a month before 9/11, Kyle Hausmann-Stokes served five years as a paratrooper in the US Army and received the Bronze Star in Iraq. Following USC film school, Kyle spent a decade writing/producing/directing content about the military, veterans, and mental health. He is the co-founder of Veterans in Media & Entertainment. My Dead Friend Zoe is his feature film debut.

About the Woodstock Film Festival

The 25th Annual Woodstock Film Festival brings a slate of distinguished films to screen from October 15 to October 20, 2024, at venues across the Hudson Valley towns of Woodstock, Rosendale, Kingston and Saugerties.

Founded in 2000, the Woodstock Film Festival (WFF) is a not-for-profit 501(c)(3) organization that nurtures and supports emerging and established filmmakers, sharing their creative voices through an annual festival and year-round programming to promote culture, diversity, community, educational opportunities and economic growth.

WFF provides innovative mentoring and inspired educational programs that benefit filmmakers, students, and diverse audiences while serving as a powerful cultural and economic engine for New York’s Hudson Valley and beyond. Such efforts have consistently resulted in the festival being hailed as one of the top regional film festivals worldwide. 

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Now in its 25th year, 2024 promises to as exciting as ever! 2024 Lineup and Tickets HERE.

Full and Weekend Festival Passes are available – Get Your Festival Deluxe Passes HERE

Here is a link to the 2024 Film Festival Schedule