Award-winning movie produced by Chiefs’ Travis Kelce to be released after Super Bowl
Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce won another award Saturday, but this had nothing to do with football.
Kelce, who is currently featured on two television shows (“Grotesquerie” and “Are You Smarter Than A Celebrity?”), has dipped his toe into the world of movie producing.
“My Dead Friend Zoe” stars Sonequa Martin-Green, Natalie Morales, Ed Harris and Morgan Freeman, and Kelce is one of the executive producers.
Here is a synopsis from IMDB.com: “Engaged in a mysterious relationship with her dead best friend from the Army, a female Afghanistan veteran comes head to head with her Vietnam vet grandfather at the family’s ancestral lake house.”
That movie won the Grand Jury prize for Best Feature Narrative on Saturday at the Woodstock Film Festival, Deadline reported.
Director Kyle Hausmann-Stokes talked with Screen Rant about how Kelce became involved in the project.
“One of the producers of this film, Ray Maiello and Mike Field of Radiant Media Studios, they have a connection to somebody on Travis’s team, and they got the script and the short that I had made and the deck to them,” Hausmann-Stokes said. “They reviewed the material, they were incredible. Travis is supportive of veterans in the military, and they decided to come in and support the film, and it was so surreal. We’ve been so grateful.
“He’s really brought so much additional attention. And ultimately, selfishly, I want people to enjoy this film, but I want it to affect change. So the more eyeballs that are on this film, there’s going to be a veteran somewhere. I don’t know who they are, but they’re going to see this film, and it’s going to be the little nudge that convinces them to talk about it. Just to talk about it. And I think what Travis did for us is just this tidal wave of energy and exposure, and so yeah, we’re so excited to have him.”
Release Date
“My Dead Friend Zoe” also received a warm reception in March when shown at the SXSW Film & TV Festival. It won the Audience Award.
The film is not in theaters yet, but Deadline reported it was set to be released on Nov. 1. But that has been pushed back to Feb. 28, 2025. That’s roughly three weeks after Super Bowl LIX will be played in New Orleans.
So far, the movie has a 100% rating from Rotten Tomatoes. Variety’s Peter Debruge gave it a glowing review.
“Smart and sincere but never sanctimonious, the awareness-raising drama doubles as a public service message of sorts,” he wrote. “Don’t worry, it’s a real movie, evoking complex emotions — uncomfortable laughter and well-earned tears — en route to its cathartic finale. Just know that the movie exists for reasons other than escapism. Rather than being a cause for skepticism, the presence of such an agenda makes the result all the more meaningful. All involved want audiences to recognize that military service is dangerous, but so too is coming home.”
This story was originally published October 22, 2024 at 12:37 PM.
