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SMOKESHOW
A SHORT FILM by CHLOE LEIGH KING
A filmmaker contends with shooting a scene that depicts her lived experience of sexual assault.
COOL HAND is proud to be the fiscal sponsor for Chloe Leigh King's sophomore short film, SMOKESHOW. Chloe has been a participant in the Cool Hand Series for the last year, and has helped lead writing and acting workshops, and will be directing and starring in this film. A Sundance alum, her goal is both to circulate this film within the festival sphere, as well as to use the short as a jumping off point to create a workshop within the carceral system centered around making art out of personal, lived experiences.
The film has currently raised half of its budget, and is seeking an additional $20,000 dollars in order to equitably pay cast and crew.
In order to reach our goal to shoot by mid-December, we need to reach this goal by November 1st.
Storyboard art by August Polite
DONATIONS
All donations contributed to this film will be tax deductible with 3% of the donations going to Cool Hand directly.
$10,000 - Executive Producer credit, single card billing, set or rehearsal visit, invitation to film’s festival premiere, dinner with the director and producers (lodging and travel not included for festival premiere)
$5,000 - Executive Producer credit, group card billing, invitation to film’s festival premiere, dinner with the director and producers (lodging and travel not included for festival premiere)
$2,500 & under - Special Thanks credit, special thanks group card billing, access to BTS photos, framed poster by artist Alexandra Duprez (lodging and travel not included for festival premiere)
Storyboard art by August Polite
FILM Q + A
When is the film shooting?
December 2026
Who do I contact for more information?
For any and all further inquiries, please email mele@ringshoutproductions.com
What is my donation servicing?
You are funding a short film by Sundance alums. You are making this project happen by helping to support our cast and crew, and ensure they are being paid at an equitable rate. You are supporting a team that prioritizes the health, safety, and comfort of our cast and crew. We are building in ample rehearsal time with our actors and intimacy coordinator, and you are ensuring we can pay them all to do their work, and feel good doing it.
Where is this shooting?
We are pleased to be partnering with Marc Agger of the illustrious Agger Fish Warehouse in the Brooklyn Navy Yard. He has generously contributed this historic locale to our production.
Why should I donate?
You care about experimental narrative film, you’re concerned with rape culture in this country, you want to support an up & coming artist, and you want to have your name on a piece of art that will blossom into a larger project.
About the Director
Chloe Leigh King is a writer, director, and actor whose work pushes her audience, with unrelenting guile and delicately straddled boundaries, to engage with the unspoken, subconscious perversions that make us human.
Her debut narrative short, DON’T TELL MAMA premiered at Sundance 2026, and continues its international festival run. She is currently developing her debut feature, SO BELOW, with award-winning producer Anne Carey.
As an actress, she was most recently seen in BUTTERFLY JAM by Kantemir Balagov, the opening film at Cannes Directors’ Fortnight. She is currently repped by Craig Kestel at WME and Emerson Davis of Redefine Entertainment.