The Woman In The Basement: A Short Film

There comes a point in every gal’s life when she realizes the only way to finance her short film is through crowdfunding, and lucky for ALL of us my time is now. Hi, I'm Alison Banowsky and it's true! I'm making a short!

I've wanted to make a film of my own for a very long time- a lot of my childhood consisted of my brothers and me running around our house making movies on our Panasonic VHS Camcorder- (shout-out to Kyle and Ben and also honestly my mom and dad for letting CHILDREN play with their nice camera.) After several fun and formative years in Chicago where I fulfilled a long-time dream of touring with The Second City and performing live comedy shows all across the country, I moved to LA to further pursue my goals of acting in film and television. This project is a next step in developing my career, and I am so excited. Thank you so much for reading more about our story below and considering a donation.

'The Woman In The Basement'- (working title) is a surreal comedy that follows Jane, whose banal and predictable life with her boyfriend is upended when she finds out that a mysterious and erratic woman has been living in her basement. The short is about getting unstuck, learning to trust your intuition, and most importantly, letting your freaky side flourish.

In order to accomplish the vision for this project, we are looking to raise $8,000. This money will help pay for equipment, crew, design, costumes, permits, and all the other little pieces that bring a film to life. We are currently in pre-production and are set to shoot late July 2024.

Get to know more about the fantastic people involved:

Jen Chuck, Director/Writer-- Jen Chuck is a TV writer who has been working in the industry since 2015. They've been a writer on the shows Kenan for NBC, Saved by the Bell on Peacock, Harley Quinn on Max, Velma on Max and was a writer and producer on In the Know on Peacock working for cool folks like Tina Fey, Robert Carlock, Tracey Wigfield, David Caspe, Mike Judge, Zach Woods and more. Jen and Hannah are currently developing a show with the Lonely Island's production company and CBS Studios. Jen and Hannah, as well as being co-directors on this project, are also co-directors of their dog, Sesame (Jen and Hannah are also married, isn't that sweet?).

Hannah Levy, Director/Writer-- Hannah Levy is a director and writer, who's been working in comedy for the last ten years. They most recently directed sketches for John Mulaney's Everybody's In LA and before that, they directed digital shorts on Saturday Night Live for four seasons. They wrote on Murderville, Alternatino, and wrote, directed, and edited many sketches on Funny Or Die. Some of them were better than others. Did Jen already mention the thing about Hannah and Jen being married and developing a TV show together?

Rob Hatch-Miller, Producer-- Rob Hatch-Miller is a filmmaker and Producers Guild of America member. He is one of Variety’s 10 Documentary Filmmakers To Watch In 2019, and one of DOC NYC’s 40 Under 40 documentary talents for 2019. Rob produced and directed the documentary features Other Music (Tribeca Film Festival 2019) and Syl Johnson: Any Way The Wind Blows (Best Documentary Feature, Sidewalk Film Festival 2016) and executive produced The Elephant 6 Recording Co. Rob has also directed and/or produced numerous music videos for artists including MGMT, Aimee Mann and Sharon Jones & The Dap-Kings, an episode of Adult Swim's Infomercials TV series, the standup comedy TV series Night Train With Wyatt Cenac and dozens of web comedy shorts for Funny Or Die including Hillary Clinton: Between Two Ferns With Zach Galifianakis.

Matt Sweeney, Director of Photography-- Matt Sweeney is a cinematographer who has been developing his craft for over a decade, mostly in the comedy and commercial space. Getting his start as a DP at Funny or Die, Matt shot hundreds of various shorts for a multitude of directors. He then continued his career shooting sketches for Comedy Central and various ads for brands like Hulu, MTV and HBO before being hired as a DP for a season at Saturday Night Live. He most recently shot for John Mulaney's ‘Everybody’s In LA’, where he re-teamed up with SNL alum director Hannah Levy.

Alison Banowsky, Writer/Actor-- Alison Banowsky began her career in Chicago and is an alum of Second City's National Touring Company. Her TV credits include ABC’s A Million Little Things, PopTV’s Hot Date and Hidden America With Jonah Ray. She was a supporting character in the film Love Dump which was an official selection at Slamdance Film Festival in 2023. She has appeared in many commercials both on screen and as a voiceover actor with brands such as Kia, Verizon, Lowe’s, Ring Central, Cabot, Texas Lottery, The Chicago Field Museum, and many more. She narrated the docuseries Tools of the Trade executive produced by and featuring Tony Hawk for YouTube Originals and also has narrated for the Emmy Award winning nature series Texas Parks & Wildlife on PBS. You can catch her performing comedy around Los Angeles and this August at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival.

Andrew Knox, Actor-- Andrew Knox is an actor, writer, and improviser who grew up in Vermont. He went to college to play football but, like so many linebackers, quit to do improv and acapella. Before moving to LA he wrote and performed in 4 original revues on The Second City’s Mainstage and ETC Stage in Chicago. In 2021 Andrew was named a “New Face of Comedy” at the Just For Laughs festival. Andrew can be seen performing live at the UCB theater in LA and can be seen performing on screen in various short films, TV shows, and commercials.

Thank you again! Even if you are not able to financially contribute I really appreciate you taking the time to read about my fundraiser. Please feel free to spread the word and share with anyone that might be interested in donating. Your support truly means the world to me.

Alison