Creators have become increasingly tentative when it comes to writing characters outside of their own demographics for stage and screen. While representation for communities like Veterans is more frequent, it's often accompanied by heavy narratives or stoic soldier personas.
Director Kyle Hausmann-Stokes was able to pull from personal experience to create the 2024 SXSW Film & TV Festival Official Selection My Dead Friend Zoe. Featuring piles of dark humor, a cast and crew overflowing with Veterans, and festival darling Sonequa Martin-Green, the representation of service members is undoubtedly authentic. Learn more about making the movie in the SXSW Studio and in a post-screening Q&A while the SXSW Conference stage offered a deeper look into the lives behind service members.
During the Conference session Dynamic Characters: Portraying Veterans in Film & TV, writer and director Kyle Hausmann-Stokes and actress Sonequa Martin-Green discussed industry representation alongside two combat veterans, Mary Beth Bruggeman and Chris Marvin.
"I had a lot of experience with how I was perceived by society. I found that that was often moored in pity, charity, and low expectations. I ultimately found that there was this 'broken hero' stereotype that abounded for veterans." – Chris Marvin
