Project Status
Overview
We are officially in post-production!
Thanks to our generous supporters, we brought an incredible team together for our 2024 end-of-the-year shoot at Conway Recording Studios. We are pinching ourselves over the sheer talent, dedication, and brilliance of our cast and crew. The footage we captured during those four magical days has us so excited for what’s ahead.
No production is without its challenges and when one of our leads lost their voice unexpectedly, we made the tough call to schedule an extra shoot day in May to ensure the authenticity of live vocals that are at the heart of Pop Screen.
This extra day, along with our post-production, is supported by our new partnership with Fractured Atlas —making all donations tax-deductible under their 501(c)(3) umbrella!
While in LA, our director/songwriter Meg Steedle also worked with our amazing music producers— Taylor Bird & Peter Hanna —finessing the film’s main song. We cannot wait to share it with you all soon!
New Updates
Our Instagram will feature new updates every week. Please give us a follow or reach out via our Direct Messages!
Some BIG NEWS! Our short film Pop Screen is officially a Semi-Finalist for the prestigious @shorescripts Short Film Fund! 🎬✨ We’re so honored to be under continued consideration for their Finishing Funds Grant — and deeply grateful to be advancing to the next round! 🙌💥 Huge thanks to @shorescripts for believing in our work and giving us this incredible opportunity to keep pushing our story forward. Swipe for how it’s got us all feeling!! 🥹🎉 #PopScreenFilm #ShortFilm #FilmFund #IndieFilm #FilmmakersOfInstagram #WomenInFilm #FilmGrant #ShortFilmFunding #ShoreScripts #FilmCommunity #BehindTheScenes #FilmmakingJourney #SupportIndieFilm #CreativeGrants #ConwayRecordingStudios #FilmFestivals #ComingSoon
#MeetTheTeam ! Greg (@6hrsn93 ) is our brilliant gaffer and all-around creative force. Responsible for lighting our set, he brought the neons of Viggo’s control room to life and nailed the warm, nostalgic 1970s yellows of @conwayrecordingstudios ‘s front office, a shoutout to the recording studio’s historic past. He brought such an artistic and collaborative spirit to set… swipe for evidence of his hidden talents behind the scenes 👀 So grateful for you Greg!!!! #gaffermagic #behindthescenes #popscreenfilm #filmlighting #setlife #filmcrew #productiondesign #visualstorytelling #lightingforfilm
Casting
Casting is currently underway for our film’s four lead characters.
We are VERY committed to hiring actors who one might consider ‘unknown’ for the roles of Alex and John, who will both play studio employees. We believe it’s important that we not recognize them from other work in order to lean into the idea that there are many talented people who work in the shadows of greats…and we may never know who they are.
This is a heavy acting piece and both Lily and Alex need to be able to sing…so, in all, it will take some special artists to bring this one to life.
A couple of the studio runners in the film will be played by actual studio runners Meg Steedle worked with during her 3 years at the recording studio. We are excited to hire some of Meg’s studio colleagues, not only giving them a chance to shine on screen, but also to authentically portray what it is these amazing people do behind the scenes and how it is they do it.
May '25 Pickup Shoot
We did it!! Our pickup shoot wrapped in May 2025, allowing us to capture some key musical moments we were unable to film initially due to an illness in the cast. Thanks to unwavering support from our incredible donors and fans, whom we have lovingly named ‘Popsters’, we were able to spend two days capturing crucial singing scenes and grab some beautiful new footage to add to our edit.
Location
We were generously gifted the location of Conway Recording Studios in LA, the same location that provides the real-world inspiration for this script, by owner (and Meg’s former boss) Buddy Brundo.
Principal photography for POP SCREEN took place in Los Angeles, CA at Conway Recording Studios from December 12 – 16. In May of 2025, we revisited Conway for a pickup shoot and to record vocals for the title song, officially completing the production stage!
Fundraising
We were a top 15 finalist for a production grant from Outstanding Screenplays Shorts Competition. While we did not end up winning the funds, the honorable accolade added even more fuel to the fire – we know the story is special and we are determined to make this film.
On November 5, we launched our Seed&Spark crowdfunding campaign cover the bare minimum costs of production. This paid our talented cast and crew as well as provided us the means to rent much-needed equipment (camera, lights, etc.) to make POP SCREEN a reality.
Since then, POP SCREEN was also named a Semi-Finalist for finishing funds from Shore Scripts under their Short Film Fund grant. Now that we are in post-production, we continue to explore grant opportunities as well as donations-in-kind to help us cross the finish line.
We are fiscally sponsored under the 501c3 Fractured Atlas making all donations towards our project tax-deductible and making us eligible for many company’s charity matches.
Our fundraising continues – please check out our WISHLIST page in the coming weeks for information on ways to help us finish post-production and officially bring POP SCREEN to life!
Through the generosity of so many who believe in the power of music and music stories, as well as the desire to illuminate the people behind the scenes, POP SCREEN will be a labor of love for so many. We continue to be so grateful for all of the support we continue to receive.
Our incredible cast and crew for last December’s shoot!