A man’s reality unravels when a voice on a payphone tells him nothing in his life is real.
Not his name.
Not his memories.
Not the woman he loves.
A short film written & directed by Travis Sherwood
Join us in creating a film that moves like memory and flickers like a half-remembered dream.
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100% of donations go straight to production.
Welcome to VEDA.
This isn’t just a film. It’s a descent. A slow drift into the places most stories won’t go. A man. A city. A signal on the line.
VEDA is a psychological thriller being made by people who still believe film can disturb, inspire, and transform. It’s weird, personal, and a little pissed off at the world.
We’re building this from the ground up. No studios. No gatekeepers. Just a vision and the guts to follow it. And people like you who want to help and see bold films made.
This film isn’t safe. It’s a little off. Maybe even a little lost. But, that’s what makes it ours. And maybe yours, too.
So, if you’re still reading, then you’re already part of it.
Choose your entry point.
The Synopsis
Wendell lives a quiet life filled with routines he doesn’t question. A job. A partner. A name that fits well enough. One evening, after a strange phone call stirs a mounting unease inside him, he stops taking his medication.
Almost immediately, the seams of his life begin to unravel.
A stranger’s voice tells him that things are not as they seem. From that moment on, Wendell is propelled into a waking dream, pursued by masked figures, cryptic allies, and the collapsing architecture of his own identity. As his perception distorts, so does the world around him. Familiar places take on unfamiliar meanings. Time slips sideways.
Haunted by visions of oceans, black plastic, and lives he cannot place, Wendell sets out on a disorienting journey toward the truth. But, what truth? And whose? Is he escaping from something or returning to it?
VEDA is a cerebral, unsettling portrait of a man waking up inside a life that was never his. At its core, it is a story about memory, surveillance, and the quiet terror of learning that you are not who you thought you were … and never have been.
Watch the static pulse.
A glimpse into the tone, tension, and texture of VEDA.
The Characters
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WENDELL
Wendell is a man quietly unraveling, caught between the life he’s been living and the terrifying suspicion that none of it belongs to him.
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AMELIA
Amelia is sharp, intuitive, and full of warmth. Beneath her calm presence is someone who knows more than she lets on.
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OTHER
Other appears in many forms. A voice on the line. A face in the crowd. A guide, a threat, a mirror. He is the question that keeps following Wendell.
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OLD MAN
The Old Man speaks with warmth, but there is something buried beneath it. He offers Wendell a way out, but never says what it costs.
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MOTORCYCLIST
The Motorcyclist appears without warning and disappears just as fast, an emotionless presence that feels less like a person and more like a signal.
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THE FIGURE
The Figure is a silent specter that follows Wendell through the cracks in reality, its face always hidden but its intent impossible to ignore.
The World
This is New York, but something is wrong.
The skyline is familiar, but the city feels off. Streets curve where they shouldn’t. Faces repeat. Reflections linger.
Wendell moves through a maze of symbols and shadows, where memory twists and meaning slips.
This isn’t the New York you know. It’s something built inside the cracks.
The Look and Feel
VEDA will be shot in stark black and white. Not for nostalgia, but for tension, clarity, and the raw truth of a world slipping out of place. The camera moves like a pulse. It’s fast, handheld, and breathing with the characters. Wide frames disorient. Close ones suffocate. This city is built from shadow and grit, reflection and ruin. There is no gloss, no polish, only a stripped down lens staring straight into collapse.
Tone and Genre
VEDA is a psychological mystery rooted in emotion but layered with a sense of surreal unease. It slips between reality and hallucination, drawing from science fiction without leaning on its conventions. The tone is intimate, paranoid, and dreamlike. It belongs in the same space as films like The Machinist, Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, and Under the Skin. It’s a piece that’s not easily categorized. It’s part memory puzzle, part quiet horror, told through mood, silence, and the slow unraveling of certainty.
Comp Films
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Film 1
Description of why this is a comp.
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Film 2
Description of why this is a comp.
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Film 3
Description of why this is a comp.
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Film 4
Description of why this is a comp.
This is the moment.
You’re still here because something is pulling you in. The world. The mood. The questions.
Push this story from idea to reality.
Fund the film now.
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100% of donations go straight to production.
Lost yet?
Keep going or jump somewhere familiar.
Why this story? Why now?
The world is loud. Flattened. Curated into categories and content. We made VEDA because we are tired of being told what stories should be. We wanted to make something that feels lived in. Lost. Found again.
This film is for the ones who wake up in a life that feels unfamiliar. The ones who sense something just beneath the surface. The ones who cannot stop asking questions.
Now is the time to make strange, personal work. To create without permission. To push back against the algorithm and make space for something honest. Something human.
From the director:
“I've lived this question. I've stood in rooms that didn’t feel mine, answered to a name that didn’t fit, and smiled through days that left no mark. VEDA isn't just a film. It's a release valve for something I carried too long. A quiet scream I could never quite voice. The story cuts into questions I've asked all my life about control, identity, surveillance, and the quiet machinery behind the lives we live. We're told to package our pain, soften our doubts, smooth out the edges. This film does the opposite. It needs to exist because stories like this are rare. And because if I don't tell it now, I might never tell it at all.
I’m drawn to stories that disturb quietly. Ones that stay in your bones long after the credits roll. VEDA began as a question I couldn’t shake: What if the life you live isn’t yours? Not in the sci-fi blockbuster sense, but in the slow, creeping way that reality can bend under pressure. This film is deeply personal. It’s built from moments of doubt, from watching loved ones unravel, from standing in my own reflection and not recognizing the shape. I want the audience to feel what Wendell feels. He’s lost, unmoored, hunted by something they can’t name. But I also want them to feel less alone in that. Because if you’ve ever questioned who you are, this story is already part of you.”
- Travis Sherwood, Director
No investors. No middlemen. Just you.
This film gets made if people like you show up. And stay.
Let’s create something strange and unforgettable together.
Fund the film now.
DONATE NOW!
DONATE NOW!
DONATE NOW!
DONATE NOW!
100% of donations go straight to production.
Still with us?
Choose another door or stay on this ride.
The Cast and Crew
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Travis Sherwood
Writer / Director
It all begins with an idea. Maybe you want to launch a business. Maybe you want to turn a hobby into something more.
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Alexandra Zvagelsky
Producer / Cinematographer
It all begins with an idea. Maybe you want to launch a business. Maybe you want to turn a hobby into something more.
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Gubi
Producer
It all begins with an idea. Maybe you want to launch a business. Maybe you want to turn a hobby into something more.
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Raul Menjivar
Assistant Director
It all begins with an idea. Maybe you want to launch a business. Maybe you want to turn a hobby into something more.
No fluff. Just facts.
You want to know where the money goes? Right here. Nothing hidden. No middlemen. Just film. Every dollar has a destination. Below, you’ll find a breakdown of how the funds will be used to bring VEDA to life, from production costs to post and beyond.
This is how we make the film. Line by line. Scene by scene.