“Death By Chocolate” By Media Producing Alumna Kay Gunn Is A Semi-Finalist for NY Indie Shorts Film Awards

Congratulations to Media Producing alumna Kay Gunn (M.A. ’26) for her film Death By Chocolate being selected as a Semi-Finalist for NY Indie Shorts Film Awards. What originally started as an idea and then a thesis project for the Media Producing program, Kay said Death by Chocolate was treated as a ‘film with potential’. Read below for more from Kay about the film and the process of making the film and getting it to the festival.

What is Death By Chocolate about?

Death By Chocolate is a dark romantic dramedy that follows a candlelight dinner between two middle-aged women: a tightly wound white Southern wife and her husband’s fiery Black ex-mistress.  What begins as a cordial evening soon challenges both women’s ideas of identity, loyalty, and desire in ways they never expected.

The film started out as a project in your thesis class. What was that process like - from taking an idea for a film all the way through to the NY Indie Short Film Festival?

Upon beginning the process of my dream project, I met the reality of producing.  I had an idea that I had previously written that is currently an unpublished novel.  I initially learned that a producer takes charge and brings the whole shebang to life. So, I leaped into the process of making Death By Chocolate. I started developing and refining the script. Then all the essentials came into play.  I contacted SAG/AFTRA and got approved for a microbudget production.  I commandeered a friend of mine to helm the film as director. The budget was the spine, and I utilized what I had learned in my coursework on how to raise the funds. Simultaneously, I researched some snappy royalty free music and started scouting locations. I reached out to a slew of contacts and was able to assemble a crew.  I then began posting casting notices and as a result the director and I carefully culled through the self-tapes I had requested. We found our cast from the taped submissions and the director was pleased. I worked with the 1st AD on scheduling the shoot days and setting up payroll for payment to the actors. The day of showtime had come and through the chaos of setting up, somehow, the media for the camera was missing in Brooklyn and we were on location in NJ.  Well, the race ensued to find an outlet to obtain the media.  We were in a delay.  I had a producer slow burn, but pressed on. Thank goodness for the contingency in the budget to purchase the media and the superb craft services that saved the day. Day 2 was much smoother and we wrapped up with smiles and felt we built a community that wants to get together again for the next iteration of Death By Chocolate. Our editor got right on the job and delivered.

While on location we also shot two additional scenes to add to the film for festival entry. I entered Death By Chocolate into the NY Indie Shorts Film Awards, and the film was selected as a Semi-Finalist. Since then our director was recognized and awarded for his direction in the category of Best LGBTQ short by the Florence Shorts Awards (Florence, Italy).
 

You recently graduated from the MA Media Producing program. How did your experience in the program help you develop this film beyond your thesis?

In the thesis class, I had to stretch beyond just loving the idea. I had to clarify the story, refine the tone, understand what I wanted the film to say, and then think like a producer. The process taught me that producing is not just about getting something made. It is about protecting my vision as the writer, and being respectful of the director while making practical and responsible decisions about budget, crew, casting, legal considerations, and an overall production plan within a timeline.

The M.A. Media Producing program gave Death By Chocolate the structure and challenged me to think beyond the script. I learned how to build a noticeable pitch deck, develop a realistic budget, create a production plan, and the art of negotiating for equipment and the location. The experience was blazingly daunting.  

What I appreciated most about NYU’s Media Producing program was that it treated Death By Chocolate seriously from the beginning. It was not just an assignment. It was treated as a film with potential. The feedback, high expectations, and rigors of the ancillary courses pushed me to stop just dreaming about the project and start building the path to really make it happen.

Taking Death By Chocolate from my NYU experience to the NY Indie Shorts Awards was nothing less than a significant life event. It proved that work developed in the program can have a life beyond coursework. Seeing my project evolve from a private idea, then becoming a thesis project, and then moving into a professional festival space was validating, humbling, and thrilling. By golly, it all worked out, and Death By Chocolate was recognized at the NY Indie Shorts Awards. For me, it represented the full arc of what the M.A. Media Producing Program can do. It prepared me to position the film for an audience. Death By Chocolate became more than my thesis project. It became proof of process, persistence, and what is possible when immersed in expert film producer training. What an extraordinary journey.

What's coming up for you? What other projects are you working on?

I'm working on researching and funding a documentary about a talented and gifted teenager who grew up with Hodgkin Lymphoma (now in remission) who is coming to NYC from Indiana to study musical theatre in the fall. Also, the next iteration of Death By Chocolate and working on publishing a crossword puzzle book of Broadway Musicals of the 1970s.