What would you do if you thought you were dying?

If you’re Jen, you convince your boyfriend to help you stage a rehearsal of your funeral and pay your cousin to document they whole thing on video.

Early Mourning is a short mockumentary created by and starring Sam Nieves, Jon Ortiz, and Ali Hardy as part of the 2021 Easterseals Disability Film Challenge: Home Edition. Over a 5 day period, our team quarantined together to write, shoot, edit, and submit an original short film.

Inspired by Sam’s real life diagnosis story, Early Mourning follows Jennifer Anderson trying to cope with the potential bad news of her biopsy results. With the help of her supportive boyfriend Brad, and her reluctant cousin Candace, Jen plans a mock funeral to make sure her big day will go exactly as planned.

Watch the Film