Jenny

Born and raised in the suburbs of Chicago, Madalyne Bieschke is a well-versed performer in figure skating, dance, and musicals. Having taken acting classes through Second City, ASC, and AGB Studio, she understands the nuance of horror and powerfully driven character performances. An avid Tik Tokker, Madalyne is currently signed with AE Talent.

Actor background and comments

- Dr. Weisman (played by __________)

Producer background and comments

- Producer

Director

Sprott Woods has spent the past several years packaging films with producer Scott Ross (co-founder with James Cameron of Digital Domain). Sprott’s producing/AD credits include DOMINIQUE (Lionsgate), FIRST DATE (Magnolia), THE RUSSIAN BRIDE (Vertical Entertainment), BEYOND THE RYE (European Studios), and Monica Raymund’s directorial debut (short film) written by Sam Forman (writer-producer HOUSE OF CARDS). He studied line-producing from esteemed UPM Robert Latham Brown (STARSHIP TROOPERS, S.W.A.T., STAR WARS) after graduating from USC Film School in 2016.

Producer background and comments

- Producer

The Pitch

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Jenny

Jenny suffers a rare condition where gender dysphoria overlaps with schizophrenia. She was imprisoned after mutilating the genitals of her boss at a tourism office when he laid her off due to bad performance. The judge sent Jenny to a male prison because of her biological sex. Transphobic remarks from the other inmates led to constant bullying. Jenny’s cellmate was more timid than her, so she tested her shank on him, carving a slit between his legs — he said nothing to the guards. In the yard, Jenny carved a slit between one of the bully’s legs and then her own. It was a public triumph, this gruesome display of genital mutilation. At this point, our story begins.

During the sessions with psychotherapist Dr. Weisman, Jenny’s peace is easily disturbed. She does not feel remorse and is still feeling the tremors of her barbarism two weeks before. For Jenny, the whole world is against her; everyone gossips about her, laughs at her, despises her. Unrequited love and family abandonment has spiraled into self-loathing to the point she can’t stomach her own reflection.

Ultimately, she just wants to be seen by the world for who she is. She wants the world to conform to her self-perception. For Jenny, these are not delusional expectations. This reality gap makes her highly self-conscious. At moments, she’ll look at her arms and feel they’re not her own. She’ll see how quickly hair grows and scrape it off. Her horribly scarred legs become the new image of beauty and what she expects to see. Even after the hair growth stops, she must scar them again to sense it’s normal.

Her behaviors on-screen are dissociative, panicky, fidgety, and menacing.

Dr. Weisman

Dr. Weisman conducts insanity pleas for violent offenders, especially repeat offenders facing death row. He conveys a sense of empathy and yet something sinister lurks beneath. He’s approachable, calm and collected, inquisitive. He originally studied psychology to better understand himself. While his peers used it to climb corporate ladders, he took his skills to the people he felt needed it most.

However, because of the power dynamics from working with vulnerable, often unstable patients, the sessions are rife with opportunities for abuse. He does not practice therapy in any orthodox manner, which he rationalizes as a way of getting closer to the truth.

He repeatedly pushes patients to their breaking points by antagonizing and activating their emotions. But he does not see any ethical issue. For him, this is a tool to see whether a person is redeemable or not.

His behaviors on-screen are calculated, reserved, and cordial.