Grandview Signs Kyle Hausmann-Stokes, Director Of SXSW-Bound Dramedy ‘My Dead Friend Zoe’

EXCLUSIVE: Ahead of the SXSW premiere of My Dead Friend Zoe, the buzzy, dark dramedy marking his feature debut, writer-director Kyle Hausmann-Stokes has signed with Grandview for management.

Set to premiere at the Austin, TX-based festival on Saturday March 9, My Dead Friend Zoe is based on Hausmann-Stokes’ real-life experiences, during his time in the army and afterwards, which he first examined in short film Merit x Zoe. Pic follows the journey of Merit (Sonequa Martin-Green), a U.S. Army Afghanistan veteran who is at odds with her family thanks to the presence of Zoe (Natalie Morales), her dead best friend from the army.

Hausmann-Stokes co-wrote, directed and produced the feature, also starring Ed Harris, Morgan Freeman, Utkarsh Ambudkar, Gloria Reuben and more, which marks the first executive producer credit for recent Super Bowl champion Travis Kelce as he looks to further expand his entertainment career.

A graduate of USC’s School of Cinematic Arts, Hausmann-Stokes enlisted in the U.S. Army a month before 9/11, serving as a paratrooper and convoy commander for five years. Awarded the Bronze Star in Iraq, he co-founded the nonprofit Veterans in Media & Entertainment and has focused his directing career thus far on the social and human sides of the military and veteran experience.

Known for its roster of top-tier filmmakers and showrunners, Grandview was founded in 2014. Other notable clients include such filmmakers such as Jospeh Kosinski (Top Gun: Maverick), Adam Wingard (Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire), and Dan Trachtenberg (Prey), as well as showrunners Chris Mundy (Ozark), Michael Waldron (Loki), and Ryan J. Condal (House of the Dragon).