THE CONCEPT

You turn off the TV, but the crowd is still watching.

In the 90s, live studio audiences were an obligatory part of television, giving audiences at home an opportunity to laugh, cry and boo alongside an omniscient crowd. But imagine hearing that same crowd when that TV is off. 

Wait.

Are they laughing at you?

Originally conceived in the summer of 2020, when we were all stuck at home watching too much TV, this film imagines the crowd of a trashy talk show as a bloodthirsty monster that’s escaped the television screen, and found itself on the lawn of a grieving trans woman.

ABOUT THE STORY

A film about complex grief

“You’re a man now. Focus on your own life and move on.”

I remember the moment my grandmother said this to me: we were sitting in her messy kitchen eating breakfast before our visit to my grandfather, who was slipping away into a coma. The tears had been flowing for days now, but her message was clear: those are not welcome here. So in 2020, when my grandmother died, this was the only memory that circulated through my head. I couldn’t get past the deep anger I felt for a relationship I could never be honest in, with an expectation of stoicism and masculinity that I would never be able to satisfy.

That turned out to be more true than I could ever have imagined: in November of that same year, I came out as trans.

I began the long process of experimenting with the way I dressed, and slowly discovering who I really am. Almost 6 years later, I am fully out as a trans woman, I’ve changed my name, and I now use she/her pronouns, but I often think back to that relationship: Would my grandma have accepted who I really was?

Cue Applause is a film that explores the messy kind of grief for those family members that either don’t know or can’t accept our true selves. It’s a visually ambitious, emotionally resonant, and occasionally campy horror film that interrogates these relationships through the grotesque lens of trashy talk shows. 

THE TEAM

Sophia Welmond- Writer/Director

Sophia Welmond’s work is a cross between David Lynch, Terry Gilliam and Pedro Almadovar, using  genre-tropes of science fiction and horror to center trans and queer experiences.

Her most recent film, GROOMSPERSON, was a comedy based on a personal experience, in which a nonbinary person buys a dress to be a groomsman at a friend's wedding. Their science fiction film FAULTY FATHER

She  works as a staff video editor at MacGillivray Freeman Films, an academy award nominated production company specializing in Imax Films. She is currently binging BUFFY THE VAMPIRE SLAYER for the first time.



Talia Shea Levin and Kara Grace Miller - Producers

Kara Grace Miller and Talia Shea Levin are the producing duo behind MAKE ME A PIZZA (2024), which Indiewire declared a “cult-hit” after a 70+ festival tour beginning at SXSW and amassing over 3.3 million views online. When not working together to finance their first feature, they have a combined total of seven shorts currently on or entering the international festival circuit, including XOLO (2025), produced through the LFI/Netflix Inclusion Fellowship and ST. JOSEPH (2026), produced through the Russo Brothers AGBO Italian American Filmmaking Forum.


Leo Behrens - Director of Photography

Leo Behrens is an award-winning Norwegian cinematographer based in Los Angeles, with over 14 years of experience in both Norway and the US.

His short film SKIN won the Gold Medal at the 2023 Student Academy Awards and has screened at over 60 festivals worldwide, including AFI FEST, Newport Beach, and Oldenburg

Why Give?

In 2026 alone, over 500 Anti-LGBTQ bills were introduced across the United States. Simultaneously, queer and trans representation on screen have decreased significantly, and opportunities for LGBTQ artists are shrinking. This is not a coincidence: with a stated goal of “eradicating transgenderism”, right wing reactionaries recognize that silencing trans and queer voices makes it easier to dehumanize us.

Despite these challenges, trans filmmakers dare to dream, making some of the most provocative and thoughtful cinema of the past decade that resonate with massive, global audiences. By helping Cue Applause get made, you are fighting to ensure that we get to tell our own stories on our own terms.