2026 Update:
We are currently fundraising for the FINAL leg of our documentary, which covers groundbreaking changes in death care communities and more vital grief resources. In August we will travel to Seattle to catch up with several of our key contributors. There we’ll film a body shrouding workshop and observe a medical aid in dying process at A Place To Die.
Your donation will help us wrap production and move on to post!
The DMDT team is so grateful for your support. We are fiscally sponsored by SIMA STUDIOS, so your donation is 100% tax deductible.
- If by check please make it payable to SIMA STUDIOS and write the project name death, me, dying tree in the memo line and mail it to:
- SIMA Studios 551 Norwich Drive West Hollywood, CA 90048
Production achievements at a glance
WHERE WE’VE BEEN:
- Seattle, WA
- San Antonio, TX
- Sangerville, ME
- Verona, WI
- Gainesville, FL
- Palm Springs, CA
- Chicago, IL
- Mexico City, MX
WHO WE’VE MET:
- Medical Aid in Dying Volunteers
- Grave Digger
- Green Funeral Tenders
- Death Midwifes
- Human Composters
- Day of the Dead Scholars
- Hospice Volunteer & Pastor
- Community Gardner & Activist
Production achievements in detail
- Upcoming: return to A Place To Die to film a body shrouding workshop, a mock medical aid in dying educational moment, and human composting tutorial in Seattle (August 2026)
- Upcoming: film a seed bombing workshop and composting expert to weave the reminder of reciprocity and rebirth into the story (May 2026)
- Día del los Muertos mourning and celebrations, stayed with and learned from a family in Mexico, which will be the ending inspiration of the docuseries (2025)
- Filmed a mock green burial workshop at the green burial sanctuary Natural Path in Wisconsin, interviewed their Director/Grave Digger, and a volunteer who buried her husband there recently (2025)
- Attended several community gardens and community efforts in San Antonio as gardening shares many similarities with death (2025)
- Filmed at and interviewed the generous folks at Recompose and Return Home, both natural organic reduction facilities (human composting for the environment’s health) (2024)
- Visited and filmed at Asphodel (A Place To Die) and followed up with A Sacred Passing’s Director Lashanna Williams to learn how she and ASP are supporting their community with their new home and space for dying (2024)
- Toured, filmed and interviewed at Prairie Creek Conservation Cemetery in Florida (2024)
- Returned to Seattle to follow up with our guest experts, A Sacred Passing, and learn how their communities are doing as we move out of Covid times (2023)
- Interviewed a hospice volunteer and grief supporting minister in Maine (2023)
- Awarded Puffin Foundation Grant for filming (2022)
- Applied for many grants and completed green burial research. We had to take the year off filming so director Lana could support her mother who had a near death illness (2022)
- Interviewed the guest experts of the Une Bonne Mort death conference in Seattle (2021)
- Fundraised over $6,000 for production, applied for grants, built relationships for future filming (2020)
- Filmed and hosted death and grief event in Chicago with local death doula Q&A (2020)
- Interviewed artists and death workers in California, Illinois and Maine (2020)
- Awarded Mitchel Fellowship for production filming (2019)
- Filmed and hosted death and grief event in Palm Springs with death/artist practitioners (2019)
- Development and Research for docuseries (2018)
- We’ve been hosting virtual and in-person mourning events, monthly grief support gatherings, death meditations, end of life file creation resources and more from 2018 to today as well, as outreach is an essential component to this documentary.
Your donation’s impact:
When our country’s painful relationship with death is changed or perhaps even healed, we will all have more time to enjoy life instead of avoiding or fearing death. We will all be able to mourn and celebrate our loved ones when they die, instead of getting weighed down in financial and legal documents. We will have confidence that the systems in place are here to support us, as opposed to alienate and confuse us.
What your donations will cover:
- $40 covers one meal on location for DMDT crew
- $75 covers one day ground transportation for entire DMDT team
- $120 covers crew meals on location for one day
- $275 covers hard drive for new footage
- $500 covers additional equipment rental for Seattle film shoot
- $750 covers rental car for entire Seattle film shoot
- $1,000 covers the flights and meals for pickup interviews in San Antonio
- $4,500 covers the entire production budget to finish docuseries
- $100,000 covers full death, me, dying tree post production costs and finishes series!
The DMDT team is so grateful for your support. We are fiscally sponsored by SIMA STUDIOS, so your donation is 100% tax deductible.
- If by check please make it payable to SIMA STUDIOS and write the project name death, me, dying tree in the memo line and mail it to:
- SIMA Studios 551 Norwich Drive West Hollywood, CA 90048
Thank you for taking the time to support this meaningful project!
-The DMDT Team