Travis Kelce Executive Producing My Dead Friend Zoe

He’s not only a three-time Super Bowl champion who happens to be dating the most powerful pop star in the world, but now Travis Kelce is dipping his big toe in the filmmaking world by signing on to executive produce the upcoming low-budget dark comedy, My Dead Friend Zoe.

The film stars Natalie Morales, Ed Harris, Morgan Freeman, and Sonequa Martin-Green. Directed by Kyle Hausmann-Stokes, it follows a female Afghanistan veteran (Morales) who comes head-to-head with her Vietnam vet grandfather (Harris) at the family’s ancestral lake house. It will premiere at SXSW March 9, 2024.

Another interesting aspect of the film’s financing is that they are the first movie to take advantage of the Inflation Reduction Act, which was passed in August of 2022, to finance a film. Upon its passage, the U.S. Department of Energy described the bill as “the single largest investment in climate and energy in American history, enabling America to tackle the climate crisis, advancing environmental justice, securing America’s position as a world leader in domestic clean energy manufacturing and putting the United States on a pathway to achieving the Biden-Harris Administration’s climate goals, including a net-zero economy by 2050.” Another producer of the film, entrepreneur Mike Field, used the sale of surplus tax credits to help finance the $10 million budget of My Dead Friend Zoe.

This isn’t the only film to benefit from the Inflation Reduction Act, as Kelce, Field and producer Ray Maiello plan to use the same tactic to fund King Pleasure, a documentary about artist Jean-Michel Basquiat directed by Quinn Wilson. Could this be a new way for independent filmmakers to minimize their risk while creating art for the masses?