This is the Way the World Ends.

Lovers of Cinema,

I am so proud and pleased to share that This is the Way the World Ends, a beautiful short film I had the honor of starring in alongside the great actress Monica Wyche (and longtime friend), will be premiering as an official selection of the New York Short Film Festival: 6pm, Sunday, May 17th at Cinema Village.

My co-star Monica and I will be in attendance, along with our writer-director Jeremiah Murphy and producer Jen Sims (also, longtime friend). New Yorkers, we would love to see you there! This is the Way the World Ends will be in Shorts Block 7, 6pm on May 17 and tickets are available HERE.

We shot This Is the Way the World Ends as a love letter to everyone living through this moment of collective helplessness. Choosing love, hope and connection is the way.

As the world counts down its final eight hours, two middle-aged women find joy, comfort, and unexpected meaning in the quiet, tender moments they share — revealing that love and true human connection can transcend anything. Even the apocalypse.

What is your impending apocalypse? Is it climate change, mid-life, menopause, maybe your work, your changing creativity, loss of a loved one, the constant barrage of bad news headlines that seem a fixture of modern life…any end that folds into any beginning…how will YOU spend it?

The entire team behind this short is a group of thoughtful artists and filmmakers who think deeply about what it means to be alive right now. This story is a visual and emotional plea for us all to consider our shared humanity, and we gave it everything we had on an indie budget and with all of our dedicated time and energy. If you're in New York City, it would mean SO MUCH to share this with you. And, if you are elsewhere, we hope to bring it to a festival near you…so, please, we invite you to follow our trajectory at the instagram of This is the Way the World Ends.

IN ATTENDANCE WILL BE:

writer/director: Jeremiah Murphy is an award winning, NYC-based writer and director straddling the wildly opposite worlds of independent filmmaking and premier television docu-dramas. His work has been seen on Netflix, Hulu, Amazon, A&E, AMC, and the History Channel. In addition to television and independent cinema, he has had three full-length plays produced in New York City, and been featured in the prestigious International Fringe Festival.

producer: Jennifer Sims is a filmmaker focused on character-driven storytelling that explores power, belief, and personal transformation, centering voices often silenced by institutional systems. She has produced high-impact documentary series and features for Peacock, A&E, CNN, Amazon Studios, and Netflix. Grounded in deep listening and trust, her producing practice centers the lived experience of her collaborators. Her latest documentary feature, Cookie Queens, premiered at the Sundance Film Festival, won the Audience Award at SXSW and will be released theatrically this summer.

actress: Janie Haddad Tompkins is a half-Lebanese, classically-trained comedic actress from the American South with a tremendous creative range, currently working in TV, film, commercials, and podcasting. Her TV appearances include roles in Hacks, High Potential, Night Court, and Comedy Bang! Bang! She originated the voice of Margaret on the Emmy-winning animated series Regular Show on Cartoon Network across 8 seasons, and is joyfully reprising her role in the reboot Regular Show: The Lost Tapes, premiering May 11, 2026. She co-hosts and produces the comedy podcast STAY F. HOMEKINS alongside her husband, comedian Paul F. Tompkins — named one of Vulture's Top 10 Comedy Podcasts of 2020 and now in its seventh season as a proud SAG-AFTRA signatory production. She is also behind this Substack, WEEKEND WATER — a verified Substack Bestseller once ranked #14 in humor (edging out Dave Barry at #15 — no hard feelings, Mr. Barry!) Currently, she is writing her debut YA novel, Shell House, inspired by her own coming-of-age experience forging lifelong bonds at an all-girls school in Charleston, South Carolina.

actress: Monica Wyche is a New York-based actress and native South Carolinian who approaches her work with depth, richness and care. She is known for such roles as Sandra Leblanc on Apple TV+’s Five Days at Memorial, Valerie Linwood on ABC’s For Life, and Jeanne Seckinger on Hulu’s Murdaugh: Death in the Family. Her additional TV credits include FBI: Most Wanted, The Sinner, Blindspot, and Law & Order: SVU. Her film work includes the indie feature Unearth, past Tribeca Film Festival selection Let Liv, and Happy Hours, directed by Katie Holmes, which is a current Tribeca Film Festival selection. You can hear Monica in the upcoming short film The Dairy Bar — a quirky modern retelling of Chekhov’s The Cherry Orchard — lovingly shot on location (along with Janie) in South Carolina with the generosity of an Indie Grant from the South Carolina Film Commission. Monica is also a Mets fan. Even this year.

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