The Absence is
Always Present

My name is Jason Charnick. I've been working in the Hollywood studio system as an editor and post supervisor for over 25 years. My first feature, Getting Over, had its world premiere at SXSW 2018.

Yes, we do! Filmmaking is a collaborative medium, and we're building a full team of veteran Hollywood talent to help make the film a reality. Learn more about the filmmakers by clicking here!

My daughter Shelby was born still in June 2017 at only 24 weeks. It was the turning point in my life. My worst moment on the planet was watching my wife having to deliver our deceased child. Coming only months before my greatest professional accomplishment, the last few years have been spent mourning and grieving and discovering the best way for me to deal with the situation is to help other people in the same club better deal with their situation. I feel this film can be the starting point for that help.

Thanks! We do have a full pitch deck (PDF)  you can download along with location concepts, as well as a full prospectus and marketing/distribution plan. To discuss helping our production on a wider financial scale, please e-mail writer/director Jason Charnick at jason@upstartfilmcollective.com

Absolutely! We are currently working on a page with resources and support for anyone who may be dealing with the loss of a child or loved one. We also plan on providing educational resources to help encourage understanding and an open dialogue. You can visit our resource page by clicking here.

Sure! Meet Doug & Shelley Hensley and the rest of the characters of The Absence is Always Present by clicking here.

The Absence is Always Present primarily deals with themes of grief and loss, but I'm approaching these quite differently than I may have in the past. I first learned of Erik Erikson’s Eight Stages of Psychosocial Development at Boston University where I earned a psychology degree in 1997. I found it to be a compelling analysis of humanity and it continues to resonate with me as an adult even 25 years later.

Erikson posited that as an individual advances through the eight stages of life, they need to successfully negotiate various conflicting forces in order to best navigate future stages. The last two stages, focused on in the film, are Generativity vs. Stagnation, and Ego Integrity vs. Despair, the former of which I constantly grapple with as I approach 50.

These conflicts between our own psychological needs and our social environment are universal, unfaltering and uniquely suited to dramatic exploration.

The Absence is Always Present is an unvarnished depiction of real life with complex situations that strike at the heart of the human condition. Shot in the shadows, grief itself becomes a distinct character, while composition and a limited depth of field suggest a sense of perpetual isolation and despondency. Films inspiring both tone and style include Manchester by the Sea and Pieces of a Woman.

The film is rooted in reality, with natural dialogue, frank conversations and an unapologetic authenticity. Animated titles and a dream sequence mid-film allows further exploration of the story’s darker themes in more experimental terms.

Absence is a character-driven, actor-dependent film that emulates the gritty, emotional dramas of the ’70s New Wave and the indie renaissance of the ’90s. Great care is required in casting to find the right combination of players with the bravery and talent to fully immerse the viewer in the story.

The main driver of the Absence project has been my personal journey of healing after an unspeakable loss. There’s no doubt, however, that there is currently an urgent maternity crisis in this country. One in four women will lose a baby.

While improvements in medicine since 2000 have helped drive a significant reduction in stillbirths overall, more than 20,000 cases a year are reported domestically. Furthermore, maternal mortality rates since the Covid-19 pandemic began have risen significantly, primarily along racial and socioeconomic lines. This national emergency has revealed deep-seated inequities in access to quality prenatal care for soon-to-be parents that simply demands action.

Combined with the continued assault on women’s reproductive rights in the US, the time is right for a deeply personal story to help ground the national conversation, and inject some humanity back into what is one of the most pressing and consequential human issues of our time.

Starting with a focus on the rapidly shifting film industry, I still believe adult moviegoers - grownups - are hungry for original, grownup stories with grownup themes and they’re hungry to experience these in a theater.

That audience will see themselves or someone they know - one in four women in the US will lose a baby - represented realistically and with respect and empathy. Although there is a robust community for infant & pregnancy loss online, there is still a fear and general unwillingness of the public to engage on this difficult subject. I hope the film can ground the conversation and humanize these complex, nuanced issues and emotions.

Absence is a film for all who struggle with grief’s grasp. For those who have lost a child and those who haven’t. If you’ve ever allowed the melancholy to take hold, I hope Absence brings much needed solace and perspective for all who watch.

It was a day much like today in June 2017 - though I’ve blocked out which one - that my wife and I went in for our 24-week prenatal checkup and walked out with nothing but broken dreams and a fractured future. They had difficulty finding Shelby’s heartbeat the week prior. She had gotten turned around making the ultrasound ineffective, but that day... that day there was no heartbeat at all.

You could only beg for it to be a movie. Anything to escape the nightmare of reality. Your eyes dart around furiously, trapped by the drab confines of the exam room. Each passing breath becomes thunderous enough to drown out the deafening silence. Every sense overloads on the reality and permanence of the moment.

I have lived this story for seven years and only now with Absence do I have a renewed sense of purpose to share that story with you.

The source of the authenticity of the film is my own lived experience. And the only kind of filmmaking I know is intensely personal and honest. Examining my issues and laying bare my own struggles in hopes of bringing solace and direction to those who might need it, especially myself.

I have met a wide range of both women and men who have already persevered through enduring sadness in the most unique and inspiring ways. It is a diversity of personality with a shared empathy and optimism that resonates and I feel a deep responsibility toward.

To further that vision, Absence is partnering with Forever Footprints, a non-profit organization in southern California whose mission is to assist families who have suffered a pregnancy or infant loss. As part of their official endorsement, I plan to utilize documentary footage of their annual Walk To Remember, with thousands of attendees each year.

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