Filmmaker Caryn Hayes Launches Online Distribution for "Clean Hands"

On August 22, award-winning writer/filmmaker Caryn Hayes joined a host of other indie directors taking a stab at online distribution. She has released her acclaimed narrative short entitled "Clean Hands" as a digital download, making the film directly available to her fans and lesbian cinephiles alike.

"I'm really excited about it, and working hard because I'm also releasing my web series 'Entangled With You,' at the same time," said Hayes. "This is my last two week push to release this short film, and I thought I'd still be between seasons of my web series 'Entangled' at this time. But it's worth it in the end."

Written & Directed by Caryn Hayes and starring Grasie Mercedes, Dawn Noel, Kurt Sinclair and Ava Gaudet (voice), "Clean Hands" is a story about grief, faith and love.

It follows Anna and Kirsten, a married couple who are caring for Anna's terminally ill father, Paul. Anna is a woman who is always stuck in the middle, between her homophobic father and her wife, her Christian beliefs and her sexuality -- and she is constantly under pressure from all sides.

After Paul dies, Anna goes through a tailspin of grief and pain, and Kirsten's attempts to help are rebuffed. When Anna emerges from her spiral, will her rock in the storm be washed away? EDGE asked Hayes if this dramatic tale was inspired from events in her own life.

"Actually, no. It is very rare that I write anything connected to my real life," said Hayes with a chuckle. "I always write relationship stories because those are the ones that touch me the most. In them, you can see the similarities to my life. But I don't know how I would deal with the tragic things my characters deal with."

The New Orleans native (now a Los Angeles resident) world premiered the short earlier this year at the 2014 Pan African Film Festival before taking it through the film festival circuit with screenings at The Miami Gay & Lesbian Film Festival and the Women's International Film & Arts Festival.

A graduate of Xavier University of Louisiana, Hayes has been writing fiction since grade school and is a published author. This renaissance woman is also a two-time winner of the TV Pilot Award in the original script competition presented by the Organization of Black Screenwriters for "The Ridge" in 2007 and "Dirty Thirties" in 2009.

In the nine years since she relocated from NOLA to LA, Hayes has found a family of like-minded folks, but she admits that "I just tolerated LA for a good two years." And although she knew she wanted to move there as soon as she finished college, there is still a world of difference between the place she was born and raised, and the place she now calls home.

"There are major differences; I can't even wrap my mind around it," said Hayes. "The traffic, obviously. And I can't speak enough about the food. That was a major adjustment. But the longer I'm here, the easier it is to adjust. I definitely do appreciate the South for the manners it gave me, because that's very different from here. People are a lot more genuine in the South, a lot more real. Out here, it's a fa�ade for everybody, and it's hard for me because I'm not that person."

But with the help of her new friends, Hayes has made her mark on La-La Land. In the spring of 2008, she began producing her own work under her multimedia production company, Hardly Working Entertainment. Soon after, her first comedic digital series, "The World of Cory & Sid," was nominated for Best Television or Web Series in 2009 by the Urban Mediamakers Film Festival. She credits the change in technology for the success she has found.

"Online distribution has really changed entertainment," said Hayes. "Creators at one point didn't have access or couldn't do their own shows and give them to fans, they could only make a short film and hope it got to film festivals. Now you can give a film to the public and hope they support you to come back with more. Or you can do a web series, I hope it makes enough buzz to warrant attention. But now, you can just go and do it. That's totally changed the game, and it's why I started my own production company."

Hayes has found success from this. She received an Outstanding Writing in a Drama Series award for her second series, "Breaking Point," from the 2011 Los Angeles Web Series Festival. To date, "Breaking Point" has been nominated/awarded more than 20 times, including nods for Best Drama and Best Directing from the 2012 International Television Festival. Her most recent web series, a relationship dramedy dubbed "Entangled With You," has already been the recipient of five awards.

"'Entangled' is very different from 'Clean Hands,'" said Hayes. "It's a web series on YouTube about two couples who separate for different reasons. One girl's boyfriend gives her an STD, and the other's girlfriend wants her to move in and she's not ready, so the girlfriend leaves. The two women become roommates, and the series is about the awkwardness of their relationship because they are still dealing with their lovers. There is wonderful chemistry between the actors. And in my work, I try to be as diverse as possible."

Be it her signature of sorts, Hayes clearly has a natural propensity for drama, particularly the kind gravitating towards relationship. Whatever hat she is wearing, the filmmaker, writer and producer has certainly carved a successful career for herself.

She most definitely provides a shining example of how women can "make it" in Hollywood on their own terms and is a voice to be reckoned with in the lesbian film community. And Hayes always has a few irons in the fire.

"Right now I'm working on a few things," she said. "There's a web series called 'Wing Woman' that I'm hoping to shoot in September and distribute via YouTube by November. It's about two single ladies on the prowl, helping each other find love. And they're also bounty hunters. There's also a feature I'm working on and hope to shoot next year, and a pilot I'm writing, for which I'm hoping to find an investor interested in funding."

For now, you can rent or own her film "Clean Hands" for 48 hours for $2.49, or buy it for $9.99, bundled with an audio commentary. Those who want to support Hayes' future films can donate two or three more dollars to their purchase price.

"I've done a few projects via crowdfunding, and I don't love that," admitted Hayes. "This is an alternative way to continue working and putting out content while giving fans something to watch immediately."