Hold, a short film by K.D. May
Why We're Backing Hold
HOLD is a short narrative film about a sensitive ten-year-old girl whose anxiety during a single school day drives her to the place she fears most. It's autobiographical, deeply felt, and built around a simple but radical premise: that a young girl's interior world deserves to be taken seriously.
K.D. self-financed the entire production and assembled a crew that are primarily women and gender-expansive people. She is now in post-production, collaborating with sound designer Sergio Díaz, whose credits include Roma and Pan's Labyrinth, to build the film's immersive sonic world. This is not a small ambition.
Stories about girls being dismissed, misunderstood, or told they are too sensitive are unfortunately not hard to find. What is rare is a film that puts you inside that experience with this much care and craft, and asks you to sit there until you truly understand it.
Your donation is tax-deductible through Moonshot Initiative, and every dollar goes toward finishing this film. Help K.D. get HOLD in front of the audiences who need it most.
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From K.D., the creator:
I made this film for anyone who has experienced CPTSD, anxiety, misophonia, sensory overwhelm, or childhood trauma, particularly those whose emotional experiences were dismissed or misunderstood growing up.
I also made this film for audiences who may not have personally experienced these challenges, because the goal was never just to tell Maia's story. It was to put you inside it.
Over the years I've heard countless stories about children who were afraid to use school bathrooms, while the adults around them couldn't understand why. My own mother recently asked me why I was afraid of school bathrooms as a child. HOLD is my answer to that question—not an explanation, but an experience.
The film invites viewers into the sensory and emotional world of Maia, a young girl carrying fear she doesn't yet have the language to explain. Through a deeply felt performance by Norah Nunes, audiences experience the world through Maia's eyes and gain a deeper understanding of how invisible struggles can shape a child's everyday life.
Above all, I hope HOLD creates space for conversations about the importance of listening to children, believing young girls, and recognizing the lasting impact that fear, shame, and emotional isolation can have on a developing mind.
Meet The Team
K.D. May
Writer/Director/ Producer
K.D. May is a Los Angeles-based writer, director, and producer whose work explores identity, trauma, belonging, and the ways our past shapes who we become. A proud immigrant, she holds an MFA in Producing from the AFI Conservatory and is a Stowe Story Labs alumna, having participated in both the Feature Campus and Producers Lab in 2025. Her screenwriting has been recognized by the Austin Film Festival Screenwriting Competition. Her directorial debut short film, HOLD, is a deeply personal story inspired by her childhood experiences. Outside of filmmaking, K.D. serves as a guest mentor with Girls Write Now and supports environmental and wildlife conservation efforts.
Bailey Salwey
Cinematographer
Bailey Salwey is a cinematographer and photographer originally from rural Montana. She began her artistic journey as a painter and darkroom photographer, drawn to experimental and alternative processes that challenged traditional ways of making images. That same spirit of curiosity and boundary pushing continues to define her work behind the camera today. A graduate of the American Film Institute Conservatory with a Master's degree in Cinematography, Bailey was honored as one of the 2020 Audi Scholarship awardees. She now lives and works in Los Angeles. Her career has spanned narrative, documentary, commercial, and stop motion projects. She was part of the team behind Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio, where she deepened her love for handcrafted, visually bold storytelling and learned the power of patience, precision, and creative risk. Through constant experimentation she pushes herself to find new ways of seeing and feeling. Her work is driven by instinct and a deep desire to capture moments that feel real, emotional, and completely unique.
Paola Cortés
Production Designer/
Executive Producer
Paola Cortés is a Production Designer based in Central Texas, whose passion for art and architecture was sparked by her grandfather, a Mexican modernist architect.
Born in Tijuana, México, she began painting murals at 16, before training as a Set Designer in San Diego.
Her career spans theater, opera, film, and commercials, participating in notable films including Tree of Life, The 33 and Little Boy before shifting focus to commercials, having lead over 100 projects for brands like Toyota, Apple, and Meta.
Paola also teaches Production Design at Texas State University, and is launching a prop house in the Austin area.