“D(e)ad,” written by and starring comedian Isabella Roland, is an independent feature-length film about a young woman named Tillie (Roland) whose estranged father dies and begins haunting every member of her family but her. The film is a comedy based on her autobiography, bringing together three generations of Roland’s real life family, with a powerful emotional core rooted in familial bonds and the struggle to reconcile with a fraught relationship that can never be resolved. Roland gives a heartbreaking and hilarious performance, with direction by her real-life mother Claudia Lonow. “D(e)ad” is currently on a fan-supported theatrical run, which began through Kickstarter last year.
Roland’s Kickstarter had a funding period of 30 days and raised $258,549, over 300% more than the pledged goal of $75,000. Their pledged goal was reached in four hours and as they continued to get donations, they were able to get additional features outside of the bare bones of the film production, such as an original score, a trailer, color grading and a film festival budget. Since then, the film has been shown in theaters internationally through audience requests and growing hype.
Roland is best known for her participation in Dropout, a production company and streaming service that began in 2018 after rebranding CollegeHumor, a primarily Youtube-based company. Dropout continues to grow in popularity due to its large group of returning performers in various original comedy series, including a Dungeons & Dragons play, “Dimension 20.”
Roland took improv classes out of college and became immersed in the Los Angeles world of comedy which led her to Dropout. Through the comedy community, she made connections that became essential to her ability to put a film together. Erin Dellorso, who produced the film along with her partner Julianne Dowler, was one of these connections who had produced several shows and knew how to bring a crew together. This crew included other Dropout favorites, like Vic Michaelis, Zac Oyama and Brennan Lee Mulligan (Dimension 20’s founder, Dungeon Master and Roland’s husband).
Roland and I met to discuss the making of “D(e)ad,” her comedy origins, the anti-capitalist subtext of “Mary Poppins” which she has been watching weekly with her Mulligan and her toddler. Besides discussing the political potential of TV shows for kids (if you are wondering, we also talked about Bluey, which Roland described as “sometimes too deep”), we related about the uncertain feelings of graduating from undergrad with an understanding of film but little resources for actually making one.
Roland explained to me that when she got out of college, there was an immediate disconnect between what she had learned in film class and the actual practical application of that knowledge without the equipment or a crew of peers. This led her down the sketch and improv avenue from which she acquired the community that allowed her to put the pieces of this feature together and apply her college experience, which she highlights as primarily the ability to write words into Final Draft.
In our interview, Roland also warned that networking out of college is a vapid process but stressed the importance of making genuine connections, encouraging recent film graduates “be open to meeting really talented people, because you will. And then having an ensemble and a community is what makes art happen.” Bringing together a group of newbies in feature-length filmmaking also meant that each participant was incredibly invested in the production and created a comfortable environment for learning as they went.
Roland recalled that “at every stage of my career post college, I was making do with what I had.” In terms of creating an independent feature-length film, she experienced an appropriate level of chaotic money struggles and last-minute location switch-ups. She actually enjoyed the confines of independent production which allowed her not to get stuck on certain unachievable story aspects. Roland describes the pleasant chaos as a constant feeling of, “Oh my god, we are making an indie movie and we’ve got to do it all right now. How crazy!” Thanks to the team’s excitement, Roland’s flexibility as a writer and the production team’s ability to make this feel exciting, the chaos became a welcome challenge that felt right.
Giving advice to Smith College students, Roland emphasized the importance of creating connections and understanding that what you have is what you need. She embodies an exciting example of a career trajectory that spans different avenues of performance and production that is still growing.
“D(e)ad” had its virtual red carpet premiere on Nov. 29, 2025 and was briefly available digitally. There are currently screenings around the United States. You can request a screening and keep up with new ways to watch the film on their website deadthefilm.com.
