Inspired by his grandfather, Kyle Hausmann-Stokes always knew he wanted to become a soldier. From combat to the aftermath, his experiences ignited a passion for telling the stories of his community.
“I always dreamed about joining the military and then ultimately did join the Army immediately after high school because of my grandfather and one of our family traditions. This is depicted in my film, My Dead Friend Zoe, literally shot for shot,” he explained. “My family would go to a small lake community in northern Wisconsin, where I’m from, every Fourth of July. They would play the Armed Forces medley and the conductor would say, ‘When we play your branch of service’s song, please stand and be recognized.’ I would be sitting there just like a little guy and there’s my grandfather, who served 22 years in the Army, retired as a lieutenant colonel and did two tours in Vietnam, now a farmer. I get emotional talking about it; they would play the Army song and he would push himself up slowly out of his folding chair and stand, humbled. That’s the most recognition he would ever take. I would look up at him and he seemed like he was 100 feet tall to me. I kind of wanted to be tall like that too one day.”
He enlisted in the Army in August 2011. While at boot camp, terrorists attacked on 9/11, and he went from a peacetime soldier to war.
“One thing I actually tell people about those of us who have served is that one of the bravest days is actually day zero, when you raise your hand at MEPS. You swear an oath and you enlist to do whatever the country asks, and you don’t get to have a say,” Hausmann-Stokes shared. “I don’t think most Americans or most people who haven’t served in the military really know what that’s like. It’s pretty scary; it doesn’t matter what the politics are or who the president is. You just have to go and you have to say: Roger that.”
Following basic training, he served at Fort Polk before going to Airborne training in Georgia and becoming a paratrooper. Every unit was training to go to Iraq, but he decided to get out when his enlistment was up to go to college, and he did.
Until the Army enacted the Stop-Loss.
“The backstory to this is that I had been making films my entire career even though I probably shouldn’t have. Actually, I definitely wasn’t supposed to,” Hausmann-Stokes laughed. “But our lieutenant colonel called me into his office one day and asked for a copy of the VHS tape so he could show his family. He had seen my films and felt like I could make a greater impact outside of the military, so he arranged for me to get out of the Stop-Loss. He then went on to tell me I could pay it back by being the person on the inside and telling the story the right way.”
He got into the University of Southern California’s film school, and things were going great. Then, he got a letter from the Pentagon recalling him back into the Army in 2007.
“I had to drop out of school, and I was immediately owned by the Army for 18 months, deploying to Iraq as a convoy commander for a year,” he shared. “Having been to combat, in a way, I needed that experience to be a complete soldier-filmmaker because that is so much part of the experience—not for everybody, but for a lot of people. I’ve been telling soldier stories ever since and literally dedicated my life and my career to telling military and veteran stories.”
Transitioning out of the Army created a learning curve for Hausmann-Stokes, and it took about a semester for him to shed the constant military persona he’d worn as a soldier. When he graduated in 2010, his first job was creating a video campaign for the VA.
“One day I went into Senator Tammy Duckworth’s office. I knew she was a veteran and on the committee for the VA. I told her the marketing sucked and that as a veteran we saw it as old and dusty,” he laughed. “She didn’t kick me out of her office but instead asked me what I would do differently. She was the first person to believe in me and the work I could do.”
From there, it was on.
“I created a short film for them that did very well. So in doing that, I created my own film and production company called Blue Three Productions. Blue Three was my call sign in Iraq. For the next 10 years, I created all kinds of projects for veteran nonprofits. With the VA, I did most of their national advertising, some big campaigns like MakeTheConnection.net. Then I transitioned into doing more commercial work for big brands like Google, Rocket Mortgage and UPS.”
For Hausmann-Stokes, making a feature film was always a big dream. He remarked that getting into it was extremely competitive and hard, but 13 years after graduating, he had written a script and made it into a film.
On November 1, 2024, My Dead Friend Zoe will hit theaters everywhere, featuring Sonequa Martin-Green, Natalie Morales, Ed Harris (who plays the part of Hausmann-Stokes’ grandfather) and the incomparable Morgan Freeman, a fellow veteran and award-winning actor.
“It’s a dark comedy-drama about battle buddies, about friendship and family. I think it’s kind of a creative take on losing somebody you love but then ultimately learning how to move on,” Hausmann-Stokes explained. “They say in Hollywood that you’re supposed to write the movie that you want to see, right? This is a movie that I’ve always wanted to see.”
Merit is a veteran who keeps seeing the presence of her best friend Zoe, who died in combat. When her estranged grandfather is diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease, she chooses to become his caretaker. It’s a film about redemption, finding yourself and ultimately—healing.
Hidden spoiler: One of the executive producers for the film is Travis Kelce.
“This is Travis’ first film that he’s produced and we’re lucky to have him. Travis cares a lot about the military and veterans. He’s slowly making his way toward Hollywood, so it was the right time, right place kind of thing,” Hausmann-Stokes added.
As for any message he had regarding the film or his story, it was direct.
“I guess my ‘ask’ as a veteran would just be for the community to surround us on this film and really help lift us up. Because I also want to send a message to Hollywood that stories about veterans and their families don’t all have to be sad ones. Most of them actually are uplifting,” Hausmann-Stokes said. “I’m also really proud to share that over 90% of the cast in this film were veterans, and I’m committed to making more down the road. Our stories deserve to be told.”