About

  • Spilled Milk is a 12-minute horror short that answers the question: What really happened to all those deadbeat dads who went to the store to get milk?

    The short is a proof of concept for a feature-length film currently in development.

  • Spilled Milk was written and directed by Jared Leaf — a former football player turned filmmaker and father.

    Spilled Milk was borne from his experience growing up without his father, and the fear of perpetuating that cycle.

  • 1 in 4 American children grow up without a father in the home.

    For Black children, that number is nearly 1 in 2.

    Spilled Milk is a story that’s both universal and culturally specific. A film about what gets passed down, what gets withheld, and what we carry when the people who were supposed to stay didn't.

  • Spilled Milk was developed through Jordan Peele's No Drama Initiative, launched in 2024 and powered by Monkeypaw Productions, Universal Pictures, and TIFF. The program was built on Peele's mission to create opportunities and remove barriers for emerging filmmakers.

    This project was selected as one of five out of 3,666 applicants.

    Executive Producers and champions of the film are Jordan Peele, Win Rosenfeld, Dana Gills, Keisha Senter, and Kesila Childers.

  • Monkeypaw Productions shepherded the film through the development and production process, pushing creative boundaries and mining for meaning in the metaphor as only The Paw can.

  • Universal's Global Talent Development & Inclusion department backed this film through its Filmmakers Project. Led by Janine Jones-Clark, GTDI creates access and opportunities for underrepresented talent.

    Emerlynn Lampitoc and Karen Noble ran the No Drama Initiative under GTDI, curating an unparalleled and groundbreaking experience for filmmakers built on Peele's mission to create opportunities and remove barriers.

    As one of the most influential film festivals in the world, the Toronto International Film Festival co-powered the program, providing critical resources and giving it a platform on the world stage at its 2025 World Premiere.

  • Good Soil Collective, led by Kacie Lehner and Jamal Watson, nurtured the film's creative vision and helped build the team to execute it.

  • Spilled Milk was shot over two nights just outside Los Angeles. Two nights to capture a story years in the making, brought to life by a dedicated crew of talented creatives united on a singular mission.

Meet the Writer-Director

Jared Leaf is a Bay Area born, award-winning writer and director telling stories where the funny, the frightening, and the familiar collide. A former college football player at the University of Hawaii and San Jose State, Jared brings the preparation, discipline and team-first mentality from the field into his creative career.

Growing up without his biological father, Jared knew the "went to the store for milk" joke long before he understood what it was covering for. Spilled Milk was born from that experience, a short horror film that takes the joke seriously and asks: what if those dads didn't just leave? He developed the project after being selected as one of five from 3,666 applicants for Jordan Peele's No Drama Initiative powered by Monkeypaw, Universal, and TIFF.

Jared cut his teeth directing branded content for Nike before moving into scripted television and narrative work. He directed all 10 episodes of Season 2 of Churchy, starring KevOnStage, for BET and SpringHill.

Jared currently resides in Portland, OR, with his wife and two kids. When he's not writing or directing, he's directing scooter videos for his kids, which he considers some of his best work.

Jared is represented by Justin Corporan-Browning at Mosaic Media Group.

Meet The Producers

Kacie Lehner

Kacie Lehner is a producer and co-founder of Good Soil Collective. A USC graduate, she began her career at Relativity Media, where she rose from intern to creative executive and worked across films including Limitless, Out of the Furnace, and Safe Haven. She left to produce independently, and in 2021 formed Good Soil Collective to support creatives with a nurturing environment for them to grow.

Jamal Watson

Jamal Watson is a producer and co-founder of Good Soil Collective. He spent a decade at Overbrook Entertainment, rising from intern to Vice President, before joining Monkeypaw Productions as SVP of Development and Production. His credits include Sprinter, Hala, Disney's Aladdin, and Netflix's Amend.

Meet The Cinematographer

Justin Dickson

Justin Dickson is an accomplished filmmaker trusted with shaping the look of some of the industry’s most incredible works. He was the chief lighting technician on Paul Thomas Anderson's award-winning One Battle After Another, as well as on Licorice Pizza. Over the past decade, he has helped shape the visual identity of some of television's most respected dramas, including Snowfall, Genius: MLK/X, and I Am the Night. As director of photography on Spilled Milk, his exacting eye and depth of feature-film experience lent the film a visual signature entirely its own.