Welcome!
Welcome to our fundraising campaign for THE WEIGHT OF IT ALL, an independent short film from Northwestern University students directed by Leah Holmes and produced by Aerin Gelblum and Zai Dawodu.
THE WEIGHT OF IT ALL explores the mental health challenges of a collegiate soccer star who pushes herself to unhealthy limits to meet high expectations—both those she sets for herself and those she perceives from others. The film seeks to bring awareness to the culture of toughness that dominates college athletics and address the stigma associated with mental health in this strenuous environment. In the wake of many tragedies across college campuses, we hope to contribute to the conversation surrounding student athlete mental health in a way that is candid and constructive.
We are pursuing the making of this short film as a passion project, without the financial assistance of Northwestern University or its associated film boards. If you share our belief for the mission and message of this project, we ask that you please consider donating to the making of the film!
Your Donation Will Help Us With...
Meet our team!
Leah Holmes (Writer/Director)
![]()
Leah Holmes is the writer/director of this film. ‘The Weight of It All’ is a passion project and she is so excited to bring her vision to life with the help of her friends and family. Leah is studying journalism and film at Northwestern and is also a member of the women’s lacrosse team. As a student-athlete, she is passionate about stories related to her community.
Director's statement:
As an athlete, I am familiar with the highly demanding and often competitive environment of college sports. I can speak to the effects that pressure and expectation can have on the mental health of student-athletes, as well as the stigma surrounding it. This project looks beyond the field, and offers a visual representation of the daily stresses and insecurities that are often present in the lives of student-athletes, but not visible to the public eye.
Aerin Gelblum (Producer)
![]()
Aerin is a junior at Northwestern studying Radio/Television/Film. She is passionate about mental health awareness and is excited to help bring this story to light.
Zai Dawodu (Producer)
![]()
Zai is a junior at Northwestern studying Radio/Television/Film. This is her first time being a producer but she has been on multiple film sets before. Zai enjoys watching films and is also happy to be working on 'The Weight Of It All' since it focuses on mental health which is very important to her.
Other Ways You Can Help
We appreciate your support for this project in any form! Please send this campaign to anyone who may be interested and feel free to follow us on instagram (@theweightofitall.film) to stay in the loop!