Link to Press Roastbrief

Brooklyn, NY —  Open Swim is proud to announce that its casting division Lotis Bloom is taking the lead on the company’s newest feature documentary “The Aftereffect,” directed by Bradley J. Ross. The film explores the extraordinary experiences of people who have survived Near-Death Experiences (NDE’s), the profound ways these events have reshaped them, and the cutting edge scientific studies that are occurring as we speak. 

“Early on, we realized this film couldn’t rely on traditional casting,” says Ross. “With an estimated 500 million people worldwide having had an NDE, the challenge wasn’t finding stories, it was finding the right ones. What we discovered was stranger, more intimate, and more unsettling than fiction — including someone who was officially pronounced dead and later woke up zipped inside a body bag. So many lives have been reordered by crossing a threshold that most of us will never remember.”

Kathryn Lotis of Lotis Bloom joined “The Aftereffect” after Ross shared his interest last summer to bring the extraordinary stories and exploration surrounding NDEs to the screen. Drawing on her experience in casting commercials and unscripted projects, she worked closely with the Open Swim team, and her casting associate Nate Bloom to discern pathways around this topic and to tackle the unique challenges of documentary casting. As a Casting Producer, Kathryn reached out to survivors of NDEs, their families, and medical professionals, capturing a wide range of perspectives while discovering stories that shaped the narrative in unexpected ways.

“Bradley’s enthusiasm for this project has been contagious,” expresses Lotis. “It has been uplifting meeting people that have such a beautiful view of the world after their NDE experiences. Casting a documentary is like connecting people through string on a growing bulletin board in your garage. Each connection shapes the story and leads to new discoveries, as interviewees introduce us to others who have had similar experiences.”

Connecting with NDE survivors through social media groups and organizations such as the International Association for Near-Death Studies (IANDS), Lotis Bloom prioritized representing multiple perspectives, from survivors to their families to medical professionals and skeptics. This included interviews that took a historical perspective with Raymond Moody, one of the pioneers in NDE research, as well as preeminent scholars like cognitive scientist Susan Blackmore and neuroscientist Charlotte Martial, who is engaged in current scientific studies and welcomed the crew into her resuscitation unit. 

Lotis Bloom producer, Nate Bloom, adds, “Being internal to Open Swim means we’re involved on a daily basis and work from the inside out. We end up embracing other related roles like location scouting – finding places that are true to the subjects, working both creatively and logistically. It’s a more integrated approach, which relies on the strong teamwork Kathryn & I have together. It supports both the final product and the people who make it.” 

Since launching in Summer 2025, Lotis Bloom has been instrumental in numerous projects. Their work spans from finding a variety of authentic real-life subjects for interviews, lifestyle, and hidden camera work to more traditional casting projects, including everything from spokesperson casting to comedic employee and customer roles. Their work has been leveraged in everything from commercials and brand campaigns to narrative films. In lieu of leaning on a database, their approach blends grassroots research, community engagement and a deep understanding of the story at hand. 

“Lotis Bloom has been an incredible asset to Open Swim and our clients,” adds Open Swim’s Executive Producer Amyliz Pera, “and documentary casting producers can be the unsung heroes. Kathryn and Nate have their hands in both content and logistics and are really shaping this story with Bradley and the larger team. They’re copied on every single e-mail, and Kathryn, as the casting producer, has numerous potential story avenues at the ready, so I imagine her garage bulletin board is pretty big and covered in string and post-its.” 

The Film is currently in the midst of principal photography with postproduction scheduled to begin early spring 2026. 

About “The Aftereffect”:

Directed by Bradley J. Ross, Executive Produced by Amyliz Pera, and produced by department heads Kyle Porter and Stefan Wiesen, the film explores the extraordinary and similar experiences people have in the throes of death. Countless individuals report remarkably similar events, and when they return, they are never the same. Researchers and scientists from all over the world are debating what can and cannot be measured by current science  (featuring Dr. Raymond Moody, Dr. Charlotte Marshall, Dr. Susan Blackmore, Dr. Jeffrey Long). This hidden frontier provides insight into survival, second chances, the boundaries of human experience and what lies beyond.