Documentary Short | 40 min. | 2025 | Directed by Matt Nadel
Oscar® Shortlisted
Best Documentary Short Film
About the Film
In the early days of the AIDS crisis, thousands of queer people — abandoned by their families, ignored by institutions — turned to one of the few options they had left to preserve their dignity: selling their life insurance policies to investors for quick cash.
From The New Yorker, Academy Award® nominated executive producer Julie Cohen, and executive producers Matt Bomer and Angeria Paris VanMicheals, Cashing Out is a powerful documentary short exploring a high-stakes market built on queer death — and one filmmaker’s unexpected connection to it.
The Crew
Matt Nadel
Director & Producer
Luke Hodges
Producer
Matt Bomer
Executive Producer
Julie Cohen
Executive Producer
Angeria Paris VanMicheals
Executive Producer
Will Mayo
Editor
Brennan Goldstein
Director of Photography
Tom Foskett-Barnes
Composer
Cashing Outis a production of Nine Patch Pictures, with support from the Catapult Film Fund, Anchor Point Foundation, LISA, and the Investigative Reporting Lab at Yale.
"A vital and outstanding film about a terrible time... Leaves us brokenhearted at the thought of how much it took, and how much it cost, emotionally and otherwise, just to stay alive."
–Hilton Als, The New Yorker
The Story
In the early 1990s, the AIDS epidemic was in its second decade.
Unable to work and with few months to live, many people with AIDS negotiated “viatical settlements” to live out their dying days with dignity.
These settlements were simple. People with AIDS sold their life insurance policies to investors and, in exchange, received a portion of their own death benefit upfront.
Some used the money for survival, to pay rent or buy medications. Others opted for end-of-life luxury — embarking on lavish trips, buying vacation homes, and starting businesses.
When these patients died, investors received the full value of their policies, often earning healthy profits on a quick turnaround.
Cashing Out spotlights the morally complex stories of everyday people pursuing dignity outside the institutions that neglected them — and finding joy on the brink of death. By examining who was and wasn’t able to access that dignity and joy, Cashing Out also connects AIDS history to timely questions around healthcare access, equity, and the social safety net.
"Riveting, must-see… Nadel’s film highlights joy in the face of mortality, while also connecting the dots to modern questions around equity and healthcare access"
–Cameron Scheetz, Queerty
Press
“Reframes how we understand survival during the AIDS crisis… It forces us to reckon with the economic systems that preyed on the desperation of a community in crisis."
–Bea Ignacio, Instinct
Recorded Q&As
Hear about the making of Cashing Out from director Matt Nadel, in conversation with:
Academy Award® Winner Caroline Waterlow (O.J.: Made in America), and Academy Award® nominated executive producer Julie Cohen (RBG)
Academy Award® Winner Ben Proudfoot (The Last Repair Shop, The Queen of Basketball)
Academy Award® Winner Molly O’Brien (The Only Girl in the Orchestra)
Academy Award® Nominee David France (How To Survive A Plague)
Academy Award® Nominee Beth Levison (The Martha Mitchell Effect)
Academy Award® Nominee John Hoffman (The Barber of Little Rock)
Academy Award® Nominee Waad Al-Kateab (For Sama)
Academy Award® Nominee S. Leo Chiang (Island In Between)
Emmy® Winner Matt Wolf (Pee-wee As Himself)
Emmy® Winner Carla Gutierrez (Frida)
Emmy® Winner Ryan Harrington (The Cave)
Emmy® Nominee Tyler H. Walk (editor of the Oscar® nominated How to Survive A Plague), with Cashing Out editor Will Mayo
Emmy® Nominee Bill Weber (We Were Here)
Emmy® Nominee Yoruba Richen (The New Black)
Award-winning filmmaker Sandi DuBowski (Sabbath Queen)
Award-winning filmmaker Roberta Grossman (Seeing Allred)
Pulitzer Prize Winner Hilton Als (staff writer, The New Yorker)
Pulitzer Prize Winner Sarah Stillman (staff writer, The New Yorker)