Summer Chastant Obituary, Death – On December 17, 2022, Summer Chastant passed away while residing in her home in Los Angeles. After a long and difficult battle with bipolar disorder, she took her own life and died. Summer has never allowed her persistent mental illness or the stigma that comes with it to define who she is. In point of fact, she wished that everyone was more open, honest, and informed about mental health, in addition to being less judgmental about those who are coping with it.
Summer was a talented writer, filmmaker, and actor who had won multiple accolades for her work. She was the creator of the critically acclaimed digital series Namaste, Bitches, in addition to the series Rage Room and the short film A Little Bit Pregnant. Summer passed away in 2018. She was a creative person who was also kind and loving, and she had a sly, wry sense of humor that would sneak up on you when you were least expecting it. She was equally adept at writing comedies, dramedies, and dramatic works. She enjoyed making people laugh and creating fresh and interesting environments for her characters to live in.
She consistently came up with brilliant and unique ideas, which appeared to come from an endless source of inspiration. She was a voracious reader who consumed works of fiction, nonfiction, and memoirs with the same fervor, always on the lookout for works written by women authors and other authors with distinctive voices. She was also very fond of cats. She had two of her own: Spirit, who had been by her side for fifteen years, and Mimi, who she had rescued from the street. Spirit had been by her side for fifteen years. However, she would stop whatever she was doing to pet or pick up any cat that she came across.
The half-hour television pilots that Summer wrote won awards at a number of screenwriting competitions, including the Austin Screenwriting Competition, the Slamdance Screenplay Competition, and the Nashville Film Festival Screenwriting Competition. Summer is a graduate of the Independent Filmmaker Project’s Screen Forward Lab, in addition to being a finalist for the 2020 Sundance Episodic Lab. Since 2021, she has held the position of co-captain on the Slamdance Episodes programming team, which she adored leading because it allowed her to support new and original filmmakers. Before she began a career in writing and filmmaking, she was a highly regarded and adored yoga teacher in New York City and Los Angeles. She taught at prominent studios and led retreats for devoted students during her time in those cities. In addition to that, she was a popular DJ.
Helen Shirey and Jack Costello welcomed their daughter Summer into the world on November 22, 1979, and she was raised by Helen and Clifford Shirey. Summer was born in Youngwood, Pennsylvania. Her formative years were spent in Pittsburgh, where she attended acting and dance classes. During the summers, she traveled to Los Angeles to spend time with her sister. During this time, she had a lot of exciting experiences, including sneaking into The Viper Room when she was too young to be there and hanging out with Leonardo DiCaprio and Flea there. She graduated with a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree in Acting from the University of Utah and then went on to earn her Master of Fine Arts degree in Acting from the highly regarded Old Globe Theater program at the University of San Diego. Additionally, the Kennedy Center honored her for her acting with a prize.
After completing her master’s degree, Summer moved back to New York to pursue a career in acting before going on to become a yoga instructor. During this incarnation of herself, she worked at Kula Yoga Project, where she first met her future husband, Boyd, who was one of her students. They chose to have a small ceremony in Prospect Park for their wedding a couple of years later, after which they went on their honeymoon to Rome, Sorrento, Capri, and Positano in Italy. Soon after they got back, Summer and Boyd uprooted their lives and moved to Los Angeles, where she pursued her ambition of becoming a television writer.
Summer was a fan of a wide variety of musical genres, ranging from hip-hop and drum and bass to rock and dance and everything in between (everything except country). She made a habit of attending live performances, such as concerts and festivals, by her favorite artists. When she has some free time, she might use her turntables to create a mix of all of her favorite songs, preferably on vinyl. And if you were extremely fortunate, she would invite you to her after-Coachella party, which she jokingly referred to as “Summerchella,” where you would get to see her DJ perform live.
In addition to her passion for music, Summer placed a strong emphasis on maintaining a healthy lifestyle. On most days of the week, you could find her at Barry’s Bootcamp, practicing yoga, or going to Pilates class. During the pandemic, she started getting into surfing. Even though she had broken her leg at San Onofre State Beach, she returned there almost immediately and continued to have a good time during her morning surf sessions.
In addition to this, Summer had a passion for exploring new places and learning about different cultures. She has led yoga retreats in Tulum, Nicaragua, and Umbria, Italy. This was back when Tulum was still using generator power and before it became home to Park Slope South. She did volunteer work in Thailand while she was there. Her journey through India served as her own personal time of reflection and growth.
As a result of her trip to Barcelona, she returned home with fresh ideas for her writing. When she hiked her board through the jungle to get to Playa La Lancha in Punta Mita, it helped her develop a deeper appreciation for the sport of surfing. She even found some beautiful, lightly touched surf breaks in Costa Rica, which she intended to make a permanent part of her life and which she found in the country of Costa Rica.
Her devoted husband, Boyd Chastant, as well as her mother, Helen Shirey, and her sister, Kim McLeod, are among those who are left behind after Summer’s passing.