Vandal Film

A short film about breaking into a system that won't recognize your talents.
"Exit Through the Giftshop" meets "Devil Wears Prada"

Thank you so much for checking out our fundraising page for Vandal. Please help us make this project happen by donating and spreading the word. We truly appreciate it!

THE STORY
VANDAL is the story of a young artist, fighting to make a name for herself in New York’s elite art scene. After being repeatedly rejected by an affluent mogul in the art world, Ally is pushed past the edge of frustration. One night, when faced with a serendipitous opportunity, she finds a way to cheat the system and take matters into her own hands. By risking everything to have her art seen on the very gallery walls she was rejected from Ally shows how sometimes doing the wrong thing for the right reasons will allow your voice to be heard.

The fate and trends within art forms, media platforms and popular culture are often dictated by an exclusive group of individuals who determine what sells and what is consumed, Vandal tells the story of anyone who has ever felt oppressed, unworthy and misplaced within that system. 

THE FUNDING
Your donations will primarily go towards:
locations; equipment, crew pay, art and set design, post production and festival submissions.

Expanding Across Art Forms
'Vandal' is a collaboration project bringing together multicultural and international filmmakers and artists, headed by actor/writer/producer Katya Martín. 

We intend to bring together independent filmmakers, artists, fashion designers and musicians to take part in this project to showcase a unique example of New York's most talented and emerging individuals. Here are just a few: 

Main featured artist: Bibi Tran

Fashion designer and featured actor: Stevie Boi Photo, retouching, art direction and fashion desigy by: Yulia Rock at http://www.fabegomagazine.com/ ; makeup and hairstyle by: Sha'Barnes


Featured Artist: Jane Bixler


Featured Designer: NIN3


Featured Designer: Ev Bessar


 Featured Artist: Bego Martin


CAST AND CREW

Katya Martín : as Ally; Producer/Writer
A working actress in New York City, Katya was born in San Diego, CA but raised in Valencia, Spain. From an early age, she loved to perform and began acting professionally in San Diego and Los Angeles. After graduating from high school with a bilingual International Baccalaureate Diploma, Katya moved to NYC to continue her acting career while studying media communications and film producing at NYU.
In writing Vandal, I wanted to tell a story that would resonate with anyone who has ever tried to follow a passion, or make a name for themselves within a system ruled by the few who set trends and shut out those who are not of the same social, economic, or even ethnic and cultural background. It is a project that means a lot to me, and I know will resonate with many viewers from all walks of life”
As an actress, Katya has most recently starred as the lead in Rudy Luna’s feature film “My First Christmas”, working opposite Sean Patrick Flanery, Quinton Aaron, Valerie Cruz and Matthew Rauch. She has worked on television shows like “My Crazy Love”, in commercials, music videos, short and feature length films. Her favorite roles include Gwendolyn in Theatrical Knights’ rendition of “The Importance of Being Ernest” and Juliette in Vanguard Theater’s “Romeo and Juliette”.  She has directed and produced student short films and is also in pre-production for a webseries she is co-producing.
 

Felipe Vara de Rey : Director
Felipe is a Spanish director, writer and cinematographer. He graduated from Madrid´s Film Institute with a degree in cinematography and shortly after participated in a feature film screenwriting workshop at the EICTV in San Antonio de Los Baños, Cuba. In 2009, Felipe co-founded the independent production company Tócalasam Laboratorio Creativo in Madrid, where he headed the creative department. With Tócalasam, Felipe has shot and directed numerous short films, commercials, and music videos several of which have gained recognition and awards in festivals worldwide. 
His last short film "Q" (2012) was part of the selection for numerous film festivals and won prizes in Spain, the US, Latin America, and Asia. In 2011, Felipe received a Fulbright Scholarship and moved to New York City to attend New York University´s Graduate Film Program. He is now based in New York where he continues to direct, write and shoot short and feature films, commercials, etc. 

Sheldon Chau: Director of Photography

Sheldon was born and raised in Los Angeles, Ca and after graduating from UC Irvine with a Bachelors in Film and Media Studies, he moved to New York to attend NYU’s graduate film program at Tisch. It was at NYU that he met our director Felipe and they have since worked on many projects together.
Sheldon’s films have been shown in festivals worldwide. In 2013 he received a nomination for the Kodak Cinematography Scholarship and this year won the Annual Volker Bahnemann Award for Cinematography at NYU.


Justin Green: Producer

Justin, a recent graduate of NYU, is an independent producer whose recent projects include content for Nike, Mountain Dew, and MasterCard. “Vandal” is his third collaboration with Katya, and he is thrilled to have been able to work alongside such talented artists in bringing her story to life.


Bibi Tran: Artist
Growing up in New York, Bibi was always surrounded by endless expressions of diverse life and culture. After receiving her BA in Visual Arts, Graduation with Distinction in Painting, she realized art was not just a hobby but an essential part of existing vibrantly. Inspired by the beauty of nature, and by the ecstasy of ranging colors, she paints with an intuitive force channeling her feelings into art. 
Whether it is illuminated joy, empathy for others' pain, heartbreak, or absolute peace, she aims to communicate pure emotion in order to help unite all living beings, to show: we are all going through one life together, that we are one love. She also loves making music and singing and believes that music, just like visual art, is a healing force that can transform peoples' ways of being judgmental, fake, and hateful into ways of being compassionate, genuine and kind.


Kaye Tuckerman  asMelissa Wright
Originally from Sydney, Australia, Kayeis currently based in New York City. She is one of Australia’s most sought after creative artists, working as a Singer, Actor, and Director, throughout America, Europe, Australia, New Zealand, Asia, Africa. Kaye has performed in the biggest musical theatre productions to hit the stage like Mamma Mia!, The Boy From Oz, Les Miserables, Jesus Christ Superstar, South Pacific and Sunset Boulevard.
Kaye made her USA debut in the lead role of ‘Donna Sheridan’ in the Broadway National Tour of ‘Mamma Mia!’. Performing the role over six hundred times, to audiences in 144 cities across the USA and Canada. She is the winner of multiple awards at the Sydney Cabaret Convention, Broadway/Australia Awards, and The Glugs. Kaye has performed her solo cabaret shows; “Man-eater”, ‘Stalker” and “Siren”, at festivals throughout the world. She is also in the feature films “The Matrix – Reloaded”, and “The Matrix – Revolution”.


Samrat Chakrabarti:  Featured Artist
Samrat Chakrabarti holds a MFA in Acting from the A.R.T/ Moscow Art Theatre School Program at Harvard University. As an actor, he has done dozens of Guest Stars and Recurring Roles on American TV shows, including: 30 Rock (NBC), In Treatment (HBO), Damages (FX), Blue Bloods (CBS), The Leftovers (HBO), Mr. Robot (USA), A Gifted Man (CBS), Bored To Death (HBO), Law and Order (NBC), The Sopranos (HBO) and All My Children (ABC). 
He has also been consistently working in films, both Hollywood and Independent, ranging from Spike Lee's She Hate Me to Amyn Kaderali's Kissing Cousins to Claire McCarthy's The Waiting City (with RadhaMitchell) to Joseph Castelo's The War Within (which was nominated for an Independent Spirit Award). He's worked on many international projects, the list includes: Deepa Mehta's film adaption of Salman Rushdie's Midnight's Children, Manish Acharya's Loins of Punjab Presents (with legendary actress Shabana Azmi), Kabir Khan's New York (produced by Yash Raj Films), Joseph Matthew's Bombay Summer and Kamal Hasaan's Vishwaroopam. 
Samrat is also an established international musician. WWW.SAMRAT.TV


 Ramya Pratt as MinaRamya is a working actress in NYC. She has been acting professionally for 18 years. Her credits include guest star roles on CSI: NY, Law and Order, and Sex and the City. She has acted in several feature and short films including "Duane Hopwood" with Janeane Garafalo, David Schwimmer and John Krasinski, "Strip Search" directed by Sidney Lumet with Glenn Close and Oliver Platt, and most recently "Game Lands." She is a member of both SAG-AFTRA and AEA. Ramya and Katya Martín met at a workshop with their mutual acting coach Walker Clark and have been working together ever since; preparing for auditions, recording selftapes at wee hours of the night, and most recently co-writing and producing the webseries "Gap Year". Ramya is very excited to be part of Vandal, a project that brings together young, talented artists, exposing their work through film.

Frank Van Putten: Gallery Collector
Based in the greater New York area, Frank is known for films like “The Wolf of Wall Street” and “I Dream too Much”. He has also recently filmed several episodes for the HBO show Vinyl.


Graphic Design and Social Media: John Bautista

Originally from Manila, Philippines, John is a current student at New York University, studying Media, Culture and Communication. As a graphic designer, he has worked for multiple organizations and companies, designing promotional material for events and productions both in New York and in the Philippines. 

Thank you so much for donating!