Emmanuel's Thesis Film

Introduction: 
 
My name is Emmanuel Habimana, and I’m a student from Rwanda currently studying at The Los Angeles Film School. Three years ago I was fortunate enough to be awarded a full scholarship from both The Los Angeles Film School and the ELS Education center. For the past three years, I learned every single aspect of filmmaking and now, as I’m arriving at the end of my program, I have to produce my own thesis film and I’m asking for your help. I’ve always believed that the art of visual storytelling is a powerful weapon, and it can help spread a positive message to so many, and act as the voice of voiceless.

                        About the Project:

Name of The Project:

The Grass is Greener, a story written and directed by Emmanuel Habimana.
 
The Synopsis:

The Grass is Greener is about a young woman named “Lily” who grew up in a small town with her mother, who was a singer and wanted her baby girl to carry out the family legacy. After Lily’s mother dies from cancer, Lily decides to leave her hometown for the big city to follow her dream of becoming a star.  After a while, though, she realizes her life is going in a bad direction, and that she is failing her mother. Lily decides to return to her hometown, where she becomes a big hit and realizes that everything she needed was right in front of her the whole time. 
 
Objective: 

The main of objective of this short film, besides being my thesis project, is to showcase how we tend to look for the solution beyond our boundaries, and how we may think we are escaping a bad situation, only to create worse situations as we run away.  When we face ourselves, we are able to find our true purpose.
 
The Ultimate goal:

The goal of this film is to showcase what I can do as a fresh director. My goal is to make the best student movie possible with a small budget. Once the film is done I will submit it to as many film festivals as possible. Once the movie gets more recognition, I will then make a feature film of it.
 
Resources:

I am furnishing some of the financial resources, about $1200, from my own savings. However, I still need about $6800, to cover production costs- feeding my crew and cast, paying the location access and permits, as well as buying other materials such as copyright clearance.   The equipment, however (camera, lights and sound tools) are provided by the school.