Cheat Meal (short film)

Hi everyone,

There's no real need for me to introduce myself, as I am only sending this out to friends and family, but for the sake of sounding professional, my name is Cory Walls. Not to be confused with prized bullfighter Cory Wall, who I'm sure many of you know and love as well. You may also know that the WGA and SAG strikes have been going on for quite some time and from what I've heard may continue through the new year. There's a lot of hearsay these days but it's safe to assume that none of the projects myself and so many others are relying on as a source of income are exempt from the chopping block when this strike finally ends. With studios doing anything they can to save money, there's a chance some of these projects we’ve worked so hard on over the years may never see the light of day.

So I decided to take matters into my own hands and write a short film. A little passion project to help with the cabin fever. It's a horror comedy with a dash of romance that focuses on a couple in their early thirties and pokes fun at the cult-like nature of today's most popular fitness clubs (Barry's Bootcamp, Soulcycle, etc.) It's weird and funny and at points a little scary (they say write what you know) and I couldn't be more excited.

But being both a writer AND actor also means I'm a diva, and as much as I want to make this about myself, there's logistically no way I could do it alone. So, my best friend and very talented director, Drew Bierut (https://bierutfilms.com/), has joined on to help. I've known him since my days at Emerson and can honestly say (despite having already made a career for himself) he's going places (potentially outer space since one of his clients is Virgin Galactic; Richard Branson's commercial space-travel company). We've also attached an amazing cinematographer whose stuff really speaks for itself (https://douglaseporter.com). My dear friend Delaney Buffet who just wrote, directed and starred in her first feature that she so generously let me be a part of will also be joining on to produce.

We're currently in the midst of putting a cast together and doing some location scouting with the hopes of shooting in October. As exciting as it is to do some acting and be on a set after what has felt like an eternity, what excites me most is the chance to get some people working again and providing a little distraction from what has been a total bummer of a summer(I swear the script is better than that last sentence). But seriously, getting to do my friend’s indie movie a few months ago brought me back to life. Being on set reaffirmed my love for making things and I refuse to let this loveless industry that I’ve dedicated my life to take that away from me. And, hopefully, that’s where you come into play.

While my OnlyFans is a great source of income that satisfies most of my creative urges, I’m done dancing. Money is a little tight these days but so far we’ve pulled together half of our 30k budget for this project. (That’s 15k for all of my “visual learners” out there, myself included) The money will be used to hire a cast and crew, rent out locations and ultimately make an awesome short film that will find its way to festivals around the country. A lot of times these short films catch the eyes of producers and can act as a proof of concept for a feature film, which in a dream scenario would mean getting the band back together and making a full-length movie.

Any donation is beyond appreciated. And I promise, with the help of an amazing cast and crew, who just wanna get back to being creative and doing what they love, that we’ll work our asses off to make something great. “To laugh, to cry, to care. Because we need that, all of us. That indescribable feeling we get when the lights begin to dim and we go somewhere we’ve never been before. Not just entertained, but somehow reborn together.” - Nicole Kidman in that AMC ad before the movie starts. Thanks so much!

Love,

Cory