<div>We're a team of student filmmakers working on our senior capstone short film. "The Drama Club" follows a high school health teacher tasked with leading the drama club after the theatre teacher passes away. The only thing is he knows <em>nothing</em> about theatre and the students who care for it so much. Help us make our vision a reality by donating today!
</div>
<div><br />
</div>
<div><strong>Artist/Director’s Statement:</strong>
</div>
<div>The Drama Club is all about reconnecting with our adolescent passions. As a young artist, many of my fondest memories were up on the stage, or experiencing chaos in a rehearsal room, much like the one in this film. Theatre allowed me to gain practical &amp; social skills, teamwork experience, and most importantly, confidence in myself. While you might not have been a “theatre kid” like me, I don’t doubt that you had an activity, a sport, or an interest that you loved. Whatever that passion was, let this film take you back in time, so you can remember it and experience that excitement again. By supporting this film, you’re creating space for joy and community at a time in the world when we could all use it. - MK
</div>
<div><br />
</div>
<div><strong>Why your help matters: </strong>
</div>
<div>As student filmmakers, we will be sourcing our financial support from donors like you. Your donation will help with our production design, including costumes and props, cast and crew compensation, and fees for film festival submission. Your impact on our film doesn’t just stop with a donation . After your donation, you’ll be recognized in the credits of our film as a contributor, as a special thanks for your important role in the success of The Drama Club.
</div>
<div><br />
</div>
<div><strong>What’s so important about the arts anyway? </strong>
</div>
<div>The impact created by after-school activities like the one in this film speaks for itself. Studies show that students who participate in arts education achieve higher standardized test scores, less disciplinary infractions, and show more compassion for others (Brian Kisida &amp; Daniel H. Bowen, Texas A&amp;M University). Through the opportunity they give students to express themselves, drama clubs change lives. They create community. This film aims to honor the dedication that American teachers, specifically in the arts, have for their work, and pay homage to them.
</div>
<div><br />
</div>
<div><strong>Meet the team!</strong>
</div>
<div><strong>MaryKatherine Patteson (she/her) (Writer/Director) </strong>
</div>
<div>MK is a senior Media Arts &amp; Design/Theatre major at James Madison University. Originally from New England, she is passionate about telling stories that are unique, yet share themes that speak to a universal audience. Aside from being a filmmaker, she’s an actor, playwright, stage director, publicist, and photographer.
</div>
<div><br />
</div>
<div><strong>Millie Buckberg (she/her) (Assistant Director) </strong>
</div>
<div>Millie is our Assistant Director and a senior student majoring in Media Arts &amp; Design, with a concentration in Digital Video &amp; Cinema and minors in Film and Honors Interdisciplinary Studies. A passionate writer and filmmaker, she is keen on everything within the entertainment industry. After having worked and lived in Los Angeles, her love for film burns brighter everyday and she is excited to channel that into this amazing project. She loves telling stories that cannot only be enjoyed by all, but can be resonated with by everyone too. She is excited to work with this incredibly talented team to create a memorable, touching, and entertaining film!
</div>
<div><br />
</div>
<div><strong>Madison McKenna (she/her) (Co-Producer)</strong>
</div>
<div>Maiti McKenna is a senior student at JMU majoring in Media Arts &amp; Design, with a concentration in Digital Video &amp; Cinema, and minors in Creative Writing and Theatre. Originally from Northern Virginia, she is beyond excited to be co-producing this film and bring the team’s vision to life. She has a deep passion for film and hopes to produce major films one day. She is most looking forward to reconnecting to her inner high school theatre kid and putting together an amazing short film.
</div>
<div><br />
</div>
<div><strong>Joya Payne (she/her) (Co-Producer) </strong>
</div>
<div>Joya is a senior Media Arts &amp; Design major with a concentration in Digital Video &amp; Cinema with a minor in Creative Writing. She’s originally from Fisherville, VA and is one of The Drama Club’s producers. Her comfort movie has to be Bratz (2007) and she enjoys anything that challenges her creative side, but especially reading and baking. She is so excited for our team to work together to create something that is new, fresh, and something no one has seen before!
</div>
<div><br />
</div>
<div><strong>David Lemon (he/him) (Director of Photography) </strong>
</div>
<div>David is a senior Media Arts &amp; Design major with a concentration in Digital Video &amp; Cinema. Originally from Smithfield, VA, he loves everything to do with the outdoors and hopes to shoot nature documentaries one day. He’s looking forward to getting more experience of being a cinematographer on a film set.
</div>
<div><br />
</div>
<div><strong>Emily Volin (she/her) (Editor)</strong>
</div>
<div>Emily is a senior SMAD Major with a concentration in Digital Video &amp; Cinema, and minors in British Communication &amp; Media and Honors Interdisciplinary Studies. Originally from Cherry Hill, New Jersey- go birds!- but has loved finding her home at JMU by making films with Doghouse Productions, volunteered locally with GIVE, and working at the Welcome Center at UREC (come say hi!). For fun, she likes to read, run, and do puzzles (usually with How I Met Your Mother in the background), and she is so excited to be part of The Drama Club production team. She most looks forward to getting to know the team and seeing how the story evolves throughout the semester!
</div>
<div><br />
</div>
<div><strong>For more information about arts education: see the following!</strong>
</div>
<div><a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2023/05/02/arts/design/arts-education-necessary.html" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">New York Times</a>
</div>
<div><a href="https://www.amacad.org/publication/case-for-arts-education/section/3" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">American Academy of Arts and Sciences</a>
</div>
<div><a href="https://www.brookings.edu/articles/new-evidence-of-the-benefits-of-arts-education/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Brookings</a>
</div>

Colby Dezelick

Courtney Brown

Anonymous

MaryKatherine Patteson

Anna Scott

Gaye Nuckols

Shannon Nuckols

Ambar Mercedes

Amy Buckberg

Waddell Spears

Ryan Alessi

Imelda O'Reilly

Olivia Noni

Gail Spears

Kera Payne

Jonathan Payne

Theodore Payne

Theadore & Darnice Payne

Logoldia Payne

Donate to help us bring "The Drama Club" to life!

Support urgent earthquake relief and past recovery in Venezuela.

Apoya la ayuda urgente tras el terremoto y los esfuerzos de recuperación en Venezuela.

platform

Platform is iOS

Android

Adyen Google Pay Development Audience

$opt_dummy_attribute

English only

Deprecate Stripe Legacy

dyn_template_ids

Adyen V6 Bene Transfer & MyMoney Campaign Organizers - test01

Bene transfer V6 and AdyenV6MyMoney Campaign Organizers - production

OneTrust next-app audience

fundCountryCode

NextDoor Share Option Users

Fundraisers with Reactions feature capability

fundCurrencyCode

US + Non-charity COs Only

locale

fund country is US and user language is English

personId

comms-internal-person-ids

Enhanced Story Experience Users

Suggested Goal Experience Users

user language is English and fund country: US, AU, DK, FI, IE, NO, SE, CA, GB; 

Poster share - new funds eligible (newest 9/18)

Streaming widgets beta user

paymentProcessor

3DS payment method

user language is English and fundCountry: US, AU, DK, FI, IE, NO, SE, CA, GB; 

currencyCode

Money Box Donation List Prompt Experiment Audience

GoFundMe Employees

ipAddress

Mark Rieth IP Address

Version 9.2.0 and above

Fund is in English speaking country

desktop

Android v12.11.0 and above

Platform is Android

paymentMethodType

checkoutType

Payment method type group to be vaulted on success

admin pr kit prod

EUR Donation Upsell

Share Text generation Skip Fundraiser

(prod) new funds eligible for amp12 (UGC gallery)

fintrac_cad_idv_form_v2 audience

paymentProcessorAccountId

fallback mode accounts

proCampaignId

p2p legacy startfundraising page

AMP24 New Funds Only PROD (DO NOT MODIFY)

Eligible for Profile Share Badge

countryCode

charityId

UKCharities

Federated Search Internal Testing

route.pathname community

US Donation Upsell audience 

Auto Thanks Feature Audience

International Only

fundId

braze fundraiser group 

Payment Identity Transfers ATO Risk Check (Targeted) - Production

Fundraiser Saved Payment Method Rate Limit Bypass (Production)

leaderboard-partner-id-audience-givepanel

Version 9.2.1 and above

AUD Donation Upsell audience

fundraiserCountryCode is US/EN

Active Fundraiser - Smart Default Cadence

DAF Internal

Vault on success card payment method

Platform is iOS v11.0.0 and above

Desktop users

Person ids

United States (US) users

allow yuno fundraisers for test

Mexico country code

Posters INTL

Support Comments Allowlist

NPO Profile Opted-In

iOS at or above 12.4.0

non-US recurring donors

Canada Campaign Owner Group

Fundraiser Without Meta Link

Scheduler payment tester gorup

charityCommunityId

Charities allow to be claimed unclaimed (PRD)

Canada (CA) users

UC Tipping v20250115 International

pymk_production_xplr_fe_team

Android at or above 12.2.0

Profile photo entry point audience

smart goals (fundraiser/manage) on test01

Activity Tracking v1 Beta Testing

start gfm intl allowed locales

Platform is iOS v11.2.0 and above

NPO upsell education category

unclaimed charities

prod_ach_audience

AI Chatbot Audience

amp13 only new funds (prod) (anyword auto)

UC Flow Enabled (Prod)

Payment Identity Beneficiary Verification - Production

shared notification bell audience

Custom users

ach frontend audience

Android v11.0.0 and above

Users Receiving Payments Paused Notifications

smart goals test01

Manage Coach - US English Organizers Only + new funds only

Team EGG - IP Address list

NPO recommendations prod

Fundraiser Without Instagram Deep Link

Native 11.4.0 and above

UC Tipping v20250107

checkout headers audience

ai_title_page

anyword

openai

control

manual_entry

userEmail

template_id

userId

fundUrl

isCharityCo

email

appVersion

shouldBucketIntoExperiment

isEligibleForProfileBadge

partnerId

donationCadence

isActiveFundraiser

isPartner

isMobile

npoProfileOptIn

fundIsLinkedWithMeta

hasSessionDonation

categoryGroup

isCampaignOwner

fundHasInstagramDeepLink

Native 11.3.0 and above

Native 11.4.0 and higher

New funds eligible - Video Sharing (PROD)

GB Donation Upsell audience 

Auto Thanks V3 Rollout Audience

Thank you V3 testing whitelist

isRecurringFriendly

Is Recurring Friendly

Excluded funds - Video Sharing

NPO upsell animals category

NPO upsell disaster relief category

Logged In Users

CH Donation Upsell audience

Android v10.6.0 and above

NPO upsell essential needs category

NPO upsell medical category

userCurrencyCode

Localized Currency

NPO upsell cancer category

v11.5.0 and above

testAudience

pathname

Survicate

appVersion is at or above 12.8.0

Non-charity fund

isChallengeFundraiser

challenge-fundraisers

Payment Identity Launch Verification - Production

New funds eligible - Posters v2

CAD Donation Upsell Audience

Braze Email Tester

NPO Profile Opted-Out

iOS App Version

hasKnownDonors

PYMK has donors

iOS v12.3.0 and above

Just $400$ to go! Make an impact.

Donate to help us bring "The Drama Club" to life!

Just $400 to go!
Make an impact.