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Hola, ya’ll! My name is Cenizo Bravo (they/them/elle). I’m a writer-director and Los Angeles City College (LACC) Cinema student currently in pre-production for my first short film, SIN MADRE. My producers, Mayra Cortez (they/them) and Joaquín Madrid Larranaga (he/she/they), and I are raising $1,900 to cover location fees, rented equipment, and travel stipends and catering for ~20 cast and crew. Our anticipated shoot date is Saturday, July 26th, and the film must be filmed and edited by August 10th.
Sin Madre is a dramedy about a trans nonbinary Latine who finds confidence saying their chosen name by ordering their daily cup of coffee. A few years ago, I changed my birth name to better reflect my gender identity. Sin Madre is loosely based on my lived experience and those from my TGI2S+ communities who have had a similar journey. The main character uses my own name, Cenizo, which is a version of myself with creative license. All the film's characters are professional working actors from the TGI2S+ community.
Thus far, 100% of expenses have been funded by my credit card, the donated labor of industry professionals who believe in the vision, free LACC location liability insurance for students, and the limited free equipment from the LACC equipment room. The $1,900 does not include the expenses I have incurred for purchased camera equipment and filmmaking software. Neither does it cover the expected fees for administrative paperwork, props, wardrobe, hair, makeup, and anticipated film festival submission fees. Attending community college may be inexpensive, but it doesn’t fund your student films.
We have already contacted various cafes inquiring about using their locations on closed days and have yet to receive responses. It's a no-brainer as to why a cafe wouldn't respond to students with no budget. They are places of business that deserve compensation for their space and the food service industry is BRUTAL, ya’ll.
What Your Donations Funds
- Based on our research, if a cafe does not respond to us, the most inexpensive option is renting a pre-fab cafe set at ~$100/hr, not including taxes, for a 12-hour shoot, which totals $1,200 in location fees alone.
- It's of the utmost importance that we feed our cast and crew well, as they are graciously donating their labor for free. We estimate that $300 can cover catering and crafty for ~20 people. We also would like to offer them each a $10 travel stipend (total: $200).
- Finally, we expect lighting and grip rentals that we cannot check out from LACC to cost ~$200.
If you know anything about filmmaking, it's that most emerging filmmakers started off in a position similar to mine -- an artist with just ganas and homies who believe in the vision. Please, support the next generation of artists. You'll not only be supporting me, but a large cast and crew of diverse BIPOC, LGBTQ+, and disabled individuals who are making this film possible and gaining real world experience in their chosen film/tv production craft.
Please feel free to contact me, Mayra, or Joaquín should you have any questions.
In Pride,
Cenizo