$8,080 raised

Gratuity - Chapman Thesis Film Fundraiser

Co-organized

Isabella Spagnoli and Fiona Huxley are organizing this fundraiser.

Donation protected

Logline: When a single mother and waitress, receives a winning lottery ticket, her ex-husband comes back to reap the rewards forcing her to fight for her winnings.

We are so thrilled to launch the fundraiser for our Dodge College of Film and Media Arts thesis film titled Gratuity!

Set in 1997 rural America, Gratuity follows single mom and diner waitress, Tammy. Living out of her car and struggling to make ends meet, things aren’t going well for her. That is until her ex-husband, Easton, tips her a lottery ticket at the diner making her the lucky winner of a ten million dollar prize. However, shady Easton is determined to take the money for himself, by any means necessary. Tammy must fight hard to keep her winnings and give her and her child the life they’ve always wanted.

Gratuity is a dark comedy akin to films such as I, Tonya and Fargo, but has a mother’s love and determination at the heart of it. In a world where men constantly put her down, Tammy finally has the opportunity to put them in their place and put herself and her family first. Our team is determined to explore these themes of female liberation through a comedic and farcical lens.

As much as we’d love to use a lottery jackpot to fund our film, our odds of actually winning the lottery are close to none. That is where you all come in!

We have been working very hard to assemble an excellent women-led and almost exclusively women-run team. Additionally, we have an incredible script which we cannot wait to shoot! Recently, we locked the iconic George's 50s Diner, seen in films such as Disney's A Cinderella Story, that will serve our story's ability to be told immensely.

Regardless of our amazing strides, including winning the Women of Chapman Endowed Student Filmmaker Award as well as the Leo Freedman Grant, filmmaking takes a lot of money and resources, and we want to make sure that we can properly fund and supply everything to create the best film we can make!

Any donation is greatly appreciated as it will take all hands on deck to make this film possible.

Thank you again, from all of us!

Fiona Huxley, Director