INTRODUCTION

Hi, I’m Shay Maney: the writer and director of Negative Space, a short film being produced as a capstone project at UH Mānoa’s School of Cinematic Arts. On behalf of our passionate and talented team, we hope you consider donating to support this project!

GENERAL DESCRIPTION

This is a GoFundMe intended to help raise funds for the budget of the upcoming short film Negative Space.

SYNOPSIS

On the opening day of their new photography exhibition, Aster begins experiencing visions triggered by a chance encounter with a former flame, Iris. As the visions increase in intensity, a concerning connection between one of Aster’s photographs and Iris begins to reveal itself. Aster fights to save both themselves and Iris from a supernatural predator lurking in a lonely place - forever starving and never satiated. But Aster is also fighting something much more dangerous: the truth.

What is lurking in the places we no longer walk?

DIRECTOR’S STATEMENT

The concept behind Negative Space started out as something much more simple - and a little more lighthearted. The premise: someone was followed by a monster that they thought only they could see. I called it Etiolation - a word referring to a plant’s survival instinct to reach up for the sun when lost in the darkness.

As I kept writing it over the course of a year - it grew and morphed into a script in tune with its emotional core. I felt like it both expanded and broke down into less linear, logical components - it became more experimental and moody. Which reflected the ideas well, because it's a story that I wrote for anyone who has ever felt like giving up on themselves, or that they weren’t capable of facing and moving beyond their regrets in life.

I’m excited to direct Negative Space because we have a deeply passionate and incredibly talented crew on board, a fun story, and some really cool ideas to try and execute. But most importantly - the message I want to get across:

Don’t give up on yourself. Even if you have to move worlds and face down whatever is leering at you from the shadows. You will find your place in the world!

FUNDS WE RECEIVE WILL BE ALLOCATED TO:

Feeding the Cast and Crew

Securing Locations

Production Design (costumes, props, set building, make-up & hair)

Post-Production (Film festival fees, marketing and promotion, music licensing)