BE PART OF MAKING A FULL-LENGTH FEATURE FILM
Donation protected
BECOME A PRODUCER
ON THIS FULL-LENGTH FEATURE FILM
Not since The Breakfast Club...
The Story:
Scott hosts an intimate Christmas party every year for a motley crew of eight college students with nowhere else to go for the holidays. Over the course of those four Christmases, these misfits learn that dysfunctional friends can become a family.
The Project:
When was the last time you wanted to:
- Stand out but still fit in?
- When you weren't sure what you were looking for, but you knew you could have something more, BE something more?
- Knowing you had to pursue that thing before it slipped away?
I've been wrestling with those questions for 30 years, engineering and perfecting those thoughts and dreams into this project.
I was curious if others would connect the same way I did, so I entered my screenplay in a single film festival screenwriting contest (the New Mexico International Film Festival.) And wouldn’t you know it, I didn’t come in second place.
WINNER - "BEST SCREENPLAY"
A FEATURE FILM 30 YEARS IN THE MAKING...
When was the last time you had the ability to change someone's entire life in your hands, and you could help another human being accomplish a lifelong-goal? Today is that day.
This is the movie I spent my entire adult life trying to get made. I funded and completed all of preproduction and production. I am so close, I can taste it.
Your funding allows us to finish this film by paying the composers, editors, sound mixers, colorists, and film festival submission fees to promote our movie.
Lastly, you receive my eternal gratitude for helping me bring my biggest bucket-list goal into a completed reality. And I want to end by reminding you why.
Winter Breaks is a wonderful, funny, painful, personal, and meaningful story about how relationships expose us at that vulnerable age, being responsible for our actions for the first time, during our fledgling steps into independence with wobbly knees.
This is our story. "What happens to students who choose not to go home for the winter break? This Christmas, eight misfits discover that friends can become more than family." Every young person dreams of having friends like that. Whether it's an aspiration or it's a reality, it applies to every single one of them, and they will all want to see this movie together.
This film is tremendously personal to me, and your faith in the film means the world.
Thank you!
MORE ABOUT THE PROJECT...
ADDITIONAL INFORMATION, OUR PLANS, AND WHY NOW...
Backstory:
For many years, I haven’t met any young actor who read this script and didn’t want to be in it, including auditioners: Zoe Kravitz, Brittany Snow, Ashley Tisdale, Josh Gadd, Evan Ross, and Kellan Lutz to name a few. Meanwhile, life has a way of sneaking past so fast...
We can't give life to a movie about taking responsibility and growing into the person we need to be if we don't have the courage to do it, too. So, I broke out my credit cards, knowing after decades of work in the industry, that once they see this film, Hollywood will back me. I'm taking the leap and I want you to join me.
Others have paved the way for independent cinema, and they are making it safe for me and my producers (maybe even you) to fly. It's time for us to stand out together.
Why This Movie?
Inspired by John Hughes' coming-of-age movies, which changed my life... It was movies like The Breakfast Club, a film about all the things I was really thinking, feeling, and experiencing in my life… about people my age... that I realized great movies are about real-people problems, helping us ask and answer the questions that need asking. Young people today deserve and need that same kind of space.
Late teens need and deserve a film that address what they are really going through. I have gotten notes on this script from young people in every reiteration to keep it modern and poignant to its era.
It is time to support both the top notch driven young people of our industry and also the youth of today. Joining me today on this passion project is how you do it. This is why I hired mostly film school college students who were top of their class, led by a working Los Angeles cinematographer. They kept my set young, and most importantly, helped keep the film completely genuine, grounded, and absolutely modern. We need to inspire (and support) our young people and reconnect with ourselves. It's coming.
Besides, we all know how even old Christmas movies are recycled every single year on every network... for decades. Winter Breaks has the potential to be a holiday staple, especially since so few holiday films exist about and for the largest demographic in entertainment. This is the kind of movie that sticks with its audience for a lifetime.
This is the movie I spent my entire adult life trying to get made. I funded and completed all of preproduction and production. We are so close...
We shot the entire feature film this summer (2024). Now, I need producers to help finish it. The bare minimum we need is $50,000. More would obviously be better.
You may scroll down to become a Producer on our feature film...
WHY IT'S THE BEST TIME IN HISTORY TO PRODUCE A MOVIE
The studios are making far less content, and the movie theaters still need to fill those screens. Studios had contracts locking up movie screens in most theaters all year long, leaving little to no room for exhibition of independent films.
Pre-pandemic comparison: 2019 saw 792 movie releases.
In 2023, post-pandemic, the number of movies released in US and Canadian theaters was around 504.
In 2024, it's 429 movies. The number of films being released is just over HALF of what they used to make. Now is our hand e to make a difference in the kind of movies being made and get them seen.
WHAT ALL THAT MEANS
Now is the best moment in history to get involved in the motion picture business. And I have a wonderful, funny, deeply moving little film for you to start with, written and directed by a career Hollywood professional who has developed films and projects for Universal Studios, Walt Disney Studios, and storytelling icons like Stan Lee.
And YOU can make that a reality. Donate now!
WINTER BREAKS boasts an incredible ensemble fresh-faced cast of Christmas misfits: Leah Ashten, Ginger Baldwin, Aiden Figueroa, Talya Hammerman, Tye Jackson, Tristan Nokes, Justin Taylor, and Jaycie Voller. Written & directed by Michael Tabb, WGA.
Lastly, you receive my eternal gratitude for helping me bring my biggest bucket-list goal into a completed reality. And I want to end by reminding you why.
Winter Breaks is a wonderful, funny, painful, personal, and meaningful story about how relationships expose us at that vulnerable age, being responsible for our actions for the first time, during our fledgling steps into independence with wobbly knees.
This is our story. "What happens to students who choose not to go home for the winter break? This Christmas, eight misfits discover that friends can become more than family." Every young person dreams of having friends like that. Whether it's an aspiration or it's a reality, it applies to every single one of them, and they will all want to see this movie together.
This film is tremendously personal to me, and your faith in the film means the world.
Thank you!
Best,
Michael B. Tabb
WGA Screenwriter
SAG-AFTRA Actor
Feature Film Director
Co-Creator: WGA Mentor Program
Author, Prewriting Your Screenplay
Personal Website: wwwMichaelTabbWGA.com
* Disclaimer: No raffles, sweepstakes, giveaways, or returns on investment are offered in exchange for any donations made to this GoFundMe.
Organizer
Michael Tabb
Organizer
Okahumpka, FL