Help Shira Make a Film & Feed Crew

Hi! My name is Shira, I'm an artist, theatremaker, and filmmaker in my last semester at Smith College, and I'm making a movie! It's a short horror film (25-30 mins) about a young, sleep-deprived woman who is accidentally given the wrong medication at night and proceeds to experience breaks from reality– starting conflicts with her partner and seeing earthworms around the house that may or may not be real. It's a story about compulsion, distortion, love, trust (or lack thereof), lesbianism, and the parallels between human bodies and those of vermin.

I spent the last 5-6 months writing a screenplay that I'm proud of and am now in the process of moving from pre-production into production, with shoots beginning on March 23rd. Over the last many weeks I've been rehearsing with actors, meeting with designers and production crew, held a table read, and things are finally starting to come together!

In addition to having written the film, I'm directing and editing as well, but there's no way I can do this alone, which is why I have a crew of 25-ish people (give or take). Because this is a smaller scale production, I don't have the means to compensate people for their time, but at the very least I'd like to provide one meal + snacks for everyone per shoot. It's important to me that the on-set experience is a fun, collaborative, creative learning environment for both actors and crew, but I will also be expecting a lot of work & patience from people, so the least I can do is keep them fed and otherwise taken care of. Providing meals, though, takes up a large portion of the budget, with a rough estimation of $1200 (out of around $1600-1800 total). I'm setting the starting goal at that because I'm able to pay for certain supplies out of pocket if needed, but I want to guarantee that at least the cost of food will be covered. If this goal is met, I might bump it to cover everything else.

I applied to some creative grants, but I'm having a lot of trouble finding anywhere that will fully or partially fund this project in time. The one that I was hoping would be my main source of funding is estimated to follow up with me around April 14, which is well after we wrap on production (last shoot is April 5), and that's not even a guarantee that they will accept the application. I unfortunately need the funds by the time (or ideally before) filming begins, which is why I've decided to ask for support here.

I want to add that given the current state of the world, I'm very aware that an independent film is not the biggest priority for where people's money should go. Making a gofundme truly was a last resort because I'd much rather take funds from institutions who can afford to support me (who unfortunately are making it really hard to do so) instead of taking away from causes that really need it. So if you decide to financially support my project, I encourage you to at least send a few bucks towards a mutual aid campaign or someone in need (I'm happy to provide resources if needed). And if you have to decide between funding this and someone who really needs it, please choose the latter. Thank you!