Help fund my original short film "Into the Trees"

https://www.into-the-trees.com/

Dear Friends and Family,

I am writing to you today to share an exciting project I’m working on and to ask for your support. Since January 2020, I’ve been attending the Los Angeles Film School, studying to be a film director. For those of you who know me well, you know I wandered for a while before I found this path, but since then I haven’t looked back. Feeling as though I am finally where I need to be has been an incredible reward.

But my work isn’t done yet. My thesis project for graduation is directing an original short film. I’ve written a screenplay and am eager to bring it to life and share it with the world. However, I need help raising funds to make this project a reality.

As you may know, filmmaking is a collaborative effort that requires contributions from many talented people as well as equipment and resources. I am determined to make this film, but I can’t do it alone. This is why I am reaching out to my friends and family to help me with this project.

Your support will go towards funding various aspects of the production, including equipment rentals, location permits, costumes, and catering. Did you know to feed a cast and crew of 25 can cost nearly $400 a day? Every donation helps, and any contribution you can make would be greatly appreciated.

My screenplay, “Into the Trees”, has been 3 years in the making, and is a story close to my heart. It explores themes of insecurity, masculinity, and the power to experience and coexist with our emotions without being controlled by them.

Everyday, we feel so many different emotions in all sorts of mixtures, some deep and darker than others. It is very easy to be swept away by those dark thoughts and feelings simply because they come from within. But the current is never so strong that we can’t find our footing and wade back to the light. In this story, we follow a man lost in a forest, who finds himself confronted by the darker parts of himself. In order to get back home, he must rediscover his power to switch on the light and fight back against the dark.

This film will be my first true statement as a filmmaker, an idea that both thrills and frightens me. But I found encouragement in this quote from a book called “The Art Spirit”: Give yourself permission to express yourself as freely and completely as possible, have faith this is a worthy endeavor, and believe that you can do it. I am very proud of the story I’ve written. I believe it’s worthy of being shared and I cannot wait to share it with you.

If you’d like to learn more, please explore this website. You can read the script, meet the crew, and follow along as we approach our shoot.

Please take a moment to donate to this project. Every thesis project are entirely self funded. Your donation helps because the budget for a film is like mine can be up to $5000. All funds are used for production costs such as equipment rentals (lights, costumes, camera lenses, props, even porta potties), permit fees for our locations in Griffith Park, and food for the crew. No one is paid a salary, it all goes into the film.

Thank you for taking the time to read this letter and for your support,

Liam Nugent