OLLIE-a film about parenting, guilt, & bad options

Hi, my name is Eli Daughdrill and I'm fundraising for a short film called Ollie. Ollie tells the story of an older man named Randy who's made the difficult decision to place his adult, developmentally disabled son in a facility because he feels he can no longer care for him anymore. He returns home to an empty house, a lot of guilt, and nowhere to put it.

 

The story comes a bit from my own life, as I have a son with special needs, and one cannot help but project forward what his life-our lives-might look like 30-40 years from now. So I wrote something about being a parent and the difficult, implacable decisions we are sometimes faced with, and the guilt that pervades that process and its aftermath.

 

I've made several films in the past, including the feature film Faith with Brian Geraghty, Jonas, a documentary about my brother and his life with schizophrenia, and multiple short films. I'm very excited about the opportunity to make another film; after I finished Faith, Covid hit and it felt like I might not get another chance. But here we are and I'm incredibly grateful.

 

However, I need some help. I'm currently the Chair of my department-a position I don't love-and it pays me a little extra money each year. I've been able to squirrel away a portion of that as a kind of reward for myself ("If I do this job, I can make a movie!"). But of course, what I've saved isn't quite enough to cover the costs of this short.

 

So I need to come, hat-in-hand, asking for some help. But I want to keep this simple: one level of donations, one reward. If you make a $20 donation, I'll send you the film when I'm finished. That's it. If we can raise $3000-$20 at a time- I can make this movie and in a few months, I'll send you a link and you can watch it. Simple enough, yes?

 

I'm incredibly grateful for the support I've gotten in the past and am a bit ashamed I have to ask for your generosity again, but here I am. Mind hitting the ATM, pulling out an extra $20, sending it my way? I'd appreciate it.

Photo Credit: Beatriz  Pereira "Love is Patient"