Friends,

After a decade of chasing the filmmaking dream from coast-to-coast, and the last seven years spent living in Los Angeles, I've decided to move back home to Maine. I've learned a lot in this time and I am grateful for the skills, connections and, especially, the friendships that I've formed, but at this point, returning to my tight-knit community and the healing environment of coastal Maine is the thing that I need most.

The reason I'm asking for your support is that between the pandemic, the last two strikes in LA (one which stalled freelance work and another which killed a union job offer), the shrinking/collapsing of the film industry, and a recent open-heart surgery (in which I was ineligible for both unemployment and disability), I'm completely broke.

I've managed to purge enough belongings to fit what I own into a rented mini-van and to put a security deposit on an apartment, but I'm looking for help in making this scrappy start slightly less scrappy.

The funds will be used to: pay for gas, lodging and food on the cross-country drive; reimburse my family for the minivan rental; purchase a new mattress and necessary furnishings in Maine (a desk, desk chair, dresser, etc.); and putting money towards a down-payment for an affordable used car, which will be a a perk in summer but a necessity come winter. Anything raised thereafter will be put toward making this experience easier.

If you're reading this, I assume we're friends, family, or closely connected through someone dear to me, and I hope you know how grateful I am for your consideration.

Big hugs and many thanks, Spencer