Student Short Film BIRTHDAY CAKES by Eric Ruffin

Hey everybody, my name is Eric Ruffin, and I am a senior film and media arts major at Temple University. I am currently raising funds for my first project as a writer/ director: Birthday Cakes.

"Birthday Cakes," a short film about an inner-city youth succumbing to the pitfalls of his environment on his eighteenth birthday. Against his will and better judgment, Kemoni is sent on an illegal adventure, with the wellbeing of his kid brother on his mind.

I created this story to speak to people I grew up with and disenfranchised youth. If I can get one young man or woman who feels like their back is against the wall and get them to rethink their path and circumstances or the kind of people they trust with their lives, I will have deemed this film a tremendous success.

I've been blessed enough to travel across the country and world, meeting various types of people accruing various experiences. But if you ask those close to me, my heart will forever belong to my hometown of Brooklyn, New York. Many of the kids I grew up with have succumbed to the perils in impoverished, urban communities: the judicial system, substance abuse, violence, and even death. I believe that it is effortless to dismiss people that have made mistakes as undesirables or lost causes. However, it takes a certain amount of empathy and effort to recognize when young people act out as cries for help when they do not know better because they were not taught better.

By telling the story of Kemoni Brown, an orphan tasked with looking after himself and his younger sibling, I am telling the story of many young people who lack guidance, tender love, and care.

My film has two goals. The first is to bring awareness to the children that we fail to look after. The second is to warn those children about what is at stake if they allow themselves to be manipulated by someone that will prevent them from becoming the best version of themselves.

Birthday Cakes is the first project of many that will commentate on the plight of children that society deems "just another statistic," and I would love for you to be a part of the start of something great :)

Thank you,

Eric