Support female-led short film HOSTILE EXCHANGE

Do you love when a movie catches you off guard and shocks you with the perfect twist? Or when you head to the movies with friends to belly-laugh and end up sniffling into tissues as you watch your favorite character’s heartbreak? Do you hate the question, What’s your favorite movie genre, yet dream of your own Oscar speech?

If you answered "OH YEAH" to any of these questions, then this fundraiser is for you!

You go, girls! But what's going on here?

We are a team of unstoppable lady filmmakers who are hell-bent on taking our short to the top of Hollywood and are raising funds for our genre-bending, Contemporary Western, thriller, comedy short film Hostile Exchange. Here's the logline for the fellow film nerds out there:

When a dysfunctional long distance couple breaks up, a woman is forced to trek out into the desert alone where she’ll stop at nothing to take back what’s hers.

This film is a call to arms for all the women and men out there who have given away important parts of themselves in relationships without getting much in return - we know you have it in you to take back what’s yours!

I can relate. But who's behind this?

Jessica Sharples and Sam Miller are the badass women spearheading this thought-provoking and insanely entertaining film.

Jessica Sharples (writer, star & EP of Hostile Exchange) is an actor-writer-producer-singer and Tisch graduate whose work in film, TV and live performance explores the innate power women have when they are able to break free of societal expectations and express their truth. By exposing the very real aspects of her experience as a woman, Jessica creates containers for untold or ignored stories to finally be seen. Her work inspires audiences to empathize with the Woman Experience and, in turn, treat women better in their everyday lives.

Hostile Exchange is based on Jessica's personal experience and is following the success of her first short film Jen, 28, which created awareness around the misinterpreted “gray area” of sexual assault. It was a massive success that won 14 awards and screened at 35 film festivals across the world during the 2021-2022 festival circuit. For those of you who donated to Jen, 28... thank you! It's time for us to create the next hit sensation with our community.

Sam Miller (director, producer & EP of Hostile Exchange) is a director-writer-producer and actor who is currently shopping her television series, Curve, with Taylor & Dodge, producers of the 2024 Academy Award-nominated May December. In 2023, Mandalay Pictures optioned her feature film, 99 Dreams Neon, which attached an Academy Award Nominee to star. Sam’s production company, Shoots and Ladders, produced for over 20 major clients in its first five years, and its content has been published in Forbes. Sam graduated from Princeton University with a B.A. in Comparative Literature with a Film Theory thesis.

Miller adds: “Hostile Exchange is about fear and laughter - an all-too-common female experience and our antidote for it, respectively. We are thrilled to create a film that sheds light on critical themes of self-assurance and strength, sends our audience on a rollercoaster of emotion, and dazzles the ears and eyes.”

What are you going to do with my money?

Although our entire cast and most of our crew are donating their services, there are still essential aspects of production that we can't get for free. Here's a breakdown of where your money will go:

$10K Production: Locations, Permits, Insurance, Picture Cars, Catering & Crafty, Crew, Equipment, and more

$2.5K Post-Production: Editing, Coloring, Sound Mixing, Music, and more

$2.5K Distribution: Film Festival Submissions (yes, they add up!)

What are you going to do with the film?

We’re hoping to join and extend our community of badass filmmakers who will continue to make groundbreaking films that spotlight unheard voices and unseen stories in the most artful and entertaining way. We will submit Hostile Exchange to all of the top film festivals, and if we win one of the qualifying competitions, we’ll beeline for the Academy’s gold statuette. We are reaching for the moon so that we land among the stars!

We would LOVE for you to be a part of this journey and THANK YOU for taking the time to donate to our fundraiser for Hostile Exchange!!

With gratitude,

Jess & Sam

Admire our Film Poster HERE

Read our Press Release HERE

Check out our IMDb page HERE