Support Scott Monahan's Second Feature Film

My name is Scott Monahan, I am an actor, director, and executive producer based in Brooklyn! I am raising funds to make my second feature film! My first feature film Anchorage (trailer) won 11 awards and 10 nominations at 17 film festivals around the world, was entirely self-funded, and was shot in only five days!

If you're here it's probably because I have directly reached out to you, as I am trying to approach fundraising in a more personal direct way, rather than crowdfunding through Seed & Spark. GoFundMe allows me to keep whatever I raise, even if we don't reach our goal! So thank you for taking your time and contributing whatever you can!

Truly independent ultra low budget films don’t make money. We’re lucky to even break even which normally takes 3-5 years, if ever. But, independent films and their stories are important! Promising friends, family, or strangers that they will recoup their investments doesn’t feel honest to me. But! If you want to make a film like this happen because of you, here’s your chance!

Ashland (working title) is a feature film that will be written, devised, and shot over 2 weeks at the Willow-Witt Ranch just outside of Ashland, Oregon in October of 2025. The film will be created using dramatic improvisation, site responsive collaboration, and the natural chemistry of the two leads. We will be using natural light and a small intimate crew that will live and work together at the Meadow House.

My last film was shot over 5 days in the California desert for $22,000 production budget, $20,000 for post production (editing, composing, color correction, score, festival submissions) and about another $15,000 for our theatrical distribution tour and deliverables to our distributor. The total budget was just over $57,000. This film is going to exist within that relative budget range!

That will ensure everyone can be paid for their time, for the location, camera & equipment, travel for cast & crew, and to be able to feed everyone and cover their travel to the location.

In August of 2025 we are going to take a small four day trip to the location with the lead actors, the cinematographer, and associate director to get familiarized with the location, with the characters, and the natural environments that surround the property. Crater Lake is about a 1.5 hour hike from the house, and there endless trails and beautiful scenery around the Ashland region. The natural environment and landscape of this region of Oregon is another character of this film bringing breathtaking beauty to every frame.

What we know about the story so far!

Scott’s character is diagnosed with stage four glioblastoma multiforma an aggressive inoperable brain cancer giving him only 6 months to live. He leaves his life behind to spend his last months in Oregon surrounded by nature. He is seemingly at peace with his decision. Maddison is someone in Scott’s life who is coming from the city to spend time with him at the beginning of these final months of his life. How do these two characters say goodbye?

On October 27, 1997, Oregon enacted the Death with Dignity Act which allows terminally ill individuals to end their lives through the voluntary self-administration of lethal medications, expressly prescribed by a physician for that purpose.

In July of 2023, Oregon became one of the first states to remove residency requirements for Death with Dignity laws. This change allowed non-residents to access medical aid in dying in those states. I believe that people should have the ability to have dignity in their final stage of life and compassionate care and choices for them as they are undergoing terminal illnesses.

Anchorage was based around the opioid epidemic and our personal experiences with that subject matter, we wanted to make a film that didn't glorify drug use, but also didn't demonize those addicted to them either. The film was really a story about brothers and not really a message based film on the topic. And, with this film I plan to maintain that same approach. This is not a message based film, this is a character driven film.

I want to make a beautiful film, that is a character driven exploration of joy, life, humor, sadness, and use the dreamlike quality of this region of Oregon to explore the spirituality of our souls and the aliveness that exists within some of our darkest moments.

Below are the team members attached so far but we will keep you updated as this team continues to grow!