"The Warehouse" Student Short Film

Hello, my name is Max Carmona, I'm fundraising for my thesis short film. I am a senior at Loyola Marymount University, and I've written a short story about the exploitation that workers in warehouse facilities face on a daily basis. This story is meant to empower workers to advocate for better working conditions through unions.

Synopsis:

Anthony (25), a young warehouse worker, and his friend Ricky (60) face grueling work conditions every day. After a fellow worker breaks her leg on the job due to poor safety standards, Ricky encourages Anthony to start a union. However, Anthony is strongly opposed to the request, because he knows that if he were to begin a labor movement he would certainly risk losing his job. After another work incident occurs, Anthony can no longer stand by and watch, and he realizes he must act now.

Why This Story:

As someone who has multiple family members in unions, I understand the positive effects that come with being part of a union. Although unions are not the "perfect" solution to exploitative working conditions, they are currently the only way to gain any sort of power and autonomy within most industries. I've been a consistent advocate for workers' rights for several years now, and have made multiple short documentaries pushing for social justice regarding climate change, immigration, student loan debt, and most recently, voting rights. My dream is to continue my advocacy by becoming an editor of feature documentaries so that I can one day reach a greater audience. Until then, I have been given the incredible opportunity to direct my own narrative short film with the help of my peers.

How to Help:

Filmmaking is expensive, and to be able to fund this project I need your help! Your donations will go directly to equipment, production design, and meals for the crew. Although LMU provides some quality gear to the students, our team will need to rent equipment outside of the school to improve the production of the film. The production design and costuming will be major components in achieving the authenticity of the warehouse setting, so it's important that our production/costume designers have the resources and facilities to do their best work. Lastly, given the content of the script, I must make sure that at the very least my crew is fed well and on time. Crew safety and well-being will be the number one priority throughout the shoot (as it always should be).

Thank you so much for taking the time to read through all of that, it would mean so much if you would consider donating to my project or even sharing this link. The film will be published in the early summer, with early access for donors.

Let's work together to advocate for workers' rights!

-Max