My name is Markell Robinson, and I’m a filmmaker focused on telling honest, character-driven stories about identity, belonging, and the spaces between who we are and who we’re becoming.

I’m currently raising funds to produce my next short film, What Are You?

The film follows Randall, a biracial college student who attends a backyard game night hoping to connect with a new group of people. As the games become increasingly personal, a seemingly harmless question — “What are you?” — begins to expose the pressure he feels to define himself in ways that make sense to everyone else.

Why I’m Making This Film

I’m making What Are You? because I know what it feels like to be asked to define yourself using one word.

When it comes to race and identity, people often expect a simple answer, even when the truth is more complicated. Those questions can seem harmless from the outside, but when you’re the person being asked to reduce yourself to a single category, they can carry more weight than people realize.

Through Randall’s story, I want to explore that pressure without turning it into a dramatic confrontation. A game, a question, a joke, or a reaction may not feel malicious on its own, but together they can make someone feel like they are being reduced to a category instead of understood as a person.

My hope is that people who have experienced that feeling recognize something truthful in Randall, while others leave the film thinking more carefully about the ways we ask people to explain themselves.

Where Your Support Goes

What Are You? is being produced with an overall target budget of $6,900, and this campaign is seeking $5,000 to help bring the film from pre-production through completion. The production budget includes:

- Pre-production & production — $4,700 : Crew meals, equipment rentals, production design, props, storage, travel, lodging, and other production needs.

- Post-production — $1,000 : Music, final color work, and finishing the film after principal photography.

- Distribution & release — $1,200 : Festival submissions, promotional materials, advertising, and the deliverables needed to get the finished film in front of audiences.

I’m also personally investing in the film, so this campaign isn’t about asking others to carry the entire project. It’s about building the additional support needed to make the film properly and give it a life beyond production.

Why Your Support Matters

Independent filmmaking is built piece by piece.

Every contribution helps us protect the things that directly affect the quality of the film — the people making it, the environment we’re creating on set, the equipment we need, and the work required to properly finish and release it.

Whether you’re able to donate or simply share the campaign with someone who may connect with the story, your support helps move What Are You? closer to the screen.

The Goal Beyond Production

The goal is not simply to finish the film.

After production and post-production, I plan to submit What Are You? to festivals throughout Delaware, Philadelphia, and the surrounding region, helping the film reach audiences interested in identity, belonging, emerging filmmakers, and short-form storytelling.

What Are You? is currently in pre-production, and we are getting closer to the point where this story becomes something audiences can actually experience.

If you believe in the film and want to help bring it to life, I’d be grateful for your support.

Thank you for being part of the journey.

— Markell Robinson

Writer/Director, What Are You?