Wheels Short Film

Hello! Welcome to our GoFundMe for Wheels. My name is Nicole Santolo (creator, executive producer & writer) and my team and I are raising funds to shoot a scripted short film based on my life and my brother, Ryan, who has Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy. Duchenne is a rare genetic disorder characterized by progressive muscle weakness and Ryan stopped walking when he was 11. He has spent the last 18 years of his life in a wheelchair and there is no cure. I am also a carrier of the disease, meaning there is a 25% chance I will have a child with Duchenne.

I have been working on this project for the past 10 years and I shot a pilot when I was in grad school for my thesis. I have developed the story even further and will be utilizing this upcoming short as a proof-of-concept for pitching and film festivals, as I am determined to turn Wheels into a television series in the future.

Did you know, according to the Ruderman White Paper on the Challenge to Create More Authentic Disability Casting and Representation on TV, "20% of the population has a disability but fewer than 2% of all TV characters do. And 95% of these characters are played by non-disabled performers." These numbers are abysmal and Ryan rarely gets to see himself on the screen. I want to change these statistics and increase authentic disability representation in the media and will be commencing with my film!

WHEELS SYNOPSIS

Wheels centers around Dani and Jason Scarlato, two siblings who move into a college dorm room together. Jason has Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy and is entering his freshman year of college. He wants to live on-campus, gain his independence, and experience all that college has to offer. But his parents are resistance and want him to commute because they already live in an accessible home. Dani, on the other hand, just got fired from her job as a studio tour guide for harassing a celebrity and needs a new job stat so her parents don't find out.

Jason and Dani team up and convince their parents to let them live in a dorm room together. Dani becomes Jason's full-time aide and sets herself up as a paid family caregiver. Once they move into their dorm, Jason is really excited to go to a party that night, but Dani ditches Jason to go on a date with the cute guy across the hall. When Dani returns from the date after being stood up, Jason took matters into his own hands and threw a party in their dorm. Dani has a little too much to drink and all chaos ensues. The future of her aide duties remain in jeopardy.

HOW WILL FUNDS BE USED?

This GoFundMe will give our team the funds needed to shoot this short film, which will have a run time of approximately 15 minutes. Your contribution will go directly towards creating this film and will help pay for production costs for the cast, crew, post-production, craft services, film festivals, and other miscellaneous production costs across a 3-day shoot. We are aiming to shoot this in November and premiere the film in 2024.

Thank you so much for your support and taking the time to read the above. NONE of this would be possible without you and stay tuned for additional details regarding an invitation to the premiere!

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