Who We Are: Drexel Senior Film Fundraiser

Hi everyone, my name is Dylan Lepre and I am the writer/director of "Who We Are". When I set out to write the script for my senior thesis I asked myself one question. "What inspires me?" It's a question that I ran over in my head repeatedly, for months, without a satisfactory answer until one night when I stumbled upon it. My mother's life story is truly one of the most poignant tales of resilience in the face of adversity I've ever heard. Therefore, with her blessing, I set out to write a story inspired by her, but more importantly, for her.

"Who We Are" is a love letter to both my mother and the millions of children in India who have grown up with significant childhood trauma. What do their lives look like? How do they adapt, especially as immigrants in a foreign land? It's the question that I seek to answer through the eyes of Meera Amin, a precocious ten-year-old Indian-American, and the story of her life at three crucial moments. How does a person change from the time they're ten to when they're twenty-eight? What qualities do they retain or lose? I think that's a fascinating question in itself and one of the many I hope to answer in this film.

An important aspect of filmmaking to me is diversity and inclusion. The cast will be comprised of Indian Americans and people of color. We want to foster a community of acceptance and help the film industry continue to elevate these voices of color. That is why I'm so deeply vested in this film because I believe we have something important to share and we're doing so by showcasing voices that are too often pushed aside or used as political tools.

This is all an ambitious endeavor. We're challenging ourselves creatively to make this film look like something you see on the big screen. With that desire comes the need for funds. We would love it if you could invest whatever you are willing to donate in a production that will use funds with full transparency and efficiency. We plan to use these funds to rent the equipment we need to make a professional production and pay our talented actors and our hardworking crew.

Thank you so much for your time and willingness to donate. I am confident that this will be a great project that will push the boundaries of student filmmaking to new heights. Thank you again!