The Final Push (Seed&Spark update)

Hi lovely Supporters, 

We're in the last 8 hours of our campaign! As we're writing this, we're 92% funded and just under $1,500 from our goal. We'd love your support in helping to spread the word one more time and get this film fully funded. 

Suggested Tweet: 

8 hours left to support @aboutadonkey, an inclusive comedy crowdfunding on @seedandspark! Let's get 'em to 100%! http://bit.ly/2m4Z4wO

You could also share our first scene preview, which has proven to really grab our audience, so far. 

Or any of our Meet The Cast videos. Found HERE.

Our campaign was also covered by Flurt Magazine, Lezbelib, and 4MileCircus. Sharing those articles will lead to the campaign, too. Each article emphasizes a different reason to support the project.

However you're able to help with this last hurdle, we're so appreciative. Thank you for making this film with us! Let's do this!

-Christina, Kelsey & the team

Meet Farrah! (Seed&Spark update)

Here's our final Meet the Cast video (for now). If you missed any previous Cast videos, you can find them in the Media Section of our campaign or on our Vimeo Channel. 

Farrah is played by Ellen Graff. Part of our mission with this project is to be inclusive across the board, in as many ways as possible. We knew we had a bit of a challenge on our hands when we set out to cast Farrah, our grandmother of the family. A lot of people tried to convince us to cast someone middle aged and age them up with makeup; but representation and authenticity are key to our mission, so we searched far & wide for a talented age-accurate actor. Ellen was a recommendation by Peter (playing Tim), and what a recommendation she was! She came into her audition and knocked her scene out of the park. She's got such wit and class. I'm so excited to work with her and bring Farrah to life on screen. Watch what she has to say about her character and the film. 

More about Farrah:

Farrah clings to her peace and love days. She’s got that wisdom that comes from getting older and a frugal trait that comes from never relying on a significant other to provide financial security. Since the death of her wife, she has lived in the local nursing home and longs for her grandkids to have passionate, fulfilled lives.

Suggested Tweet: 

Meet Farrah, one of the characters in #aboutadonkey, an inclusive comedy currently crowdfunding on @seedandspark! https://vimeo.com/206256279. 

We're only $230 from 85%! We're aiming to hit that this afternoon, then start working our way towards 90%. We've got 60 hours to reach our goal. Let's make it happen together!

Thank you,

Christina, Kelsey & the team

We Got the Green Light! (Seed&Spark update)

Good evening Wonderful Supporters, 

We're down to the last 3 days of this campaign. It ends at 11:59pm EST this Friday! Thanks to all of you, we just got the Green Light, which is the 80% threshold required to receive the funds we've raised! 

Our goal is definitely to hit 100% so that we can deliver on all our promises, including being able to donate 5% of cash raised to The Trevor Project; but now that we're past 80% we know we can get through production and make this film. Thank you! Let's keep the momentum going tonight!

Suggested Tweet: 

The #aboutadonkey team got the Green Light on @seedandspark! Now let's get 'em to 100% & make this inclusive comedy! http://bit.ly/2m4Z4wO

Thank you, thank you, thank you,

Christina, Kelsey & the team

Meet Jordan! (Seed&Spark update)

We're 70% funded! Thank you! We're less than $2,000 shy of getting the Green Light (which means we'll receive the funds we've raised), and we've set our sights on getting there this weekend. We've been a bit lax on updates this week, as I've been simultaneously away at a festival and feeling under the weather, while the rest of the team's been deep in prep for production. But we have some fun updates coming your way as we enter our final week of the campaign, including our last two Meet the Cast videos. 

Jordan is played by Elisha Mudly. We got a lot of submissions for Jordan but Elisha just blew us away in her audition. She totally got the character from her first reading and had tons of chemistry with Christina (playing Cecilia). As stated with Sarah (playing Cassie), since we've only shot the first scene of the film so far, we haven't yet worked with Elisha. But we're so excited to do so next month (after the success of this campaign!) and bring Jordan to life on screen. Watch what she has to say about her character and the film:

More about Jordan:

Jordan recently moved to the States for a fresh start and is currently working at Farrah's nursing home. Meeting Cecilia offers a welcome change of scenery, and Jordan finds herself drawn to the company.

Suggested Tweet: Meet Jordan, one of the characters in #aboutadonkey, an inclusive comedy currently crowdfunding on @seedandspark! https://vimeo.com/205488127 

Suggested Facebook Post: Meet Jordan, one of the characters in About a Donkey, an inclusive comedy film currently raising funds to make their full feature! https://vimeo.com/205488127. 

Thank you!

Christina, Kelsey & the team

IndieWorks - February Recap

We usually put out recaps the week after IndieWorks, but we've been quite busy at CongestedCat this month. So here it is: two weeks ago was our February edition, and it was a wonderful night. We thought the cold would keep the crowd away but we had over 45 people in house for our 6 women-powered shorts of the night! Some thoughtful, insightful and fun conversations came out of the lineup. We hope connections were made, as well!

We'd just like to say thank you to everyone who came out to support the filmmakers and spend the evening with us & them. We hope you'll join us again for our March screening on the 7th. 

See photos from the night:

The Films of the night:

The Perfumist (Directed by Yukari Akaba Rockmuller, Shannon Lee, Daniela Lobo Dias, Sandra Rivero Ortiz)
A dramatic story highlighting the battle of Machine-Equipped Man against Cosmic Nature. Seeking the perfect scent for his perfume, Benedict Malville runs into the consequences of trampling on sacred, natural ground.

What The People Want (Directed & Animated by Kathleen Judge)
This animated music video takes inspiration from the songs lyric and especially the disappearance, murder, and attacks on women around the world. 

America Heard: Refuge of Hope (Directed by Yasmin Mistry, Produced by James Boo)
Syracuse, New York is an unlikely home to over 10,000 former refugees. Two women at the forefront of this community reflect on what their presidential vote means to those whose only true home is the American town that took them in.

Sleeping With Earrings On (Directed by Jaclyn Gramigna, Written & Produced by Stephanie Iscovitz)
A family drama centered around Maggie's marriage to the love of her life, Kyle.The tension is palpable on the morning of the wedding when Georgie misplaces something important that Bridget entrusted to her.

Juice (Written & Directed by Rachel Kessler)
M, a young woman of quiet intensity, has six of her closest friends over to celebrate her sixteenth birthday. 

Great Expectations (Directed by Don Downie, Written by Dorothy Marcic, Produced by/Starring Laura Dowling Shea)
Maribeth just needs some help to finish a big project but ends up with much more than she expected! Sometimes more is less.

We were a bit shorthanded this month but still managed to shoot the Q&A. Check out the quick Recap to see what the filmmakers had to say about their films. *Please know there are some film spoilers - feel free to look for an opportunity to catch the films at a festival or computer screen near you & then come back to watch!

The awards go to...

At the end of the evening, we announced our winning filmmakers for both Audience Choice Award & Silver Whiskers Award. The Audience Choice Award is voted upon by all those in attendance, and the Silver Whiskers Award is judged by the CongestedCat Team based on a system rating 8 categories of Story, Dialogue/Writing, Direction, Acting, Cinematography, Sound, Editing, and Production Value. The Silver Whiskers winner goes on to screen again at our end of year Best of Fest screening in April. 

The Silver Whiskers winner also receives $50 towards a crowdfunding campaign on SeedandSpark.com should they use the platform and a free Social Media audit ($200 value) from 4MileCircus. 

For the February 2017 lineup, our winning films were:
    Audience Choice Award:  "Sleeping With Earrings On"
    Silver Whiskers Award:  "Juice"

Join us next month for our March Screening on the 7th!