We are moving stories

“I wanted to explore the power of female friendship. Set in 1984, Brave Little Army is the story of how four girls - Em, K, Lu and Dee - meet at age 12 and become friends forever. It’s the first film in a trilogy.”

“This film contains a message that everyone needs to hear at some point in life: Just do it, do that thing that you can’t stop thinking every day. Wake up, tomorrow can be too late.”

“I made this film because I lost a family member in a hit and run accident that was never resolved. I had so many questions about the accident, the perpetrator, guilt and I tried to imagine why or how someone could make this decision to run away. I tried to find some answers by making my film Cleo.”

“We hope to find even just one person that can relate to our story and can see themselves represented in media. ”

“Being a teenager, going through puberty and growing up can be really difficult experiences, and all of this is magnified when you’re queer. I wanted this film to show people how growing up queer comes with its own unique hardships as well as its own unique beauties, and I also wanted to really celebrate the resilience of the kids that go through the worst possible stuff every day, but still manage to shine so brightly and bring so much colour to the world.”

“Coming of age films are universal as everyone has been a teenager or is a teenager at some point in their lives. But this film isn’t just about having crushes, it’s more about the feeling of starting your life and not knowing how that’s supposed to work. ”

“ I lived the life that these girls are living and I understand having good intentions and yet still making bad decisions. I think we can all look back on the stupid things we did as teens and those of us who prevailed and ended up turning out to be reasonably responsible citizens, can get a laugh out of seeing it on screen...If you like somewhat racy material that’s not exactly PC, you may enjoy this film.”

“As far as the story goes, I made a lot of friends in South Central Los Angeles and seeing and hearing a lot of the racial problems they encounter with law enforcement and the lack of opportunity and violence in their communities, made me wanna talk about all that.”

“I’ve put a lot of myself into this film. I have a strong desire to discuss bullying and lgtbq+ in horror genre conventions.”

“We hope first and foremost that Rich Kids is an entertaining story and that’s why you want to watch it, that it moves you emotionally and takes you on a journey and perhaps you change a little by the end. If you have a Hispanic/Latino background, most likely you haven’t had many opportunities to see other characters that look like you on screen in starring roles and Rich Kids gives you that experience. You should watch the film because mostly you’re used to seeing Latino characters cast as a very narrow stereotype and this is going to change your perceptions. And if you’ve ever fantasized about breaking into someone’s home to see how the other half lives, this film is for you.”

“We began working on this project a few years ago, as a collective dedicated to making films that were entertaining but that also portrayed life for adolescents and young adults in the notorious neighborhood of South-Central Los Angeles in non-stereotypical ways.”

“Ekaj is not just a film about a gay kid, it could be any kid. It’s about the emotions a lot of us have experience as a teen, first love, rejection, feeling inadequate and being innocent. Ekaj experiences lots of rejection while being so beautiful it’s devastating. It’s also a look into how drugs form a part of every young person with problems in life. We are so used to it that we don’t make it an issue. It’s just a part of life.”

“I knew going into this film that the Elan experience evokes a whole range of emotions. There are people that look back on Elan and feel they’ve gone through hell on earth, and there are people that consider Elan their saving grace. My view on Elan has always been pretty neutral and I’ve always respected the feelings of my fellow alumni, whichever side they’re on.”

“I made Girl Knight because I had a pressing image of a young girl clanking around the world in a knight’s outfit in my head for many years - I made the film to try and understand what this image was trying to tell me... We make films and tell stories in the hope to share a piece of ourselves with the rest of the world - I feel the hope is always, in that sharing, that someone, somewhere connects to what moved you to make it in the first place.”

“How can we as a society prevent bullying?”

“The film is about the moment when you cross the line from witness to accomplice. The characters in the film are faced with a choice to either help their friend and risk getting in trouble or turning him in. They quickly realize that they have gone too far and have no choice. We can all relate to having to make a hard decision about a friend’s morality. In Bad Kids we have pushed that morality to the limit.”

“ I grew up a minority in the Midwest and so I think all the insecurities of growing up were amplified for me and made me acutely aware of social politics and the power dynamics of youth. My daughter, Emmalee (Tina in the film) was going through the contemporary version of this and this probably ignited my memories even more and so I figured it must be the time to try to capture something about it on film.”

“The two main characters, Lauren and Conrad, are at an age when you begin to realize that growing up isn’t necessarily a graduation into a more mature, more just, more sensible world. They’re starting to question what they’ve been told and beginning to recognise some of their parents’ failings.”

“You make mistakes and run away from yourself before finding glimpses of truth. This short begins to explore how as women we search for freedom and sometimes inadvertently trap ourselves. The way out is through connection with our authenticity and sharing that with the world – or maybe even just one person.”

““Family Rewritten” is not just about a youth in foster care, it’s created with the help of foster youth themselves. These young adults worked behind the scenes as writers, camera operators, production assistants and producers; they helped make the film an authentic depiction of one young woman’s foster care experience. By supporting this documentary short film you’re giving these youth an opportunity to be heard.”

“The film is set in Perth Amboy, NJ and is very intimate in that we follow a few characters and their families very closely. But NJ happens to be the state with the highest rate of autism and Perth Amboy is a largely Latino community in a county with the fastest growing Asian population in the state. Our characters are “minorities,” underserved in autism services and underrepresented in media and yet they very much represent what our country looks like today. ”

“Autism has become a universal issue. Ongoing research has benefited many families, with several forms of therapy creating fabulous changes to so many. From surfing, horseback riding, and music, even flying an airplane. The US Government has stripped its funding to some very important therapies such as Applied Behavior Analysis, a form of therapy many families have benefited from, and now it has completely been taken away. The Ocean has a form of healing and comfort to so many autistic children. If government-funded programs continue to go away why not use the benefits from the Ocean, a resource God given and granted, not controlled by man. Controlled by the universe, and the constant motion of the earth. It’s absolutely universally connected.”

“The unique qualities of our subjects and their extremely great height are what drew me to want to tell this story. Where do celebrities come from? What perils await them on their path before they turn into a show?”