*Americans still can donate, the site automatically converts, you won't be charged an international fee!!

WHY THIS MOVIE?

"Traditionally, the Circus has provided equal rights of opportunity for women and men to perform dangerous acts, such as high-wire tightrope … and lion-taming. The role of clown has, until recently, been reserved for men." -- Madeline Sherwood

According to the Center for the Study of Women in Film and Television, females only make up 33% of writers and 17% of directors. We need more female directors. We need more women in the writing room. To view more statistics about diversity in the industry, check out: https://womenandhollywood.com/resources/statist...

So why this movie? Because producing comedy written, directed, produced and performed by women (which should be held to the same standards as male-led comedy) is what the industry needs. On every level! Yes, women are making strides in the big budget arena - but we need more women stepping up to fight. Help us join the ranks and level the playing field. Help us change the 33%. 

Not only is upping those numbers so important, but also setting out to prove that male comedic roles, as written, don't have to be any different from female comedic roles. Despite strides being made with movies such as Bridesmaids or Ghostbusters, trends still show that there is a definite gender bias present in modern comedy. So, what if scripts like The Hangover, CaddyShack, or Anchorman were recast but not re-written? Would it still work?   

By producing this movie, I want to explore those questions. I'm taking a script I wrote specifically for my male team members and casting women in the roles without changing the dynamics or jokes to see if content created for men can be just as successful if played by women. 

WHO IS MALLIE McCOWN?

Hi! My name is Mallie McCown, and I am from Los Angeles, by way of Chicago. I studied Acting, Film Production, and Screenwriting at Chapman University and am currently getting my Masters at The Royal Conservatoire of Scotland in Performance. 

For six years, however, I wrote with an L.A. sketch comedy team called The Crooked Rooks which was made up of three very talented male writers and me, the only female.  After being picked up by a Hollywood producer we were sent to work writing six days a week for five hours a night, resulting in representation by Parallel Entertainment.  Shout out to my old writing team, Drew Hunter, Mike McNeal, Russell Ford, and Adam Sass! I would not be the writer I am today without you. If you'd like to see more of my work I did with the Rooks, feel free to check out our sketches at:

 https://www.youtube.com/user/TheCrookedRooks

Also, feel free to check out a Pilot I wrote for Network, below. Password is: fired

 https://vimeo.com/201905075

However, since parting from my male-counterparts, I have realized, not only the gender-related issues that I experienced while writing in an all-male writing environment, but I've also realized the depth of my own capabilities as an individual content creator and have been empowered to make a difference. 

How You Can Get Involved!

We are pulling a lot of favors and have a lot of friends getting involved to work on this, simply through belief in the project. Our target of £5000 GBP ($6,642 USD) is to achieve a standard we can stand by while taking care of people along the way.

• What will the money be used for?

• Taking care of the Cast and Crew (£1,200).  ​
  • Because this movie is being used for educational purposes, we can not use the film for financial gain.  But we do have over 20 cast n’ crew to feed  and water throughout the shoot. So, let's keep our team ALIVE! 
• ​​​​Equipment (£1,900)
  • The donations will also go toward renting a camera, lights, C-stands....ya know, all the main stuff needed to make a movie! Even finding the best deals and using our connections in the industry, renting everything for the shoot adds up. 
• Production Design, Costume and SFX Make Up (£900)
  • A horror-comedy calls for a lot of cool props and locations, like an ancient book and a cathedral! It also needs gore and makeup effects. Our blood might just look like red cool-aid... unless we can get talent with good materials to realise these practical effects.
• Post Production  (£500)
  • Once the shoot is over, the arduous task of editing, scoring and grading the movie takes over. The time and skill applied to this stage can make or break any film.
• Festival Entry Fees  (£500)
  • We plan on submitting to as many major film festivals as we can. However, submitting to a lot of these costs money; submission fees can vary from $20 all the way up to $120 per submission. We are aiming to set aside a budget for our festival run.

Risks & Challenges

I have made a number of shorts with little-to-no money. So, if we don't raise enough money to say; hire an editor - I will sacrifice sleep for the month of August to edit it myself. If we don't raise the money to hire a graphic designer for the poster, I will learn Photoshop and do it myself. Ideal? Of course not. So please donate and share, so I can assemble an amazing team and don't die toiling away before I get a chance to complete my Masters.

Other Ways You Can Help

We understand if you can't contribute monetarily. A lot of us are artists and not at a place yet to donate our hard-earned money for someone else's vision. However, you still can contribute!  

• Get the word out! Share on Instagram and Facebook! Your friends or family might want to help out!
• Use the Indiegogo share options!
• Private message or personally email your friends and family with this cause! Maybe you know a rich aunt or wealthy philanthropist that would like to get behind us in this!