DIVISION is a short film about a young, interracial couple who find themselves in a long-distance relationship…even though they live in the same city.  In the sprawling city of Chicago, Michael and Camilla's connection is tested by everything from Cubs traffic and Uber driver road rage, to anxiety disorders, and work-life balance issues. 

We have reached our initial goal to cover production costs, but we still need your help to raise more money for post-production! Just visit https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/division-post-production-drama#/ to donate today! 

Upon completion, we will submit to film festivals around the world, and pitch to distributors and VoD outlets, to get the film sold.

Cara Winter & George Ellzey Jr. are the co-Writers, Directors & Producers of DIVISION, working in collaboration with Director of Photography Leonardo Fallucca, and Alex Molnar, Associate Producer. As a team of Chicago-based filmmakers, they share an interest in telling compelling, authentic stories, with an eye towards inclusion and diversity.   Check out our bios, below: 

George Ellzey, Jr. is an actor, writer and producer. Credits include Wait, I'm a Racist? (Rogue Shark Pictures), Off the Rails (Artigianale Films), the critically acclaimed Hellcab at The Den Theater, and producing Desperate, the TV series (RGE Entertainment). A recent graduate of Green Shirt Studio, George has become a member of the Agency Theater Collective. George is expanding the narrative of minorities in film through both screenwriting, with his production company ROME Production Group, whose new web series, Showcase, is in post-production. George holds a BFA in English & Theater from Bowdoin College. (Learn more about ROME Production Group here: www.romeproductiongroup.com)

Cara Winter is a writer, director, and producer.  As a screenwriter, Cara’s original TV pilot, Evolution, won 1st Prize in the 2015 People's Pilot, and is now represented by the LA-based management firm Bohemia Group.  Cara was also named one of ISA's Top 100 Emerging Screenwriters of 2017.  Cara was part of the Producing team on Somebody Cards, a web series about Cubs fans, underdogs, baseball cards, and time travel.  Cara holds a BFA from New York University’s Tisch School of the Arts. (Learn more at www.cara-winter.com.)

Leonardo Fallucca is a director and cinematographer, born and raised in Milan, and recent transplant to the United States.  In 2006, he directed his first short, Il quadro (The Painting), and in the following four years, made two more shorts: Una mano insignificante (An Insignificant Hand) and Amir. His most important works as a director are Ladri di papere (Duck Thieves), a short comedy shot in 16mm and presented at Milano Film Festival, two Video Poems presented at Pordenone Festival of Literature, and a documentary, 118: Anatomia di un'emergenza (118: Anatomy of an Emergency), which was premiered in Bologna and broadcasted on Espansione TV. Leonardo was formally trained as a director at the Milan School of Cinema and Television. (View his film Mirrors here:  https://vimeo.com/182716966.) 

Scott Jacobs (Production Consultant) is a professional film editor based in LA.  He has been fortunate enough to work on both major network TV shows such as Person of Interest (CBS) and Parks and Recreation (NBC) as well as feature films The Bourne Legacy, Keanu, and Despicable Me 3, among others.  He hopes to one day sit alongside the great film editors that have come before him, and inspire others. Scott holds an MFA from the American Film Institute. 

Alex Molnar (Associate Producer) is a Chicago actor, director, writer and producer. She has worked with Oddsbodkins Theater (Winter’s Tale, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, and Much Ado About Nothing), The Agency Theater Collective (At The Center, Chagrin Falls, Hellcab, and Basement Series), and Cornservatory (Doctor Astronaut). Alex is excited to be working on this incredible short film.

The filmmakers were inspired by the writing and direction of Lady Bird, the visual richness and emotional innocence of La La Land,  and the real-life hilarity of Judd Apatow’s Netflix series Love.  

DIVISION will be shot digitally, using a Canon C300 MKII, various Canon and Sigma lenses, and Schoeps CMC641 microphones for state-of-the-art sound. Utilizing Chicago as the backdrop, our filming locations demonstrate the colorful and ever-changing nature of the city. Confirmed locations include XO Salon in Roscoe Village, Bang Bang Pie, PSG and Mercury Theater, to name a few. We plan on showing the beauty of the city to deepen the narrative and include it as a character in our story. 

To sculpt the sensory experience of the viewer, we intend on using local Chicago artists for the soundscape of the film; however, we are not limiting the reach of the narrative to Chicago. We are fortunate to have the musical support from LA-based alternative/pop artist, Louis Weeks, who has allowed us to use his song, Great Conversation, from his album HaHa as the lead song for the film. 

Cities like Chicago are incredibly diverse, yet our media does not reflect this back to us.  Our message is simple: diversity is normalcy. DIVISION is a story about two people from different cultural backgrounds who make a connection, but because of the complexities of the modern world, they are finding it difficult to maintain a healthy relationship.

You as a viewer are invited to experience a common life event, as seen through perhaps a slightly different lens. Our differences inform our lives, impact them in ways we may never fully know, even so, at the core, we are all human and this film is an exploration of human emotion and relation. Our hope for this film is to demonstrate the universal desire for connection and to share that understanding with our viewers. 

Thank you for taking the time to explore our work, and we hope you will consider helping us make DIVISION a reality.