The Story

Set in 1988 Los Angeles, LOVEBUG is a dramedy feature film that follows the story of Douglass, a young man who winds up convinced by his new and slightly older girlfriend, Gracie, to become a pornstar under her management. And like any good adult film star, he’s going to need a name.

Douglass must become DOUGGY STYLE.

This is a story about finding self-worth and the insane amount of obstacles that emerge along the way to achieving it.

Sometimes these obstacles are morbidly funny, and other times, they are just straight up f*ucked up. LOVEBUG will tackle both of these in tandem.

Douglass will have to navigate his old life while grappling with the newfound success of his porn-sona, DOUGGY STYLE.

He'll be okay, right?

Right?

The Filmmakers (a message from Blake)

My earliest memories involve me running around the house with the camcorder I stole from my sister making videos by myself. Instead of using my imagination to think I was spiderman, I used it to think I was making movies for large audiences of people. I honestly can’t say why this is what I’m compelled to do, all I know is that making movies is all I’ve ever wanted to do with my life and it’s all I’ll ever pursue. 

As a child, I knew that I had to be involved in movie-making but didn’t quite know what that really entailed. At first, I thought it meant becoming an actor. I told my mom that I wanted to act and she didn’t even question it; she immediately found me an agent to aid in my dream. I spent most of my elementary school years going on auditions, getting lucky enough to land a few commercials, and even a low-budget movie named Elf-Man. 

Elf-Man taught me two things: 

1. If you miss enough of school because of acting your mom will get a letter from the government 

2. Acting wasn’t what I wanted to do. I want to be the one telling the stories.

After Elf-Man, I never looked back. From 10 years old then to 20 years old now, I’ve always made it a point to have at least one passion project going on at all times. It’s a way for me to practice making short films and telling stories but also if I wasn’t making something I’d start to feel seriously sick. It might seem a little dramatic, but if I’m not working on a film-related project, my entire life does start to collapse around me. It’s my number one source of joy and motivator for all aspects of my life. 

The team we have working on this is comprised of the most creative, passionate, and kind people I have ever met. Our Director of Photography/Executive Producer, Dylan Marzke, has been my closest friend since moving to Los Angeles. Not only is he one of the most hardworking people I've met in my life, but the talent he has behind the camera is also insane. I have full confidence in him and bringing the world of LOVEBUG to life. Then there are our Producers: Lauren Chappell, Lukas Neau, Ryan Sadigh, and Sky Stockton. They are also among the hardest working bunch I've met in my life and have been toiling week by week to bring this project to life. LOVEBUG would not be possible without any of these people. 

All that being said, I’m determined to make Lovebug come to life to the fullest extent of its vision. The hours spent writing over and over again until it felt right were grueling at points, but also some of the most fun I’ve ever had. The story checks off all the right boxes for me, and I hope to emulate my favorite experiences in a theater for other people: the feeling of watching a movie that makes you as equally uncomfortable as it does comforting and as funny as it does tragic. I hope Lovebug provides that feeling for those who watch it. 

-Blake Kaiser (Writer/Director of LOVEBUG)

The Budget

Our ambitions are high, but we need support from anyone that will give it! Here's a quick breakdown of how your donations will be used.

The End Goal (a message from the crew)

As a group of young filmmakers, it’s a dream to be able to shoot a feature film, but the journey of getting there can feel next to impossible. When writing, I was always mindful of keeping the scale as low as possible in order to focus on the core of what making movies is: telling a story. A story that is personal and purposeful, a story that is meant for those who want to feel like they are a part of it. Lovebug is centered around one relationship with very few characters involved. This is to give the audience a feeling that they are part of the main character's story, that they are the only ones experiencing it with them. 

The story is prevalent now because of what the main relationship represented then. Teenagers and young adults today grew up with the most instantaneous access to sex there has ever been. Once given any smartphone or tablet, the world instantly opens up, for better or worse. Having this near-instantaneous doorway to pornography from such a young age has had effects on our generation that we have yet to see. Lovebug represents how sex can be misconstrued when we are young, and how we can start to confuse a sexual desire with a loving desire. 

This is the time to tell this story, with the very generation that has had the whole world in the literal palm of their hands since they can remember. The crew telling this story is young, all in our early 20s, but we are passionate about what we do. Making movies is an outlet for all of us to express ourselves; it’s this form of creativity that makes us feel just as magical as when we were kids. We’ve been working towards this our whole lives, building up to the moment in our careers where we can show people why this is the thing we’ve dedicated our lives to. This is going to be as independent of a production as it gets, we are taking our passion into our own hands and making something out of it.

Ways to Help

We understand not everyone is able to donate, and that is okay! If you've taken the time to get on this page and read what we are all about, that is already enough. 

We are extremely excited about the donation perks we are offering but one of the best ways to help is through word of mouth. If this sounds like a project you want to see get made or believe in, then we urge you to just pass it around. 

Milestones

$500: Release the Lovebug Spotify playlist

$1,000: Q&A with Director

$2,500: The Crew Does the 80s Video

$5,000: Surprise giveaway

$10,000: Making the Score: Behind the Scenes with Blake Kaiser

$20,000: The Crew interviews their parents about the 80s

$30,000: Lovebug Vinyl Giveaway + We Make the Film!!

We are eager and ready to get into pre-production on LOVEBUG and have it out into the world for you ALL to enjoy!

Thank you from the bottom of our hearts,

-Lovebug Team