Make a Change explores the life of Paul Summers, a slobbish, drunken, mess of a man. He gets dumped by his girlfriend and jumped by a group of hooded hooligans both on the same night. This cathartic experience makes him join a climate change organization called Make a Change.

In hopes of righting his past environmental wrongs, Paul makes a supreme effort to not only clean up his act but the city’s act as well. But as time goes by, Paul starts to notice something really strange in the group...

Over the past 35 years, SBIFF has become one of the leading film festivals in the United States – attracting over 100,000 attendees and offering 11 days of film premieres. "Make a Change" written by Zhen Smalls is one of 10 scripts chosen to be apart of this competition known as the "10-10-10!" This competition features 10 productions, 10 directors and 10 screenwriters from both local Santa Barbara College's and High School's. All of which are focused on this years theme being Climate Change, not only that but to make it fair for everyone... Everything has to be filmed via iPhone! I am so excited to be apart of this team and not only bring this beautiful story to life but to inspire others with the deeper meaning this story has. 

One thing I am super excited to announce is that 15% of all funds will be donated to the CEC,  a foundation which is very orientated around this years SBIFF theme! (more information down below) 

- James Dudley, Producer

The main inspiration for this story came from the works of Alexander Payne. During the writing process, I related my story the most to the 1999 film Election, directed by Alexander Payne. Its darkly comic circumstances along with its sharp-witted ending really helped spark some of my ideas for Make a Change. 

The subtle “outsider” dynamic in Election is extremely prevalent in Paul’s character in Make a Change. Sideways (2004), is another movie that I kept on revisiting during my scriptwriting process.

Some other inspirations were The Descendants (2011), Under the Silver Lake (2018), Midsommar (2019)

- Zhen Smalls, Writer/Co-Producer

The main question I had in mind while writing this is, “Should a man continue to do good at the stem of wrong?” It was a fun question to explore which led to the creation of the story’s prevalent themes.

The key themes I wanted to tackle with this story were innocence and ignorance. Is anybody truly “innocent” and does ignorance cause genuine innocence?

Make a Change raises these questions in a very entertaining manner by placing comedic absurdity through a fairly thought-provoking lens.

- Zhen Smalls, Writer/Co-Producer

The inertia of Climate Change is a terrifying thing. And in its inertia, it seems like most people won’t react until it’s too late. History has shown that radical activism has brought out the best (and worst) in people. What I like about this film is that it sits on the fence, as an observer, and questions the vindication of societal extremities. “Make a Change” is a satire: A parody on how sometimes “trying to do good” can be taken too far and it actually causes harm.

I’m excited to tell this story because as a lover of satire, absurdism, and sociology, balancing the comedy and drama that’s inherent to this story will be a challenging—but fulfilling task.

- Nick Vinan, Director

Our budget goal for this production is $4000.

We are completely an independently ran student production. Regardless of ties to SBCC, UCSB, and SBIFF we still are not entitled to equipment from either. Everything done for this film is reliant on not only us but you! Any donations directly go to bringing this story to life through each of the listed categories. We appreciate any help you give us in order to make this production a environment-friendly, productive, happy, and most importantly an amazing experience for everyone involved from the creators to the viewers!

Production/ Post-Production: there is a lot that needs to go into this production from the beginning through to the end. From delivering all the goods our Indiegogo has to offer to outsourcing this story as far as we can. Not only that but if we're able to raise enough money we can pay the wonderful crew that make this happen!

Equipment: As previously mentioned everything in this production is funded via what we raise through this Indiegogo and our pockets. All equipment from sound gear to iPhone lenses, will be sourced from reliable personal contacts and ShareGrid!

Production Design: Every good film has to be appealing to the eye! We have the perfect team to make that a reality for us... In order to give them the supplies they need, funds will be certainly necessary. 

Craft Services: To have a healthy environment on set, food is key! We want to source the best places to feed our crew throughout the process of production, again this is something that is going to cost money. 

Transportation: With the renting of equipment it requires a lot of travelling to sometimes far away areas. With current gas prices being so high this is an area that I find to be extremely prevalent when reimbursing crew on trips sourcing equipment and coming to set. 

Locations: Nothing in this life is free and so a big thing in this production is finding the correct locations that correctly and effectively brings this script into real-life. 

CEC (Community Environmental Council): Since the 10-10-10 theme this year is Climate Change we couldn't think of a better thing to do than to pledge to donate 15% of all raised funds to this foundation based locally in Santa Barbara. 

"We have pioneered environmental solutions on California’s Central Coast for more than 50 years. And we believe that, together, we can reverse climate change, repair the damage, and protect local communities from extreme weather effects." 

- CEC (Community Environmental Council )

WE associate with many of their views based on the environment and want to best connect our story to other ways that raise awareness on this ever-growing matter. Below will be a link to their website so you can learn more!

https://cecsb.org

With the ever prevalent issue of COVID we commit that this set will be safe by ensuring everyone is either vaccinated or tests negative 24 hours prior to coming to production.

Another thing we're aware of is making sure we're being environment-friendly through all stages of production. This is something we will all work together on to make it a reality. 

One last thing is making sure we have the correct permits to film in the places we desire. All of your donations will be helpful in doing that. 

Any contribution to this production is so greatly appreciated!

From me and my crew we would like to say a big thank you for taking the time to read this and hope to see you there for the screening day! 

Again I would like to say that with all the money you help raise we will be donating 15% to CEC which is a fantastic climate associated foundation right out of Santa Barbara! 

WE APPRECIATE ANYTHING AND EVERYTHING!!