SIGNATURE MOVE is an indie romantic comedy meets coming-of-age feature film about a Pakistani-Muslim-lesbian named Zaynab, who lives in Chicago taking care of her conservative-but-sweet TV-obsessed mother. A mother she keeps secrets from. The film is set in Chicago, because a Chicago summer is a beautiful time to fall in love. And Zaynab does fall in love with Alma (secret #1), a smart, bold Mexican woman with whom Zaynab connects across culture, food, AND WRESTLING because as Zaynab is learning professional-style wrestling (secret #2), Alma tells her that her grandmother used to be a Lucha Libre wrestler back in Mexico when she was young.

This is a film directed by a woman, written by women and about women of color. This is an American story that everyone can enjoy and relate to, but one that also celebrates a breadth of experiences and identities not always given equal screen time: South Asian, Pakistani, Muslim, Latin, Mexican, LGBTQ, Women, Chicagoan.

This is a movie being produced by Newcity, "the publication of record for Chicago culture," in celebration of its thirtieth anniversary, and is being made in Chicago, by Chicagoans in every aspect of its creation, as proof of the great potential for independent filmmaking right here, far from either coast. Chicago is a city of boundless vitality populated by world-class theater, comedy and dance professionals. By topnotch fiction writers and playwrights. By a new generation of filmmakers dedicated to their craft, and some of the strongest film college programs anywhere. Chicago is a city on the verge of a creative moment in filmmaking and we aim to be part of it.

We are FAWZIA MIRZA, star/co-writer/producer, JENNIFER REEDER, director, BRIAN HIEGGELKE and EUGENE PARK, producers, LISA DONATO, co-writer and CHRISTOPHER REJANO, director of photography. And more joining us every week.

We are assembling our "dream team" in Chicago of filmmakers on the verge who will all be coming together for their first feature with SIGNATURE MOVE! Here are bios of some of our core team members. Watch for updates!

JENNIFER REEDER constructs personal films about relationships, trauma and coping. Her award-winning narratives are innovative and borrow from a range of forms including after school specials, amateur music videos and magical realism. These films have shown consistently around the world, including the Sundance Film Festival, The Berlin Film Festival, The London Film Festival, The Venice Biennale and The Whitney Biennial. 

Check out this clip from Jennifer's Sundance-selected short film, "A Million Miles Away." (Or watch the whole film here: It's totally worth your time.)

And Jennifer just got back from the Berlin Film Festival, where she premiered her new short, "Crystal Lake." 

FAWZIA MIRZA was named a “Top 10 Creative” by Indiewire Magazine, one of Chicago’s “Rising Stars” of indie filmmaking by WBEZ, a 2015 recipient of the 3Arts Award in Acting and AfterEllen called her one of "8 Queer Muslim Women Defying Donald Trump" and she was a 2015 recipient of the 3Arts Award for Acting. She’s produced, starred in and written award-winning short films and videos and web series that have screened at film festivals all over the world. She believes in using comedy to create social impact and break down stereotypes across race, gender, sexual orientation and defying the idea of the "model minority". 

Fawzia wrote, produced and starred in THE FIRST SESSION, 1 of 8 finalists in the 2015 NBC Universal Short Film Festival in Los Angeles.

Her latest short film, SPUNKLE, hits the festivals this summer, which she co-wrote with Lisa Donato and Ryan Logan, she produced and stars in:

She loves satire, so Fawzia developed the character, Ayesha Trump and the mockumentary THE MUSLIM TRUMP. The character has been in The Chicago Tribune's Red Eye, NBC News, Al Jazeera America, and VICE:

BRIAN HIEGGELKE, described as a “civic treasure” by a Chicago Tribune columnist, and “one of the most respected media minds in town” by Politico, is the co-founder of Newcity and an award-winning journalist and produced playwright.

EUGENE SUN PARK, the winner of the Screenplay Competition at the 37th Asian American International Film Festival and the founder of Full Spectrum Features, a nonprofit organization committed to increasing diversity in the media arts by supporting the work of women, LGBTQ, and minority filmmakers.

We are asking for $30,000, which will afford us the money we need to get pre-production covered. (And has nice resonance with Newcity's thirtieth birthday. We're suckers for this kind of thing.) This includes securing cast, locations, production office and legal expenses, etc. We are also seeking private financing to raise the balance of our funds, and are well underway in securing commitments that will allow us to raise the total minimum amount needed. We want to make a movie where we can pay all the people involved, from cast to crew for the four-week shoot schedule. We also have a lot of physical stunts and choreography with all the wrestling, so we need to make sure we can do the things, with stunt experts and trainers, to be sure our cast and crew is safe. We also have specialized costumes and props and production design and we want it to be as authentic as possible. We want to do this right. 

We're committed to making the movie, no matter what, even if we have to shoot it on our mobile phones in Fawzia's bedroom. BUT, we believe in manifesting our dreams, so we want to say, instead, that with your support, WHEN WE RAISE OUR GOAL and hopefully more, we will make this movie the way we really want to and we will make you proud to be part of it. 

If we do NOT reach our goal, we'll use what we get to continue pre-production: hire our line producer, secure additional cast and locations and basic crew. And then raise more money to secure the funding for the entire shoot. As we said, we will make this movie.

If we exceed our goal, we'll be able to shoot some scenes, some really great scenes, that might not be feasible at the low end of our budget range. And we'll invest it in every aspect of making this film better, more beautiful and more widely seen by those who will be open to its story.

As the headlines every day remind us, stories like this are not getting their due through the traditional Hollywood financing machine. And stories like this are more imperative now than ever when Muslims and immigrants are being treated as second-class citizens by some. By raising money through crowdfunding, we're joining you to take matters into the hands of those who care the most and making sure this movie gets made, rather than waiting for someone else to tell us when we can do it.

We totally understand that not everyone can donate with dollars, but donating your time or your tweet or post, is also a great way to help spread the word. Share on all your social media platforms and "like" and "follow" us galore! See you at the movies!

Twitter: @signaturemov | Facebook: @signaturemovemovie | Instagram: @signaturemovemovie | Website: www.signaturemovemovie.com