Hi there! My name is Augie, and I'm a senior directing major at Chapman University's Dodge College of Film & Media Arts. For the past year, I've been writing & developing The Art of Baking for my final thesis film with a bunch of very talented students, and now we need your help.

The Art of Baking follows Edison, an up-and-coming cake decorator, as he falls in love with his decorating partner, Adeline. Chock full of sweet moments and less-than-graceful missteps, this story connects the trials and tribulations of the kitchen to the ones within our hearts.

The film will be told without any character dialogue, as a comforting narrator and a sweeping score transports the audience through the rises and falls of Edison and Adeline's love story.

We are lucky enough to have some great faculty mentors to help support production logistics and hone in on the story we want to tell, but all student-run productions are exactly that-- student-run.  We've locked in an incredibly talented team of seniors who have been working hard to churn out industry-level productions for the past few years, but the one thing that is not available to us is funding. That's where you come in!

No matter how many cost-efficient routes we take, an undertaking like this will still require a wide array of expenditures ...

• Food (both meals and snacks) for the cast & crew. 12-hour days are impossible without 'em
• Equipment for all departments, such as lighting, camera, and sound gear.
• Set Design / Props to create our bakery! We will be building a fake bakery on one of Dodge's state-of-the-art soundstages, so we'll be spending funds on supplies such as wood, paint, furnishing, and assorted decorations to make the space come to life.
• Everything else like filming permits, reimbursing actors for mileage, a truck for lugging around equipment, etc etc etc!

If you find our pitch intriguing and want to see this film come to life, or you just have a couple extra dollars and you're feeling generous, we would be so grateful to accept a donation! Plus, there's some fun perks we are offering to make it a little more worth your while. 

If it's not your speed or you're not in the place to give out money (trust me, we feel that), no worries, but we'd love if you could share along our little project to anyone you think might find it interesting.

Augie Isaac - Director & Writer

Starting his film-making journey at around 8 on his first iMac, Augie fell in love with the whole process of making movies and has pursued it ever since. He's created internet content for over a decade, with one channel he co-created (240Reviews) garnering over 1,000,000 total views. He also is a part-time actor, being fortunate enough to be featured on TV shows such as Parks & Recreation, This is Us, and Mighty Med.

Sayler Walls - Producer

 Sayler is a senior at Chapman studying Creative Producing with a Public Relations minor and is originally from Denver, CO. In her three years at Chapman she's gotten to work on multiple projects, including producing her first short film in the Fall of 2021 called “Girl and Sparrow.” The Art of Baking will be her second large project at Dodge, and she's excited to bring Edison and Adeline’s love story to life.

Kristen Gao - Cinematographer

Kristen is a senior Film Production major emphasizing Cinematography at Chapman University. She’s from Tianjin, China, and attended high school in Toronto, Canada. Kristen grew up watching movies with her parents and became enthusiastic about photography under her parents’ influence. She moved on to more video productions in high school, which inspired her to pursue her passion for cinematography. Kristen has shot and worked on multiple projects in the past year, and now, she is more than excited to make this fantastic story come to life!

Jackie Cheng - Production Designer

Jackie is a junior from Shanghai, and is pursuing a BFA in Film Production with an emphasis in Production Design. Jackie hopes to enhance stories representing diverse cultures and marginalized communities through set decoration and design throughout her time at Dodge College. After graduating, Jackie aspires to become a Production Designer and expand the horizons for BIPOC women filmmakers in the entertainment industry.

Amelia Anbild - Editor

Mel dove in off the deep end with film when she started editing for the Zac Brown Band the summer before heading off to Chapman. Born and raised in Georgia (yes, y'all is unironically a part of her vocabulary), she grew up telling stories to keep herself, her friends, and her sisters entertained and is still doing so to this day! She loves all things music or comedy. Coming to California for film school has been the experience of a lifetime, and she can't wait to make more memories with fun people through movies.

We will also be joined by many more students to fill out our crew and ensure the smoothest production possible.