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THE NIGHT CLEANER: a short film

A lonely janitor forms a connection with a homeless man that leads her into mystical terrain.

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THE NIGHT CLEANER: a short film

THE NIGHT CLEANER: a short film

THE NIGHT CLEANER: a short film

THE NIGHT CLEANER: a short film

THE NIGHT CLEANER: a short film

A lonely janitor forms a connection with a homeless man that leads her into mystical terrain.

A lonely janitor forms a connection with a homeless man that leads her into mystical terrain.

A lonely janitor forms a connection with a homeless man that leads her into mystical terrain.

A lonely janitor forms a connection with a homeless man that leads her into mystical terrain.

Zoe Ward
Zoe Ward
Zoe Ward
Zoe Ward
1 Campaign |
Los Angeles, United States
$12,851 USD 83 backers
53% of $24,000 Flexible Goal Flexible Goal
Overview
Thank you for visiting our fundraising page! The film will shoot in early February 2017. Our REVISED FUNDRAISING GOAL is $16,000. School loans have been secured to cover the remainder of the budget. Every dollar matters -- please consider donating or sharing this page with friends!

NEW PERK!

Do you like totebags? Do you like inside jokes? Donate at the $150 level to receive this awesome totebag (or t-shirt!) featuring the protagonist's favorite nighttime radio show host, YVONNE. 

 

STORY SYNOPSIS

Marla is a night cleaner at a community college. Her only “friend” is a nighttime radio DJ who offers odd, existential advice. Marla is content but lonely, and she wonders why she’s alive at all. She starts having strange visions around the same time that she finds a homeless man lurking around the college. When she discovers that the man is living in the storage closet and is deliriously ill, she attempts to nurse him back to health. Through the almost otherworldly relationship that forms between them, Marla learns an important lesson: life persists so that we can be useful to other people, so that the voice of humanity can be heard through each of us in all its mysterious forms.

 

WHAT YOU CAN DO

Every contribution makes a difference, but if you aren’t in a position to donate today, you can still lend your support by SHARING our campaign on social media!

 

THE BUDGET

Our overall budget was painstakingly developed by our director and producers. As a UCLA student production, we are blessed to have many, many talented people working on this film for free. With low labor costs, the budget covers the following:

- Renting locations (plus permits, parking, and staging costs)

- Equipment rentals (camera, G&E)

- Outside hires (sound mixer, hair/make-up person, studio teacher)

- Production design (set design and prop rentals, unique prop creations)

- Costume design

- Production insurance

- Feeding our cast and crew (always a large but clearly super necessary budget line!!)

- And much, much more...

If we are fortunate enough to surpass our fundraising goal, those additional funds will go toward festival submission costs and hiring out some of our post-production needs.

 

OUR TEAM

THE DIRECTOR - ZOE WARD

Zoe Ward is a writer/director in UCLA’s MFA Film Production program. Filmmaking is the focal point around which all her other interests have coalesced: literature, collaborative art, photography, philosophy, and a deep curiosity about people’s instincts, interests, and motivations. She has written, directed, and produced several short films and is currently writing two feature screenplays. She also writes short fiction and was recently selected as a finalist for the 2017 PEN/Robert J. Dau Short Story Prize for Emerging Writers.

 

THE CINEMATOGRAPHER - PRATIK SHAH

Pratik Shah is a cinematographer based in Los Angeles, CA. He is currently working towards his MFA degree in Cinematography at UCLA. Pratik has worked on several short films & a feature film as a cinematographer. With a background in fine art photography, Pratik’s lighting style is strongly influenced by the strong shadows & colors of Magnum photographers and photojournalists, as well as the chiaroscuro aesthetic of Renaissance Art. He has published work for The Washington Post, The Washington Times & The US Department of State, and has been recognized by the National Press Photographer's Association for his multimedia work. Pratik holds a Bachelor's Degree in Fine Art Photography from the Corcoran College of Art + Design in Washington, D.C. Check out his cinematography reel here or visit him on Instagram @pratik8shah.

 

PRODUCER - ARKESH AJAY

Arkesh Ajay is an Indian filmmaker, currently a part of the UCLA MFA Production/Directing program. He was recently awarded the prestigious Alfred P. Sloan Award for his feature screenplay “The Kitchen Chemist’s War”. His last directorial project was a short film with James Franco, Topher Grace, and Alicia Witt in lead roles. It’s an adaptation of a William Faulkner short story - a period film set in 1930s Mississippi. He was one of judges for the Kodak Student Scholarship/Cinematography Scholarship Program in 2014. He holds an MBA from the University of Delhi, and has worked in the Consumer Goods business for three years before making a switch to follow his passion for filmmaking. Arkesh is a recipient of the Hollywood Foreign Press Association Award, Motion Pictures Association of America Award, the Terina Spyropoulou Memorial Award, and the UCLA Graduate Division Fellowship for two consecutive years.

 

PRODUCER - ANNIE PACE

Annie Pace is a writer/director based in Los Angeles. She is currently getting her MFA in Directing at the UCLA School of Theater, Film & Television. Before moving to Los Angeles, Annie previously worked on anthropological films in both Brazil and Mexico. She directed the music video entitled All For One, shot in New York and Tennessee, for the Bluegrass/ Hip-hop band Gangstagrass, known for their single Long Hard Time to Come featured on the FX Network Series Justified.

 

ASSISTANT DIRECTOR - GAYATRI BAJPAI

Gayatri is a recent graduate of UCLA TFT's MFA program in Directing. She has directed multiple short films and documentaries. Her most recent projects are RIO, her thesis film directed under the instruction of James Franco, and a documentary about Francis Ford Coppola's project Distant Vision, produced for UCLA.

 

COSTUME DESIGNER - JIEN SUN

Jien Sun is a costume designer in UCLA’s Theater, Film, and Television theater program. Her love for costume design began in her high school’s theater program. Loving the thrill and challenge of costume design, she continues to expand her skills through classes with some of the most inspiring costume designers and professors in Los Angeles and through collaborations with the film department. This past fall, she studied abroad at University of Arts London: Wimbledon.

 

PRODUCTION DESIGNER - NAOMI GONZALEZ KAHN

Naomi González Kahn grew up and built her life in Mexico City. She is now a Los Angeles based production designer. She spent her childhood in a sewing workshop: design has been part of her life since she was born. She trained as a Bench Jeweler at the School of Arts of the National Institute of Fine Arts (INBA) in Mexico City. She then acquired a BA in Stage Design from the National School of Theatrical Arts (ENAT). She was the recipient of the first place in Costume Design for ​Doctor Faustus on the Sixth National Biennale of Design organized by the National Institute of Fine Arts in Mexico (INBA). Currently, she’s a scholar of the Mexican Council for Science and Technology (Conacyt) and the INBA to pursue an MFA in Fine Arts.

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Choose your Perk

HEARTWARMER

$10 USD
You are now part of THE NIGHT CLEANER family. You'll get a shout-out on Facebook and regular updates from the production team.
Included Items
  • Shout out on Facebook!
2 claimed

FUTURE VIEWER

$30 USD
You'll receive a digital download of the finished film!
Included Items
  • Shout out on Facebook!
  • Digital download of the film
Estimated Shipping
August 2017
17 claimed

CREDITED CONTRIBUTOR

$50 USD
Your name will be listed in the "Thank You" section of the film credits (and listed on IMDb)!
Included Items
  • Shout out on Facebook!
  • Digital download of the film
  • Your name in the credits
4 claimed

PEN PAL

$75 USD
Matthew Stevens, location manager and weird postcard writer, will send you a personalized message on a weird postcard of his choosing.
Included Items
  • Shout out on Facebook!
  • Digital download of the film
  • Postcard from Matthew Stevens
  • Your name in the credits
Estimated Shipping
February 2017
3 out of 30 of claimed
Ships to United States of America

MUSIC LOVER

$100 USD
You will receive a digital mixtape of the funky music that inspired the making of THE NIGHT CLEANER.
Included Items
  • Shout out on Facebook!
  • Digital download of the film
  • Postcard from Matthew Stevens
  • Your name in the credits
  • Digital Mixtape
Estimated Shipping
March 2017
6 claimed
Ships worldwide.

YVONNE'S #1 FAN

$150 USD
A t-shirt or totebag with the logo for the protagonist's favorite call-in radio show, "On and On with Yvonne," featuring the lovely visage of UCLA's own Adamma Ebo as "Yvonne"!
Included Items
  • Shout out on Facebook!
  • Digital download of the film
  • Postcard from Matthew Stevens
  • Your name in the credits
  • Digital Mixtape
  • "On and On" t-shirt or totebag
Estimated Shipping
April 2017
0 claimed
Ships to United States of America

STARLET

$200 USD
A one-hour professional photo session with our amazing cinematographer, Pratik Shah. (LA area only)
Included Items
  • Shout out on Facebook!
  • Digital download of the film
  • Postcard from Matthew Stevens
  • Your name in the credits
  • Digital Mixtape
  • Headshots by Pratik Shah
Estimated Shipping
May 2017
3 out of 10 of claimed
Ships worldwide.

PARTYGOER

$500 USD
Invitation to a cocktail party and advanced screening at the director's home. (LA only)
Included Items
  • Shout out on Facebook!
  • Digital download of the film
  • Postcard from Matthew Stevens
  • Your name in the credits
  • Digital Mixtape
  • Headshots by Pratik Shah
  • Invitation to the party
Estimated Shipping
August 2017
1 claimed
Ships worldwide.

PROP MASTER

$1,000 USD
Receive a prop from the film! One of Marla's weird homemade dolls or something from our costume department. "Prop Master" contributors will get to choose from a range of unique items!
Included Items
  • Shout out on Facebook!
  • Digital download of the film
  • Postcard from Matthew Stevens
  • Your name in the credits
  • Digital Mixtape
  • Headshots by Pratik Shah
  • Invitation to the party
  • Prop from the film
Estimated Shipping
March 2017
0 out of 10 of claimed
Ships worldwide.

EXECUTIVE PRODUCER

$5,000 USD
The name says it all! Receive an Executive Producer credit, come visit us on set, and receive all the other perks on offer!
Included Items
  • Shout out on Facebook!
  • Digital download of the film
  • Postcard from Matthew Stevens
  • Your name in the credits
  • Digital Mixtape
  • Headshots by Pratik Shah
  • Invitation to the party
  • Prop from the film
0 out of 3 of claimed
Ships to United States of America

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