The Story
Treading Water tells the story of Ava, a 12 year-old girl, who is spending the summer in her desolate hometown. Ava befriends the older and "cooler" 21 year-old lifeguard, Otto, at the community pool near her house and eventually develops a crush on him. The film follows her as she she interacts with Otto and her family, eventually illustrating the evolution of one young girl's sense of self.
How will your donations be spent?
7,000 dollars is a lot of money and we are really grateful for anything you can donate!
The money will go to:
- Equipment. We need to rent underwater housing for the camera! (About 1/3 of this film is shot from underwater and we need to keep our camera dry and alive.)
- Production design, props, costumes and set dressing
- Location fees. (Pools don't come cheap.)
- Transportation for our cast, crew and equipment.
- FOOD. The lifeline of a film crew.
- Post-production: Color-correction, sound design etc.
- Festival submission fees.
The Team
I am very excited that I can say all of the department heads for this film are women!!!
Rebecca Schuchat: Writer/Director/Producer
Rebecca Schuchat is an experienced director, production designer, and storyboard artist who is about to graduate NYU in May 2016. She currently works at the Children's Museum of the Arts where she teaches filmmaking, animation and illustration as well as a class called "GirlStories" that endeavors to empower teenage girls from NYC to tell their stories through art.
Natalie Erazo: Producer
Ella Barnes: Director of Photography
Gisela Zuniga: Production Designer
Tali Smith & Blair Simmons: Assistant Directors
Maya LeBeau: Associate Producer
Why This Film is Important (a note from Rebecca)
After four years at NYU, I can probably list all of the films screened in my classes that are about women on one hand.
(For further statistics on this, see http://polygraph.cool/films/index.html.) For movies shown in class that are both about AND made by women, the list grows much, much shorter.
In short, there is an obvious lack of representation of women storytellers in the film industry, a fact that has at points frustrated and demoralized me; yet ultimately it has given birth to a passion to challenge the status quo.
I want to tell stories that show female agency, that explore the complications and intricacies of female agency and the power dynamics I have witnessed in my own life. What I have come to realize in this process, is that what is important is not only the story you are telling, but HOW you are telling it, which is why I am devoted to having an almost entirely women/genderqueer film crew--with my female peers and friends as all of the department heads.
Other Ways You Can Help
We understand that not everyone can donate, but please share our indiegogo page with your friends, family and co-workers. The more people who are made aware of the project, the better chance we have of making our goal!
Again, thank you so much!