Short Summary
Statement from writer/director, Mel Bestel:
I've always been interested in stories about people who have fallen on hard times, and walking about Glasgow lately, it's shocking to see such an increase in rough sleepers. I wanted to write a film that considered the complexities that face people who find themselves in these kind of situations. Sometimes I'm shocked that there's a sort of suspicion that people have about homeless people, like they are maybe there by their own choice. That was the starting point for the film - would someone ever choose to be homeless? Why? Is it ever that simple?
It's not an easy story, but I hope we can tell it with sensitivity. We really hope this film contributes to a conversation about what we need to consider when we think about helping homeless people.
What We Need
We need funding because filmmaking isn't cheap. It's important though. We need stories from all kinds of people and universities and public funding simply don't have enough money in the pot to support early career filmmakers.
We will be shooting the film in four days in March. Nobody is getting paid for this so we are relying on cast and crew giving us their time for free, the least we can do is pay for their expenses so they're not out of pocket. This means we need money for travel and food for four days for around 10 people.
Given that a subway ticket plus a bus ticket for a day's travel in Glasgow could be around £8, you can easily see how £600 quickly gets spent on food and travel; without being able to cover these basic costs, the film simply can't be realised.
The Impact
There's a lot of reasons to help support Watch Emily Fly:
- Your contribution helps support a team of dedicated filmmakers as they build their careers. Currently women make up only around 11% of directors (https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-4...) and we don't think that's good enough. Watch Emily Fly is a film written and directed by a woman and we believe it's one worth supporting.
- Your contribution also helps contribute to a discussion on homelessness, something we think is massively important.
- We're also dedicating 10% of all our money raised to local homeless charities: Social Bite and The Simon Community, so you will directly be putting money towards helping people experiencing homelessness.
Other Ways You Can Help
Of course, not everyone is in a position to help financially but if you believe in the project there are other ways you can help:
- Spread the word! Help us get the message out across social media, with your friends and family or coworkers. Email and share away! It really does make a difference.
We are massively grateful for all the support we receive. THANK YOU.