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Welcome to Celibacy Club!

A coming-of-age comedy short film about identifying as asexual in a world of sex and sensuality.

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Welcome to Celibacy Club!

Welcome to Celibacy Club!

Welcome to Celibacy Club!

Welcome to Celibacy Club!

Welcome to Celibacy Club!

A coming-of-age comedy short film about identifying as asexual in a world of sex and sensuality.

A coming-of-age comedy short film about identifying as asexual in a world of sex and sensuality.

A coming-of-age comedy short film about identifying as asexual in a world of sex and sensuality.

A coming-of-age comedy short film about identifying as asexual in a world of sex and sensuality.

Carina Williamson
Carina Williamson
Carina Williamson
Carina Williamson
2 Campaigns |
Los Angeles, United States
$3,360 USD 86 backers
112% of $3,000 Flexible Goal Flexible Goal
Highlights
Mountain Filled 2 Projects Mountain Filled 2 Projects

Introduction

We’re a group of students from the USC School of Cinematic Arts seeking to make an asexual short film – something none of us have seen before! Our story follows Emmy, an asexual girl who tries to find community by joining her high school’s celibacy club, but learns that being asexual is far different than choosing to be celibate. Queer coming-of-age comedies are hard to come by, so we're making one ourselves. Sit back and get ready to join Celibacy Club!

The Story

Emmy is a normal teenage girl, but unlike seemingly everyone around her, she has no desire to stick her tongue down anyone’s throat, since she’s asexual. Seeking a community she can better relate to, Emmy ends up joining her school's most sex-negative club – Celibacy Club. Little does Emmy know, Celibacy Club isn’t full of asexual-spectrum teens. It’s full of the horniest of the horny: Sexually-repressed ones. Through the friendship, innuendo, and “Virginity Rocks” shirt-wearing church boys she finds there, Emmy learns to stop hiding her asexuality and fight for her community’s space.

Our Inspiration

All of us identifying as on the asexual spectrum feel a film like this would have saved us a lot of confusion and strife. It's tough growing up in a sex-obsessed society! Each of us has had to struggle with self-scrutiny, feeling broken, and having our identities repeatedly invalidated by others. So with this film, we strive to put a spotlight on asexuality without reducing it to popular misconceptions and stereotypes. Being ace isn’t about celibacy, aloofness, or innocence – it's all about a lack of sexual attraction.

In addition, the film allows us to look at purity culture from an outsider’s point of view and address issues of its contradictory nature. By placing this story in a space that idealizes being chaste and "above" sexuality, we aimed to highlight the harms of growing up in a judgemental atmosphere that keeps people ignorant of asexuality yet teaches them to stigmatize natural desires.

What We Need

We are raising $3000 to cover the minimum cost of this film. Most of our funds will go into location permits, but we have a lot to finance to tell this story. With just our minimum budget, all cast and crew will have to go unpaid – but the more support we get, the better we can compensate our incredible team and get our story out there. The rest of our budget is broken down as follows.

Our Team

Campbell Moore (She/Her) – Director

Meet Campbell! She is the director of Welcome to Celibacy Club! From San Diego, California Campbell grew up making films with her twin sister Katie, quickly learning that the movie business was one she wanted to be a part of. 

Her passion for filmmaking continued as she began to realize the power of films to uplift the voices of those who are often unheard, represent those who are underrepresented, and bring awareness to issues of social justice. As an asexual woman herself, she is always looking to tell queer stories and bring more asexual representation to the media. 

Campbell is studying at the University of Southern California majoring in Communications with a minor in Entertainment Industry. She is a current Post Production Intern for Lauren Levine Media, Programming and Events Intern for Humanitas, and a member of Delta Kappa Alpha professional fraternity at USC.

Alani Marie Smith (She/Her) – Director of Photography

Meet Alani Marie, our DP!

Alani grew up in the urban art scene of Queens, NY, passionate about the strong relationship between the arts and community. Alani has been working on several screenplays to put into production, but delves into other mediums in her free time from painting to fashion to tattooing. She is a Film & TV Production major in the School of Cinematic Arts, focusing on a DP and Directing track. She admires how film can act as a portal into an alternate dimension and how it’s developed itself into an outlet for a larger scale of people. Alani is so excited to be a part of this team!

Nina Lu (She/Her) – Writer

Meet Nina! She’s the writer and co-story creator of Welcome to Celibacy Club. Nina Lu grew up in Orange County, California, but spent a portion of her life living in Los Angeles acting in shows and films for companies such as Disney and Amazon Prime. She’s currently a rising Sophomore studying Writing for Screen and Television at the USC School of Cinematic arts and is looking into a psychology minor. 

Nina’s love for screenwriting and comedy sparked when she was invited to sit in on a Writer’s room session for the sitcom show she was working on as an actress at the time, Bunk’d. Her passion grew more as she met and worked with other Asian American screenwriters, such as May Chan. She is driven to bring more accurate diversity to her screenplays, specifically for minority groups that are underrepresented in film and media. Nina Lu identifies on the asexual spectrum and wrote “Welcome To Celibacy Club” to shed light on the asexual community, as they are never given any representation in media.

Murleve Roberts (She/Her) – Writer

Meet Murleve, the co-story creator and script consultant for Welcome to Celibacy Club!

Murleve grew up in South Florida loving all forms of fiction but failing to see herself represented in popular books, television, or film as a queer Black girl. She started writing and directing short films in high school, and the more she told stories, the more she owned them as opportunities to create the representation she wanted to see. Her creative writing tackling this has been recognized by the Columbia Scholastic Press Association, Seeds Literary & Arts Magazine, Palm Beach Dramaworks, and the African American Review.

Currently a sophomore studying Writing for Screen & Television at USC's School of Cinematic Arts, Murleve focuses on telling POC and LGBTQ+ stories. Most passionate about depicting the experiences of people living at the intersections of marginalized identities, Murleve found inspiration to write Welcome to Celibacy Club with Nina by drawing on their experiences as demisexual women of color.

Amanda Chen (She/Her) – Producer

Meet Amanda, one of our lovely producers. Originally from Houston, Texas, Amanda is an aspiring filmmaker with a zeal for telling unique stories that have the potential to open up the film industry culture. She is currently a sophomore at the University of Southern California studying Cinema and Media Studies and Entertainment Industry.

Growing up, Amanda found herself particularly interested in the stylistic and practical approaches of filmmaking, all stemming from her childhood hobbies in art. Later on, she found herself more and more passionate about stories surrounding minorities, which she reflected in her numerous photography projects. Since entering USC, she has worked with several other student filmmakers and professionals to discover more ways she can express her own identities and uplift more minority and queer voices in the media.

Gina Phu (She/Her) – Producer

Meet Gina! From Ontario, California (not Canada :((). Within this project, she is a producer and marketing director. She is currently a Sophomore studying Cinema and Media Studies at the USC School of Cinematic Arts with a double minor in Entertainment Industry and an undecided subject at this point in time.

Growing up as a queer, Asian American, Gina has always searched for herself within the media she consumed. Unfortunately, this representation is extremely limited and often demeaning. Now with the power, knowledge, and tools to create, Gina has worked on numerous self-projects and student films that exemplify the power in representation and identity. Through her work and collaboration on “Welcome to Celibacy Club”, Gina hopes to shed positive and accurate portrayals of the asexual community, embodying her personal goals and love.

Carina Williamson (She/Her) – Producer

Meet Carina! From the Seattle Area, Carina grew up loving queer YA novels, but could never understand why those same stories weren’t captured on screen. She is currently a Senior at USC studying Cinema and Media Studies and Chinese, and plans to use her skills in organization, team leadership, and time management to become a producer/creative executive.

Through her experiences at management companies such as Grandview, and renowned agencies like Verve, she has gained invaluable knowledge about the current entertainment landscape with the hope of changing the old ways of Hollywood to reflect the diverse lives of LGBTQ people. She has a passion especially for comedic tales like this one!

Allie Merchant (She/Her) – Production Designer

Meet Allie! She is one of the production designers of WTCC! From just outside of NYC, Allie grew up focused on a STEM career before switching to film-focused pursuits during high school. She is a sophomore at USC studying Cinema and Media Studies with a pre-medicine emphasis. Some of the other orgs she is part of include the Asian Pacific Cinema Association, the social entrepreneurship club SparkSC, and the American Red Cross.

As a queer Asian American, her primary goal is to highlight minority voices and narratives in the Hollywood landscape. Currently, the LGBTQIA+ community receives little to no representation in comedy without tokenization. As a lover of comedy and coming-of-age stories, short films like “Welcome to Celibacy Club” strike the balance between multidimensional representation and expanding the current authentic comedic narratives. 

RJ Edrolin (She/Her) – Production Designer

Meet RJ Edrolin, one of our Production Designers!

RJ was born in Cagayan De Oro, Philippines before immigrating to Torrance, California (Southbay Represent!!). She is passionate about telling stories about underrepresented groups and is eager to join this project. She is currently a Sophomore at USC studying Cinema and Media Studies, Pre-Law with a minor in Marketing. 

When she’s not watching movies, RJ enjoys designing and hand making jewelry for her business, With Love Always, and reading!

Caden Chung (He/Him) – Graphic Designer

Meet Caden! He is the graphic designer for the Welcome to Celibacy Club Team! He grew up in Seattle, Washington, and is now a Media Arts + Practice major in the School of Cinematic Arts at USC. Caden is most passionate about using media arts to ground the viewer in the world of the story that they are experiencing. Whether that be through design or more immersive technology, he loves to create and develop works that transport the viewer to a whole new world.

Steven Rodriguez (He/Him) – Social Media Coordinator

Meet Steven! Raised in Dallas, TX, Steven always grew up wanting to tell stories on the big screen. Now having moved to Los Angeles, CA, a hub for Film & TV, he is majoring Film & Television Production at the University of Southern California to bring greater awareness for more LGBTQ+ and Latin Representation in the media. 

Growing up as a queer, Latin American, he quickly realized the lack of Latin LGBTQ+ stories in Film & TV. Being from a culture so heavily rooted in traditionalist beliefs, he aims to challenge this narrative and provide the stories he longed to see as a child. Within, Welcome to Celebrating Celibacy, Steven is taking the marketing lead in promoting our short film.

Risks & Challenges

Not every film gets made, especially those that are being run by students. However, we are a dedicated group of people who have already given several months to the preproduction of this film. We firmly believe that with the money raised in this campaign, we can get this film finished by the end of the year. If by some unforeseen circumstance we are unable to complete the film, all funds will be refunded.

Other Ways You Can Help

Follow us on Instagram and TikTok @welcometocelibacyclub for more updates on the film, and share our campaign with your friends and family!

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Choose your Perk

Shoutout on Instagram

$15 USD
We will shoutout your name/IG information on our Instagram story!
Included Items
  • Shoutout on Instagram!
Estimated Shipping
October 2022
20 claimed

Early Release Stills

$30 USD
Get official stills from set before anyone else, along with a shoutout on Instagram!
Included Items
  • Shoutout on Instagram!
Estimated Shipping
November 2022
14 claimed

Production Photos

$50 USD
Get individual digital photos from set before anyone else sees anything, along with an early film link and a shoutout on Instagram!
Included Items
  • Shoutout on Instagram!
  • Early Release Film Link
  • Production Photos
Estimated Shipping
October 2022
8 claimed

Early Release Film Link

$75 USD
Get an early look at the film before anyone else, along with a shoutout on Instagram!
Included Items
  • Shoutout on Instagram!
  • Early Release Film Link
Estimated Shipping
December 2022
1 claimed

Copy of the Script Signed

$100 USD
Get a digital copy of the script signed by the production crew, along with production photos, an early film link, and a shoutout on Instagram!
Included Items
  • Shoutout on Instagram!
  • Early Release Film Link
  • Production Photos
  • Copy of the Script Signed
Estimated Shipping
November 2022
5 claimed

Bloopers video

$150 USD
Get a behind the scenes look at the film - and the many mistakes along the way!
Included Items
  • Blooper Video
Estimated Shipping
December 2022
2 out of 20 of claimed

FaceTime with the Crew/Cast

$250 USD
FaceTime with select members of the crew to discuss the project, along with a signed copy of the script, production photos, an early film link, and a shoutout on Instagram!
Included Items
  • Shoutout on Instagram!
  • Early Release Film Link
  • Production Photos
  • Copy of the Script Signed
  • FaceTime with Crew
Estimated Shipping
October 2022
1 out of 10 of claimed

Executive Producer Credit

$500 USD
See your name in the credits! We will give you an executive producer credit along with a FaceTime with the crew, a copy of the signed script, production photos, an early release link, and a shoutout on Instagram!
Included Items
  • Shoutout on Instagram!
  • Early Release Film Link
  • Production Photos
  • Copy of the Script Signed
  • FaceTime with Crew
  • Executive Producer Credit
Estimated Shipping
December 2022
1 out of 5 of claimed

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