Natalie Johns had two-thirds of a film and one problem: raising the funds to complete the final act. I Am Thalente, a feature documentary, was a deeply personal project for Johns. It was a story she needed to tell, following talented young skateboarder Thalente Biyela as he leaves the streets of South Africa to pursue his dream in America. She’d done so much: shooting and editing much of the film, securing Thalente a work visa, helping him navigate the skating industry in the U.S. Now she needed to engage the skateboard community to raise more than $50,000 in just over a month.