The Average Girl's Guide to Suicide
Los Angeles, California | Film Feature
Comedy
After a failed suicide attempt, Sarah joins a group of suicide survivors in a hospital psychiatric unit. Their secret group’s goal is to help each other successfully complete suicide. But an inspiring therapist and a budding romance make Sarah question, does she want to live or die?
The Average Girl's Guide to Suicide
Los Angeles, California | Film Feature
Comedy
1 Campaigns |
Green Light
This campaign raised $16,950 for pre-production. Follow the filmmaker to receive future updates on this project.
277 supporters | followers
Enter the amount you would like to pledge
After a failed suicide attempt, Sarah joins a group of suicide survivors in a hospital psychiatric unit. Their secret group’s goal is to help each other successfully complete suicide. But an inspiring therapist and a budding romance make Sarah question, does she want to live or die?
In Partnership With
About The Project
- The Story
- Wishlist
- Updates
- The Team
- Community
The Story
This film is about acceptance, community, and finding people who are weird like you’re weird. For some of the members of our team, we found that community in film school or when we started working in the film industry. Others found that community in theater, music, and other creative endeavors.
Jean started writing this film in 2009, at the end of her studies at USC’s School of Cinematic Arts. The idea came about when a friend was telling the story of a man in his hometown who had attempted suicide via shotgun and survived. The group was shocked, but he said, “What? Every town has one.” Jean reflected on how suicide has touched her own small town, and thought, “If every town does have these stories, why is suicide still such a taboo topic?” As she mulled over the idea, she realized: 1) If you’re trying to end your own life and even that goes wrong, that could be an emotional low of lows (but other people would probably think you should be grateful to be alive). 2) The people who would understand that best would be other people who had also attempted suicide unsuccessfully. 3) What if there was a group of suicide survivors who were all trying to help each other succeed in their attempts? And thus, The Average Girl’s Guide to Suicide was born.
She was a bit nervous to tell people that she was writing a comedy about suicide, because she thought people might find it offensive. But what’s kept her going on this project is how much the story resonates with so many people. It started with a few friends who read the script and said, “I love it! It totally reminds me of the first time I tried!” They’d never mentioned their attempts before, but suddenly they felt comfortable talking about it. The more people she told about the film, the more people that had stories to tell of their own attempts, or family members or friends. And it wasn’t something they had to whisper or tell in secret, they could talk about it openly. We hope that this film can help start discussions about depression, self-harm, suicide, allowing people who share their own stories and listen to others’ stories. We hope this film can help end the stigma of mental health troubles and seeking help.
The film is about more than suicide: it’s the story of a young woman who feels trapped by other people’s expectations, and her journey to create a life she wants to live. We hope that this film will inspire young women, and people of all ages, to escape from societal expectations and create lives they want to live. Women are still very underrepresented in filmmaking: in 2014 only 7% of the top 250 had female directors, 11% had female writers, 18% had female editors and 5% had female cinematographers (according to the 2014 Celluloid Ceiling Report: http://womenintvfilm.sdsu.edu/files/2014_Celluloid_Ceiling_Report.pdf). By helping to fund this film, you are helping empower women to make films that will empower more women. And we hope to empower everyone to create lives they want to live, to share their stories, and be moved by the stories of others.
Wishlist
Use the WishList to Pledge cash and Loan items - or - Make a pledge by selecting an Incentive directly.
Graphic Designer
Costs $300
We need help designing logos for the movie, graphics for website and promotional materials.
Casting Director
Costs $5,000
A casting director can help us find the right actors for the film.
Accounting
Costs $300
We have an LLC, and we want to make sure that our taxes are done right!
Flights
Costs $1,400
Travel for an out of state location scout (to take advantage of film incentives!)
Hotel Room
Costs $320
Hotel lodging for an out of state location scout (to take advantage of film incentives!).
Meals
Costs $720
Meals during an out of state location scout (to take advantage of film incentives!).
Car Rental
Costs $225
Renting a car during an out of state location scout (to take advantage of film incentives!).
LLC/Corporation Set-up
Costs $1,850
LLCs are expensive! We started ours in 2014 and there are lots of taxes and fees.
Website Design
Costs $600
Our website is a hub of information for our project and we want it to look nice!
Share this update!
About This Team
One of our favorite things about filmmaking is being able to work with friends. We’ve all worked on several projects together, and it’s great to work with people you know and trust. Nick and Joselito met in classes at the USC School of Cinematic Arts, Jean was there at the same time (in a different program) and they didn't all meet until after graduation. Jean and Claire worked together, and found they had similar senses of humor and love of good narratives. Our team loves films and storytelling, and we're so excited to share this story with you!
Current Team
Incentives
- The Story
- Wishlist
- Updates
- The Team
- Community
The Story
This film is about acceptance, community, and finding people who are weird like you’re weird. For some of the members of our team, we found that community in film school or when we started working in the film industry. Others found that community in theater, music, and other creative endeavors.
Jean started writing this film in 2009, at the end of her studies at USC’s School of Cinematic Arts. The idea came about when a friend was telling the story of a man in his hometown who had attempted suicide via shotgun and survived. The group was shocked, but he said, “What? Every town has one.” Jean reflected on how suicide has touched her own small town, and thought, “If every town does have these stories, why is suicide still such a taboo topic?” As she mulled over the idea, she realized: 1) If you’re trying to end your own life and even that goes wrong, that could be an emotional low of lows (but other people would probably think you should be grateful to be alive). 2) The people who would understand that best would be other people who had also attempted suicide unsuccessfully. 3) What if there was a group of suicide survivors who were all trying to help each other succeed in their attempts? And thus, The Average Girl’s Guide to Suicide was born.
She was a bit nervous to tell people that she was writing a comedy about suicide, because she thought people might find it offensive. But what’s kept her going on this project is how much the story resonates with so many people. It started with a few friends who read the script and said, “I love it! It totally reminds me of the first time I tried!” They’d never mentioned their attempts before, but suddenly they felt comfortable talking about it. The more people she told about the film, the more people that had stories to tell of their own attempts, or family members or friends. And it wasn’t something they had to whisper or tell in secret, they could talk about it openly. We hope that this film can help start discussions about depression, self-harm, suicide, allowing people who share their own stories and listen to others’ stories. We hope this film can help end the stigma of mental health troubles and seeking help.
The film is about more than suicide: it’s the story of a young woman who feels trapped by other people’s expectations, and her journey to create a life she wants to live. We hope that this film will inspire young women, and people of all ages, to escape from societal expectations and create lives they want to live. Women are still very underrepresented in filmmaking: in 2014 only 7% of the top 250 had female directors, 11% had female writers, 18% had female editors and 5% had female cinematographers (according to the 2014 Celluloid Ceiling Report: http://womenintvfilm.sdsu.edu/files/2014_Celluloid_Ceiling_Report.pdf). By helping to fund this film, you are helping empower women to make films that will empower more women. And we hope to empower everyone to create lives they want to live, to share their stories, and be moved by the stories of others.
Wishlist
Use the WishList to Pledge cash and Loan items - or - Make a pledge by selecting an Incentive directly.
Graphic Designer
Costs $300
We need help designing logos for the movie, graphics for website and promotional materials.
Casting Director
Costs $5,000
A casting director can help us find the right actors for the film.
Accounting
Costs $300
We have an LLC, and we want to make sure that our taxes are done right!
Flights
Costs $1,400
Travel for an out of state location scout (to take advantage of film incentives!)
Hotel Room
Costs $320
Hotel lodging for an out of state location scout (to take advantage of film incentives!).
Meals
Costs $720
Meals during an out of state location scout (to take advantage of film incentives!).
Car Rental
Costs $225
Renting a car during an out of state location scout (to take advantage of film incentives!).
LLC/Corporation Set-up
Costs $1,850
LLCs are expensive! We started ours in 2014 and there are lots of taxes and fees.
Website Design
Costs $600
Our website is a hub of information for our project and we want it to look nice!
Share this update!
About This Team
One of our favorite things about filmmaking is being able to work with friends. We’ve all worked on several projects together, and it’s great to work with people you know and trust. Nick and Joselito met in classes at the USC School of Cinematic Arts, Jean was there at the same time (in a different program) and they didn't all meet until after graduation. Jean and Claire worked together, and found they had similar senses of humor and love of good narratives. Our team loves films and storytelling, and we're so excited to share this story with you!