Brownie
New York City, New York | Film Short
Comedy, Drama
Suspicious that her friends are hanging out without her, Caroline takes desperate measures to save her oldest, dearest friendship. BROWNIE explores growing up and growing apart, tests whether friendship is a sacred commitment—for better, for worse—and speaks to anyone whose friends are like family.
Brownie
New York City, New York | Film Short
Comedy, Drama
1 Campaigns | New York, United States
133 supporters | followers
Enter the amount you would like to pledge
$11,526
Goal: $16,000 for production
Suspicious that her friends are hanging out without her, Caroline takes desperate measures to save her oldest, dearest friendship. BROWNIE explores growing up and growing apart, tests whether friendship is a sacred commitment—for better, for worse—and speaks to anyone whose friends are like family.
About The Project
- The Story
- Wishlist
- Updates
- The Team
- Community
Mission Statement
The Story
Kids don’t choose to be friends, they just are. But grown-up friendship isn’t quite as simple.
Caroline, an unemployed twenty-something in Brooklyn, can feel Lillian—her childhood best friend since Girl Scouts—pulling away from her. So, after running into Lillian post-therapy one day, Caroline hatches a plan to set things right: surprise Lillian at home with her favorite treat … homemade brownies! What follows is the messy confrontation that both old friends have long been avoiding.
We hide ourselves away in the lining of the art we make, and I certainly hid a lot myself in Brownie <3 Last year, while in the midst of funemployment, I developed an irrational fear that my inner circle were distancing themselves from me. Instead of talking to them about it, I wrote a screenplay :’)
This project exists in the complicated tug-of-war between growing up and growing apart. It pressure tests whether friendship is a commitment much like a long-term relationship, for better, for worse, and speaks to anyone for whom friends are like family.
Directing is the culmination of a dream I’ve had since I was just a kid—you’ve probably heard about my YouTube era—and it’d mean the world to have you on board. It takes a village to make a film, and every little push gets us that much closer.
Caroline is that friend who is “too much.” She uses everyone in her life as her stand-in therapist, yet refuses to open up to her actual therapist. Caroline specializes in deflection and treats every interaction like an opportunity for a joke. While she can be selfish at times, she's ride-or-die loyal. Caroline just wants her best friend Lillian back, and despite all her flaws, we can’t help but root for her.
Lillian is that friend you know is outgrowing you. She's beginning to get her sh*t together and is self-assured, with a rich social life. Lillian avoids conflict like the plague. She loves Caroline like a sister, but harbors a slowly burning resentment toward her.
Other characters include Ella, Caroline's wise-beyond-her-years therapist who evokes a young Dr. Melfi and has the best poker face in the world; Caroline’s mom, who can more than keep up in the verbal tennis match that is any conversation with Caroline; and Mindy, Caroline's frenemy and the group's resident mean girl who loves to stir the pot.
Brownie is rooted in Brooklyn, and to make our main characters’ surroundings feel authentic and lived-in, we’ll need to secure key locations like Caroline and Lillian’s apartments, Ella’s therapy office, a brownstone stoop and the beautiful McCarren Park (which requires a filming permit from the city.)
These spaces and places are essential to telling the story of two friends who live in the same neighborhood, yet exist worlds away from each other. We’ll see how Caroline and Lillian's friendship is tested and transformed as they interact in these intimate locations.
Brownie shares the dry humor and uncomfortable tension of Shiva Baby, the yearning and tenderness in Past Lives and the “food as love” undercurrent of Big Night, making for an inspired but contained film that respects its characters and keeps the audience on their toes.
Pledge to donate to our Seed&Spark! Your donations will directly cover the costs of bringing a story from script to screen, like feeding and compensating our hardworking crew; renting specialized camera equipment; and securing our Brooklyn locations. We have to raise at least 80% of the goal to be greenlit and collect funds, so every contribution makes a big impact. Note: Pledges made today are instrumental to building momentum and showing the general public that our inner circle is excited about the project.
Whether or not you’re able to donate, there are ways you can help free-of-charge:
- "Follow” this campaign at top of page to boost its visibility, and share it with the people in your life. Once we hit 250 “followers,” we’ll start unlocking filmmaker discounts via Seed&Spark!
- “Follow” @browniemovie on Instagram and turn on post notifications for behind-the-scenes, casting updates, production sneak-peeks, the occasional meme and more. This shows the algorithm that people care about our posts and helps them reach more people.
It really does take a village to make a film, and each contribution is essential to making Brownie a reality.
Brownie is currently in pre-production! We’ve brought on some very talented department heads and have started the casting process. As we move toward our 3-day shoot in September, we'll confirm talent, secure locations and continue hiring crew.
After wrapping principal photography, we’ll enter post-production—editing, sound mixing, coloring and scoring—to get Brownie ready for festival season and public viewing in 2027!
Wishlist
Use the WishList to Pledge cash and Loan items - or - Make a pledge by selecting an Incentive directly.
Lights, Camera, Action!
Costs $4,000
Offsets the rising costs of camera, sound and electrical gear, including specialized equipment like vintage lenses, SSDs and dollies.
Locations & Set Decoration
Costs $3,800
To make our main characters’ worlds feel real and lived-in, we'll need to rent authentic interiors and dress them as well. Also, brownies!
Cast & Crew
Costs $7,000
You can't make a film without the incredible people on screen and behind the camera, and those people deserve to be compensated fairly.
Meals & Crafty
Costs $1,200
You're not you when you're hungry. It's crucial we keep our team of 25 well-fed and hydrated for the entirety of the film's 3-day shoot.
Direct link:
Share this update!
About This Team
WRITER & DIRECTOR ... RAHUL H. PARIKH is a creative producer at Instagram and NYC-based storyteller who has worked extensively on productions like The Late Show, Night Session and The Sacrifice. His mini-documentary Amado won a Mark of Excellence Award from the Society of Professional Journalists. In addition to being on set with his friends, he loves a yoga class, rock climbing, seeing the world through his 35 mm film camera and going to the movies. Not factoring in his college experiments, this will be his directorial debut in the narrative space.
CINEMATOGRAPHER ... MOLLY SCOTTI is a Brooklyn-based filmmaker and photographer whose work as a director of photography has been screened at South by Southwest, Filmfest München, New/Next Film Festival and beyond. In her free time, Molly teaches classes at the documentary film community DCTV in Chinatown and is a regular volunteer at the nonprofit film school and community dark room Mono No Aware.
PRODUCER ... ARORA MCCARGAR is a Brooklyn-based independent producer, specializing in line producing and production managing. She has also worked on the production team for studio films with A24, Focus Features and Apple TV assisting executive producers and UPMs. Most recently, she's served as production supervisor on low-budget feature films and Netflix comedy specials. Her goal is to remain stubborn on vision but flexible on details.
PRODUCER ... ROBIN FIERBERG is a writer, producer and content creator living in New York City. He has worked in production management at The Late Show and @instagram, and has independently produced dozens of digital comedy projects that can be found on the World Wide Web. He is thrilled to be joining this project, and hopes to one day feel confident wearing a baseball cap.
ASSOCIATE PRODUCER ... ELIANA WAXMAN is a Brooklyn-based producer, writer and director. An associate producer on the cold open team at The Late Show and director of the upcoming short film Itty Bitty, she's previously worked on feature films like Killers of the Flower Moon and produced several shorts, including The Sacrifice starring Josh Radnor and Aya Cash. In her free time, she loves collaborating with her friends on their creative projects!
ASSOCIATE PRODUCER ... STACEY TORKELSON is a writer and director based in Brooklyn, and has worked on productions including Severance, The Tonight Show and Sesame Street. She spends her free time producing independent short and feature films with colleagues-turned-friends, and directed her first short, In Lieu of Flowers, in 2025.
Current Team
Incentives
- The Story
- Wishlist
- Updates
- The Team
- Community
Mission Statement
The Story
Kids don’t choose to be friends, they just are. But grown-up friendship isn’t quite as simple.
Caroline, an unemployed twenty-something in Brooklyn, can feel Lillian—her childhood best friend since Girl Scouts—pulling away from her. So, after running into Lillian post-therapy one day, Caroline hatches a plan to set things right: surprise Lillian at home with her favorite treat … homemade brownies! What follows is the messy confrontation that both old friends have long been avoiding.
We hide ourselves away in the lining of the art we make, and I certainly hid a lot myself in Brownie <3 Last year, while in the midst of funemployment, I developed an irrational fear that my inner circle were distancing themselves from me. Instead of talking to them about it, I wrote a screenplay :’)
This project exists in the complicated tug-of-war between growing up and growing apart. It pressure tests whether friendship is a commitment much like a long-term relationship, for better, for worse, and speaks to anyone for whom friends are like family.
Directing is the culmination of a dream I’ve had since I was just a kid—you’ve probably heard about my YouTube era—and it’d mean the world to have you on board. It takes a village to make a film, and every little push gets us that much closer.
Caroline is that friend who is “too much.” She uses everyone in her life as her stand-in therapist, yet refuses to open up to her actual therapist. Caroline specializes in deflection and treats every interaction like an opportunity for a joke. While she can be selfish at times, she's ride-or-die loyal. Caroline just wants her best friend Lillian back, and despite all her flaws, we can’t help but root for her.
Lillian is that friend you know is outgrowing you. She's beginning to get her sh*t together and is self-assured, with a rich social life. Lillian avoids conflict like the plague. She loves Caroline like a sister, but harbors a slowly burning resentment toward her.
Other characters include Ella, Caroline's wise-beyond-her-years therapist who evokes a young Dr. Melfi and has the best poker face in the world; Caroline’s mom, who can more than keep up in the verbal tennis match that is any conversation with Caroline; and Mindy, Caroline's frenemy and the group's resident mean girl who loves to stir the pot.
Brownie is rooted in Brooklyn, and to make our main characters’ surroundings feel authentic and lived-in, we’ll need to secure key locations like Caroline and Lillian’s apartments, Ella’s therapy office, a brownstone stoop and the beautiful McCarren Park (which requires a filming permit from the city.)
These spaces and places are essential to telling the story of two friends who live in the same neighborhood, yet exist worlds away from each other. We’ll see how Caroline and Lillian's friendship is tested and transformed as they interact in these intimate locations.
Brownie shares the dry humor and uncomfortable tension of Shiva Baby, the yearning and tenderness in Past Lives and the “food as love” undercurrent of Big Night, making for an inspired but contained film that respects its characters and keeps the audience on their toes.
Pledge to donate to our Seed&Spark! Your donations will directly cover the costs of bringing a story from script to screen, like feeding and compensating our hardworking crew; renting specialized camera equipment; and securing our Brooklyn locations. We have to raise at least 80% of the goal to be greenlit and collect funds, so every contribution makes a big impact. Note: Pledges made today are instrumental to building momentum and showing the general public that our inner circle is excited about the project.
Whether or not you’re able to donate, there are ways you can help free-of-charge:
- "Follow” this campaign at top of page to boost its visibility, and share it with the people in your life. Once we hit 250 “followers,” we’ll start unlocking filmmaker discounts via Seed&Spark!
- “Follow” @browniemovie on Instagram and turn on post notifications for behind-the-scenes, casting updates, production sneak-peeks, the occasional meme and more. This shows the algorithm that people care about our posts and helps them reach more people.
It really does take a village to make a film, and each contribution is essential to making Brownie a reality.
Brownie is currently in pre-production! We’ve brought on some very talented department heads and have started the casting process. As we move toward our 3-day shoot in September, we'll confirm talent, secure locations and continue hiring crew.
After wrapping principal photography, we’ll enter post-production—editing, sound mixing, coloring and scoring—to get Brownie ready for festival season and public viewing in 2027!
Wishlist
Use the WishList to Pledge cash and Loan items - or - Make a pledge by selecting an Incentive directly.
Lights, Camera, Action!
Costs $4,000
Offsets the rising costs of camera, sound and electrical gear, including specialized equipment like vintage lenses, SSDs and dollies.
Locations & Set Decoration
Costs $3,800
To make our main characters’ worlds feel real and lived-in, we'll need to rent authentic interiors and dress them as well. Also, brownies!
Cast & Crew
Costs $7,000
You can't make a film without the incredible people on screen and behind the camera, and those people deserve to be compensated fairly.
Meals & Crafty
Costs $1,200
You're not you when you're hungry. It's crucial we keep our team of 25 well-fed and hydrated for the entirety of the film's 3-day shoot.
Direct link:
Share this update!
About This Team
WRITER & DIRECTOR ... RAHUL H. PARIKH is a creative producer at Instagram and NYC-based storyteller who has worked extensively on productions like The Late Show, Night Session and The Sacrifice. His mini-documentary Amado won a Mark of Excellence Award from the Society of Professional Journalists. In addition to being on set with his friends, he loves a yoga class, rock climbing, seeing the world through his 35 mm film camera and going to the movies. Not factoring in his college experiments, this will be his directorial debut in the narrative space.
CINEMATOGRAPHER ... MOLLY SCOTTI is a Brooklyn-based filmmaker and photographer whose work as a director of photography has been screened at South by Southwest, Filmfest München, New/Next Film Festival and beyond. In her free time, Molly teaches classes at the documentary film community DCTV in Chinatown and is a regular volunteer at the nonprofit film school and community dark room Mono No Aware.
PRODUCER ... ARORA MCCARGAR is a Brooklyn-based independent producer, specializing in line producing and production managing. She has also worked on the production team for studio films with A24, Focus Features and Apple TV assisting executive producers and UPMs. Most recently, she's served as production supervisor on low-budget feature films and Netflix comedy specials. Her goal is to remain stubborn on vision but flexible on details.
PRODUCER ... ROBIN FIERBERG is a writer, producer and content creator living in New York City. He has worked in production management at The Late Show and @instagram, and has independently produced dozens of digital comedy projects that can be found on the World Wide Web. He is thrilled to be joining this project, and hopes to one day feel confident wearing a baseball cap.
ASSOCIATE PRODUCER ... ELIANA WAXMAN is a Brooklyn-based producer, writer and director. An associate producer on the cold open team at The Late Show and director of the upcoming short film Itty Bitty, she's previously worked on feature films like Killers of the Flower Moon and produced several shorts, including The Sacrifice starring Josh Radnor and Aya Cash. In her free time, she loves collaborating with her friends on their creative projects!
ASSOCIATE PRODUCER ... STACEY TORKELSON is a writer and director based in Brooklyn, and has worked on productions including Severance, The Tonight Show and Sesame Street. She spends her free time producing independent short and feature films with colleagues-turned-friends, and directed her first short, In Lieu of Flowers, in 2025.