CHICKS
Atlanta, Georgia | Film Short
Comedy, Horror
A very girly and unassuming slumber party quickly turns dark when it turns out to be a very primal, chaotic initiation ritual for a magical chicken cult in Chicks, a short comedy turned horror film.
CHICKS
Atlanta, Georgia | Film Short
Comedy, Horror

1 Campaigns | Georgia, United States
Green Light
This campaign raised $8,060 for production. Follow the filmmaker to receive future updates on this project.
104 supporters | followers
Enter the amount you would like to pledge
A very girly and unassuming slumber party quickly turns dark when it turns out to be a very primal, chaotic initiation ritual for a magical chicken cult in Chicks, a short comedy turned horror film.
- The Story
- Wishlist
- Updates
- The Team
- Community
Mission Statement
The Story
Chicks is an upcoming genre-blending, heart-pounding, feminist horror-comedy short that follows Polly, a reserved teen, as she goes to a slumber party with her “cool” new friends. What starts off as a very bubbly and unassuming night quickly takes a sharp turn when she gets roped into her friends’ bizarre chicken-worshipping cult. Y’know, just girly things!
The audiences' heads will be spinning as everything escalates into a chaotic bonfire ritual ceremony where the girls and many feathered, bird-squawking cult members share the power of the chicken's mighty ancestor (the T-Rex) with Polly, empowering her to tap into who she really is.
The film has not been cast or shot, the teaser and production stills are only for concept purposes.
We are currently in the early stages of pre-production and will be shooting the film this June in Tallahassee, Florida. We plan on following CDC guidelines on our set and are allocating a portion of our budget to ensure the safety of our crew and actors. It's a difficult time but creativity is still needed in the world, especially during times like these, and so we plan to operate our set as safe as possible.
We shot our pitch video and teaser over a weekend at our house and backyard, with a tiny little firepit. If we reach our goal of $7,500, we can really create the ULTIMATE cult ritual grounds...
Chicks was also just recently selected as a recipient of the WAVE Grant, a grant and mentorship program dedicated to helping female filmmakers of color make their first short film. Helmed by Variety’s 2020 Producer to Watch Jenifer Westphal, Wavelength is the film studio behind award-winning films Won’t You Be My Neighbor?, Feels Good Man, Farewell Amor, and Sundance favorites Cusp, Selah and the Spades, and more. Chicks, along with the two other films awarded this honor, were described as “nuanced, moving, and powerful, and addressed the complexities of being a young woman growing up in the world today.”
“Geena’s energy and professionalism captivated me from the very beginning,” said Wavelength’s founder and executive producer, Jenifer Westphal. "Chicks is a sharp genre-defying take on a classic teenage girl slumber party, addressing the stereotypes and media portrayals of female friendship with humor. We are honored to support Geena’s vision and see this film come to life.”
Chicks is about taking the negative stereotypes of teen girls (catty, hyper-feminine to the point of being dumb, always trying to compete with other girls) and flipping that on its head. “Strong female characters” in films are portrayed as tomboy-like and often reject femininity, but why can’t you also like wearing pink and also be a multi-dimensional character?
During the movie, the audience will think that these popular, more confident girls are up to no good with Polly because of how we've seen female friendships negatively depicted in media. But really, Chicks is about sisterhood and women supporting women! They just happen to do this as a part of a dino-chicken cult.
The cinematography for Chicks will be as bold and unusual as the story, and we will have an all-original soundtrack with heavy cultural influences (like Japanese Taiko Drums) that blend both worlds of the film to create an absolutely bonkers finale scene.
We are still young, emerging filmmakers and in order to make Chicks as wild as it needs to be, we need your help. If we reach our goal of $7,500, we can fully realize our creative vision for the film, including some fun ideas like:
- A 15 foot tall chicken-shaped altar
- Creating the ultimate world of the teen girl, making it as bubblegum-pink and vibrant as we can
- Mother Hen, the leader of the cult, who we imagine as this divine half-bird, half-woman (which requires Special Effects Makeup and Costuming)
- Having actual chickens in the film! Did you know for non-union film productions the cost to have the Humane Society supervisor on set to ensure No Animals Are Harmed costs $1200 for a full day?
- VFX assets to create a raging bonfire and to have cult members ascend into the air...
- And much, MUCH more...
Our goal is to film Chicks this summer and then submit into film festivals this Fall. This film is designed for the audience experience and it just so happens that it really relies on the audience in order to make it happen as well! We are really excited about this film and want to fully execute the vision we have for it.
Follow our social media and please consider contributing to our fundraiser. Join us on this fun and wild journey as we make our chicken cult sleepover movie. We can't do it without you!
- The Chicks Team
...seriously, we can't do it without you.
Wishlist
Use the WishList to Pledge cash and Loan items - or - Make a pledge by selecting an Incentive directly.
CHICKENS!
Costs $1,200
Chickens are featured in the film and we need to abide by all the Humane Society standards.
SFX Makeup/Costuming
Costs $2,250
We want Mother Hen, the cult leader, to have very believable SFX makeup - along with her chicks...
VFX
Costs $750
Our cult scene is going to get pretty surreal and magical, the cost of assets and artists add up.
About This Team
Incentives
- The Story
- Wishlist
- Updates
- The Team
- Community
Mission Statement
The Story
Chicks is an upcoming genre-blending, heart-pounding, feminist horror-comedy short that follows Polly, a reserved teen, as she goes to a slumber party with her “cool” new friends. What starts off as a very bubbly and unassuming night quickly takes a sharp turn when she gets roped into her friends’ bizarre chicken-worshipping cult. Y’know, just girly things!
The audiences' heads will be spinning as everything escalates into a chaotic bonfire ritual ceremony where the girls and many feathered, bird-squawking cult members share the power of the chicken's mighty ancestor (the T-Rex) with Polly, empowering her to tap into who she really is.
The film has not been cast or shot, the teaser and production stills are only for concept purposes.
We are currently in the early stages of pre-production and will be shooting the film this June in Tallahassee, Florida. We plan on following CDC guidelines on our set and are allocating a portion of our budget to ensure the safety of our crew and actors. It's a difficult time but creativity is still needed in the world, especially during times like these, and so we plan to operate our set as safe as possible.
We shot our pitch video and teaser over a weekend at our house and backyard, with a tiny little firepit. If we reach our goal of $7,500, we can really create the ULTIMATE cult ritual grounds...
Chicks was also just recently selected as a recipient of the WAVE Grant, a grant and mentorship program dedicated to helping female filmmakers of color make their first short film. Helmed by Variety’s 2020 Producer to Watch Jenifer Westphal, Wavelength is the film studio behind award-winning films Won’t You Be My Neighbor?, Feels Good Man, Farewell Amor, and Sundance favorites Cusp, Selah and the Spades, and more. Chicks, along with the two other films awarded this honor, were described as “nuanced, moving, and powerful, and addressed the complexities of being a young woman growing up in the world today.”
“Geena’s energy and professionalism captivated me from the very beginning,” said Wavelength’s founder and executive producer, Jenifer Westphal. "Chicks is a sharp genre-defying take on a classic teenage girl slumber party, addressing the stereotypes and media portrayals of female friendship with humor. We are honored to support Geena’s vision and see this film come to life.”
Chicks is about taking the negative stereotypes of teen girls (catty, hyper-feminine to the point of being dumb, always trying to compete with other girls) and flipping that on its head. “Strong female characters” in films are portrayed as tomboy-like and often reject femininity, but why can’t you also like wearing pink and also be a multi-dimensional character?
During the movie, the audience will think that these popular, more confident girls are up to no good with Polly because of how we've seen female friendships negatively depicted in media. But really, Chicks is about sisterhood and women supporting women! They just happen to do this as a part of a dino-chicken cult.
The cinematography for Chicks will be as bold and unusual as the story, and we will have an all-original soundtrack with heavy cultural influences (like Japanese Taiko Drums) that blend both worlds of the film to create an absolutely bonkers finale scene.
We are still young, emerging filmmakers and in order to make Chicks as wild as it needs to be, we need your help. If we reach our goal of $7,500, we can fully realize our creative vision for the film, including some fun ideas like:
- A 15 foot tall chicken-shaped altar
- Creating the ultimate world of the teen girl, making it as bubblegum-pink and vibrant as we can
- Mother Hen, the leader of the cult, who we imagine as this divine half-bird, half-woman (which requires Special Effects Makeup and Costuming)
- Having actual chickens in the film! Did you know for non-union film productions the cost to have the Humane Society supervisor on set to ensure No Animals Are Harmed costs $1200 for a full day?
- VFX assets to create a raging bonfire and to have cult members ascend into the air...
- And much, MUCH more...
Our goal is to film Chicks this summer and then submit into film festivals this Fall. This film is designed for the audience experience and it just so happens that it really relies on the audience in order to make it happen as well! We are really excited about this film and want to fully execute the vision we have for it.
Follow our social media and please consider contributing to our fundraiser. Join us on this fun and wild journey as we make our chicken cult sleepover movie. We can't do it without you!
- The Chicks Team
...seriously, we can't do it without you.
Wishlist
Use the WishList to Pledge cash and Loan items - or - Make a pledge by selecting an Incentive directly.
CHICKENS!
Costs $1,200
Chickens are featured in the film and we need to abide by all the Humane Society standards.
SFX Makeup/Costuming
Costs $2,250
We want Mother Hen, the cult leader, to have very believable SFX makeup - along with her chicks...
VFX
Costs $750
Our cult scene is going to get pretty surreal and magical, the cost of assets and artists add up.