COFFEE - A Short film
Bethlehem, Pennsylvania | Film Short
Drama
COFFEE is a Black-led short: a son and the father who left, one diner, two cups of coffee, one overdue conversation. We rarely make room on screen for Black men in that kind of tenderness. Help us make it here in the Lehigh Valley and carry it to festivals — every dollar lands on the screen.
COFFEE - A Short film
Bethlehem, Pennsylvania | Film Short
Drama
0 Campaigns | Pennsylvania, United States
COFFEE is a Black-led short: a son and the father who left, one diner, two cups of coffee, one overdue conversation. We rarely make room on screen for Black men in that kind of tenderness. Help us make it here in the Lehigh Valley and carry it to festivals — every dollar lands on the screen.
About The Project
- The Story
- Wishlist
- Updates
- The Team
- Community
Mission Statement
The Story
An empty diner, early. Morning light streams through the big bay windows on every side, with a light fog. Coffee and coffee cake hang in the air. The refrigerator hums. Coffee drips. Somewhere in the back, a flattop grill sizzles.
Into that quiet, two men sit down across from each other - a son and the father who left before the son was old enough to remember him.
COFFEE is the conversation I never had with my father, imagined out loud: a thesis and a hypothesis of how it could go, over two cups of coffee. It's not about whether he says sorry. It's about whether sorry would even be the thing that mattered.
I'm making COFFEE now because this story has been burning in me my whole life. I've carried questions about my father for as long as I can remember - and in this moment, in this climate, I felt it was time to stop carrying them quietly and be vulnerable out loud.
The numbers around Black men growing up without a father in the home are higher than any of us would like. I had a stepfather and never knew my biological father. This short is one small window into a larger story about Chris and his family - and I'm making it because I need other Black men to see it and know they're not alone in it.
If you leave this film wanting to reach for your father, or your son, and start the conversation - that's the win. And if you leave knowing, finally, that it was never your fault he left - that you did nothing to make him go - then COFFEE did exactly what I made it to do.
Here's exactly where COFFEE stands. The script is written and in its final polish. I'm holding an open casting call on June 10th, then a table read, and locking my cast from there. The location is a real Lehigh Valley diner, and I'm building a local cast and crew - paid fairly for real work, with your help.
Your support is what turns this from a plan into a film. Every dollar goes on the screen: paying my cast and crew, the camera, lighting, and sound to shoot it right, and the post-production - editing, color, sound, and an original score - that lets a short like this hold its own on a festival stage.
Here's my promise to you. We shoot this fall, finish over the winter, and take COFFEE out to festivals in 2027, with a major festival premiere as our target. Backers will get to see the film before it's shown to the festival circuit and the public. I'll keep you with me the whole way through campaign updates from set and the edit.
And if we pass our goal? Everything extra goes right into the work: fair pay increases for the cast and crew, technical upgrades, more festival submissions, and seed money toward the next part of the story. Our real stretch number is $26,000. This would secure all of the "extras."
Pledge. Follow. Share. Even a $20 pledge and a share with any people who'd feel this story.
Wishlist
Use the WishList to Pledge cash and Loan items - or - Make a pledge by selecting an Incentive directly.
Prop Food & Coffee
Costs $600
The food and coffee are on camera in nearly every shot — and continuity means brewing a lot of matching cups.
Processing + Fulfillment
Costs $900
Covers Stripe's processing fees and the cost of delivering your rewards, so every other dollar goes to the film.
Key Art + Stills
Costs $600
A film needs a face. Poster, key art, and stills are how COFFEE gets noticed by festivals, press, and audiences.
Festival Submission Fees
Costs $900
Submission fees add up fast across a real festival run. This funds the slate that gets COFFEE in front of audiences.
DCP + Deliverables
Costs $450
Festivals need a DCP, captions, and screeners to even consider you. This is the ticket to the festival door.
Original Score
Costs $1,000
An original score gives the silences weight — the film's own heartbeat instead of borrowed music.
Sound Design + Mix
Costs $1,200
Great sound makes the quiet moments land — and keeps the film from feeling small on a festival screen.
Color Grade
Costs $1,200
Color sets the emotional temperature. A professional grade gives COFFEE the warm, intimate look festivals expect.
Editor
Costs $1,800
The edit is where performances become a film. A paid editor gives the story the time and care it needs.
Hard Drives + Backup
Costs $250
Footage is irreplaceable. Redundant drives mean two backups of everything we shoot — no single point of failure.
Transportation
Costs $200
Gear, crew, and cast have to reach set. This covers the parking, fuel, and movement that make a shoot day possible.
Set Dresssing+ Props + Wardrobe
Costs $300
The small details — a worn mug, the right jacket, the cluttered table — are what make the diner feel lived-in and true.
Camera * Lebs Package
Costs $1,500
A single-location two-hander lives on its images. The right camera and glass make the diner feel intimate, warm, and cinematic.
Meals + Crafty
Costs $800
You can't shoot two long days on empty. Fed cast and crew are focused cast and crew.
Production Insurance
Costs $300
Insurance protects the cast, crew, gear, and location — and most real locations require it before we can shoot.
Diner Location
Costs $1,000
Our diner is practically the third character. A location fee secures the space and respects the business that hosts us.
Lead + Supporting Cast
Costs $1,500
Two actors carry this entire film. Paying them properly honors the work and lets them give it everything they have.
HMU / Design / Script / Production Assistant / Behind The Scenes Photography & Videography
Costs $2,400
he hands that make a set run: hair/makeup, design, continuity, support, and behind-the-scenes coverage. All paid fairly.
Gaffer / Grip
Costs $600
Lights and rigging don't move themselves. A gaffer/grip lets us light fast, shoot safely, and keep the day moving.
1st Assistant Director
Costs $700
A 1st AD keeps two tight shoot days on schedule so we get every shot without burning out the cast and crew
Sound Recordist
Costs $700
On a dialogue film, clean production sound saves the entire edit. A dedicated recordist makes sure we get it on the day.
Director of Photography
Costs $1,200
A skilled DP turns one table and two coffee cups into something you can't look away from. Paid, because the craft is worth it.
Sound Recording Kit
Costs $700
Dialogue is the whole film. A proper boom, lavs, and recorder capture every word cleanly inside a working diner.
Lighting + Grip Package
Costs $1,200
Diner light is tricky. A real lighting and grip package lets us shape warmth and mood instead of fighting overhead fluorescents.
Direct link:
Share this update!
About This Team
I'm Jerone Arnold Darden — a writer and director based in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, and a multidisciplinary artist who's spent years in front of the camera as a model and performer. COFFEE is the first film I'm stepping behind the camera to direct, and the first I'm putting my whole name on the project.
I'm drawn to small, human stories — the quiet, unfinished conversations we carry for years. COFFEE is exactly that: two people, one diner table, and one overdue talk between a son and the father who left.
Conversely, I am also a fan of "Larger -than-Life" stories as well. Much more to come on that home front.
I'm building this film at home, with a local cast and crew I want to pay fairly for real work — because the stories that come out of the Lehigh Valley deserve to be made with the same care as the ones from anywhere else.
Chloe RIchter (Nancy) - is a Philadelphia-based actor, performer, and graphic designer with an intrinsic passion for film as a storytelling medium. In addition to her role as Nancy in Coffee, her film credits include The Noise, Skylords, and Pouring From an Empty Glass. She believes every story deserves to be told and is driven by the power of human connection, using her work to share authentic, meaningful experiences.
Current Team
Incentives
- The Story
- Wishlist
- Updates
- The Team
- Community
Mission Statement
The Story
An empty diner, early. Morning light streams through the big bay windows on every side, with a light fog. Coffee and coffee cake hang in the air. The refrigerator hums. Coffee drips. Somewhere in the back, a flattop grill sizzles.
Into that quiet, two men sit down across from each other - a son and the father who left before the son was old enough to remember him.
COFFEE is the conversation I never had with my father, imagined out loud: a thesis and a hypothesis of how it could go, over two cups of coffee. It's not about whether he says sorry. It's about whether sorry would even be the thing that mattered.
I'm making COFFEE now because this story has been burning in me my whole life. I've carried questions about my father for as long as I can remember - and in this moment, in this climate, I felt it was time to stop carrying them quietly and be vulnerable out loud.
The numbers around Black men growing up without a father in the home are higher than any of us would like. I had a stepfather and never knew my biological father. This short is one small window into a larger story about Chris and his family - and I'm making it because I need other Black men to see it and know they're not alone in it.
If you leave this film wanting to reach for your father, or your son, and start the conversation - that's the win. And if you leave knowing, finally, that it was never your fault he left - that you did nothing to make him go - then COFFEE did exactly what I made it to do.
Here's exactly where COFFEE stands. The script is written and in its final polish. I'm holding an open casting call on June 10th, then a table read, and locking my cast from there. The location is a real Lehigh Valley diner, and I'm building a local cast and crew - paid fairly for real work, with your help.
Your support is what turns this from a plan into a film. Every dollar goes on the screen: paying my cast and crew, the camera, lighting, and sound to shoot it right, and the post-production - editing, color, sound, and an original score - that lets a short like this hold its own on a festival stage.
Here's my promise to you. We shoot this fall, finish over the winter, and take COFFEE out to festivals in 2027, with a major festival premiere as our target. Backers will get to see the film before it's shown to the festival circuit and the public. I'll keep you with me the whole way through campaign updates from set and the edit.
And if we pass our goal? Everything extra goes right into the work: fair pay increases for the cast and crew, technical upgrades, more festival submissions, and seed money toward the next part of the story. Our real stretch number is $26,000. This would secure all of the "extras."
Pledge. Follow. Share. Even a $20 pledge and a share with any people who'd feel this story.
Wishlist
Use the WishList to Pledge cash and Loan items - or - Make a pledge by selecting an Incentive directly.
Prop Food & Coffee
Costs $600
The food and coffee are on camera in nearly every shot — and continuity means brewing a lot of matching cups.
Processing + Fulfillment
Costs $900
Covers Stripe's processing fees and the cost of delivering your rewards, so every other dollar goes to the film.
Key Art + Stills
Costs $600
A film needs a face. Poster, key art, and stills are how COFFEE gets noticed by festivals, press, and audiences.
Festival Submission Fees
Costs $900
Submission fees add up fast across a real festival run. This funds the slate that gets COFFEE in front of audiences.
DCP + Deliverables
Costs $450
Festivals need a DCP, captions, and screeners to even consider you. This is the ticket to the festival door.
Original Score
Costs $1,000
An original score gives the silences weight — the film's own heartbeat instead of borrowed music.
Sound Design + Mix
Costs $1,200
Great sound makes the quiet moments land — and keeps the film from feeling small on a festival screen.
Color Grade
Costs $1,200
Color sets the emotional temperature. A professional grade gives COFFEE the warm, intimate look festivals expect.
Editor
Costs $1,800
The edit is where performances become a film. A paid editor gives the story the time and care it needs.
Hard Drives + Backup
Costs $250
Footage is irreplaceable. Redundant drives mean two backups of everything we shoot — no single point of failure.
Transportation
Costs $200
Gear, crew, and cast have to reach set. This covers the parking, fuel, and movement that make a shoot day possible.
Set Dresssing+ Props + Wardrobe
Costs $300
The small details — a worn mug, the right jacket, the cluttered table — are what make the diner feel lived-in and true.
Camera * Lebs Package
Costs $1,500
A single-location two-hander lives on its images. The right camera and glass make the diner feel intimate, warm, and cinematic.
Meals + Crafty
Costs $800
You can't shoot two long days on empty. Fed cast and crew are focused cast and crew.
Production Insurance
Costs $300
Insurance protects the cast, crew, gear, and location — and most real locations require it before we can shoot.
Diner Location
Costs $1,000
Our diner is practically the third character. A location fee secures the space and respects the business that hosts us.
Lead + Supporting Cast
Costs $1,500
Two actors carry this entire film. Paying them properly honors the work and lets them give it everything they have.
HMU / Design / Script / Production Assistant / Behind The Scenes Photography & Videography
Costs $2,400
he hands that make a set run: hair/makeup, design, continuity, support, and behind-the-scenes coverage. All paid fairly.
Gaffer / Grip
Costs $600
Lights and rigging don't move themselves. A gaffer/grip lets us light fast, shoot safely, and keep the day moving.
1st Assistant Director
Costs $700
A 1st AD keeps two tight shoot days on schedule so we get every shot without burning out the cast and crew
Sound Recordist
Costs $700
On a dialogue film, clean production sound saves the entire edit. A dedicated recordist makes sure we get it on the day.
Director of Photography
Costs $1,200
A skilled DP turns one table and two coffee cups into something you can't look away from. Paid, because the craft is worth it.
Sound Recording Kit
Costs $700
Dialogue is the whole film. A proper boom, lavs, and recorder capture every word cleanly inside a working diner.
Lighting + Grip Package
Costs $1,200
Diner light is tricky. A real lighting and grip package lets us shape warmth and mood instead of fighting overhead fluorescents.
Direct link:
Share this update!
About This Team
I'm Jerone Arnold Darden — a writer and director based in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, and a multidisciplinary artist who's spent years in front of the camera as a model and performer. COFFEE is the first film I'm stepping behind the camera to direct, and the first I'm putting my whole name on the project.
I'm drawn to small, human stories — the quiet, unfinished conversations we carry for years. COFFEE is exactly that: two people, one diner table, and one overdue talk between a son and the father who left.
Conversely, I am also a fan of "Larger -than-Life" stories as well. Much more to come on that home front.
I'm building this film at home, with a local cast and crew I want to pay fairly for real work — because the stories that come out of the Lehigh Valley deserve to be made with the same care as the ones from anywhere else.
Chloe RIchter (Nancy) - is a Philadelphia-based actor, performer, and graphic designer with an intrinsic passion for film as a storytelling medium. In addition to her role as Nancy in Coffee, her film credits include The Noise, Skylords, and Pouring From an Empty Glass. She believes every story deserves to be told and is driven by the power of human connection, using her work to share authentic, meaningful experiences.