Our film takes place over the course of one night, following Jonas, a sixteen-year-old living in a housing project with his abusive stepfather, as he tries to escape with his girlfriend, Maria. When Jonas' plans to flip drugs from a local dealer goes sideways, he ends up with a pair of collectible sneakers that turn out to be fake. Desperate and running out of options, Jonas and Maria are pulled deeper into a chain of bad decisions, roaming from a sleek Manhattan high-rise to a seedy pawn shop to the backseat of a gangster’s car speeding down the BQE. As the night turns violent, Jonas is forced to confront the danger he’s put Maria in and realize that love and responsibility demand a different kind of courage.

Director Statement

As a kid, I was ambitious but unfocused. I dreamed of leading a creative life but I didn’t know what that looked like. All I knew was that I had to get out there and try. At fourteen, I secretly applied to boarding school and told my parents after I got a full scholarship. At sixteen, I spent a whole year in Spain learning the language and attempting to make my first film. At twenty-two, I left a nine-to-five to pursue filmmaking full-time. Each decision ultimately got me closer to my dream, but I made plenty of mistakes along the way. I was learning, often the hard way, what it meant to choose my own path.

Concrete Kingdom turns that feeling up to eleven, capturing that pivotal moment when a teenager learns the cost of taking fate into his own hands. Set in the raw underbelly of New York City, Concrete Kingdom follows Jonas as he stumbles through a series of failed hustles. With each move, he seems to dig himself into a deeper hole. The momentum builds toward a violent climax, leaving Jonas trapped by the chaos he set in motion only hours before. 

The Style

This film should feel like riding on a speeding bullet coursing through the nooks and crannies of New York City, trying to keep up with all the action, overlapping dialogue, and absolutely ridiculous situations that our main character gets himself in. Stylistically, we are focused on capturing the grittiness of Jonas’ world and the colorful cast of characters he encounters. Much of the camera work will be handheld and up-close, creating an effect of tension, urgency, and claustrophobia as we narrow in on Jonas' inner world toward the film’s climax.

Flowing from one loud interaction to the next, the visuals will be underscored by nearly incessant conversation and a punchy, maximalist score mixing R&B, hip-hop, synth-punk, drill, EDM, and modern jazz fusion.

The Team

We’re currently most of the way through casting our ensemble of more than thirteen roles, and we’re excited to share that Uktu Kara will be playing Jonas, our lead. Uktu is a Brooklyn-raised actor, model, and musician who has appeared in short films and trained with the Barbican and the New York Performing Arts Academy.

The producing team is made up of Jina Zhao, Brooks Flannery, and Racquel Gallo, who are handling the film from development through post-production. Jina Zhao, the film’s director and co-writer, has directed and produced short films, commercial work, and documentary projects, and also works as an editor. Brooks Flannery, co-writer and producer, is a writer-director with a Brazilian jiu-jitsu background and will help shape the film’s physical sequences and fight choreography. Racquel Gallo, our producer and assistant director, brings strong on-set experience and will help keep the production organized, on schedule, and within budget.

Nate Blader will serve as our director of photography. An NYC-based cinematographer and colorist, Nate has shot over a dozen short films and worked across dozens more, giving him the technical range and on-set experience to help us capture the film’s fast-moving, grounded New York style.

Production Plan and Timeline

Like all independent films, Concrete Kingdom will be made with clear constraints: time, money, and access to production resources. But those constraints have also helped sharpen our plan.

When we first wrote the script, we let ourselves imagine the world freely. As we’ve moved into production, we’ve made strategic choices about what matters most to the story. For us, that means focusing our resources on strong performances, a believable world, and a production approach that can efficiently capture the momentum of Jonas’ night in New York City.

Our plan is built around preparation and flexibility. We are casting carefully, rehearsing with our lead actors, planning our locations strategically, and building an experienced crew that knows how to work well with constraints. We’re confident in the team we’ve assembled and in our ability to make a film that feels much larger than its budget. Our biggest remaining challenge is funding. Your support will help us secure locations, pay our cast and crew, cover equipment, insurance, food, transportation, and the many practical costs that make a film possible.

How You Can Help

We’ve already raised 50% of our budget and are using this crowdfund to raise the remainder. Seed & Spark requires us to raise at least 80% of our goal for this project to be funded. If we don’t hit this goal within 45 days, then we won’t receive any of the money pledged.

Your support will help us fully realize this film while taking care of the cast and crew bringing it to life. We are confident in our independent, run-and-gun approach, but we also want to prioritize fair pay, reasonable hours, and a safe, supportive environment on set. Your pledge toward our goal helps cover:

• Hiring an experienced local crew
• Hiring a local cast for production and rehearsals
• Securing locations in New York City
• Equipment rentals
• Crafty Services
• Legal fees
• Post-production and festival distribution

While reaching our goal of $10,000 will allow us to start production, the following stretch goals would facilitate even more resources and push this film to its best possible version:

• $15,000 – We can better compensate our crew and supporting cast, expand rehearsal time, and invest more deeply in the production design and logistical support needed to bring Jonas’ world to life. This may also allow us to add an extra prep or shoot day, giving the team more room to work carefully and creatively.
• $20,000 – We can bring on additional support for the film’s most technically demanding scenes, including a choreographer and professional stunt coordinator for the climactic fight sequence. We can also strengthen the look and feel of the car scenes, invest more in music, score, color, and sound, and give the film a stronger festival and distribution push once it’s complete.

Spread the Word

We are so lucky to have a compassionate network helping us create this film, but in order to hit our goal, we’ll need to reach people beyond our immediate circle. Please help us spread the word by sharing our campaign on social media, sending it to friends and family, casually bringing it up to your most employed roommate, renting a skywriting plane—anything that helps our film find new audiences!

Please feel free to copy and paste the following message when sharing:

“Help @madebyjinaz and a team of young filmmakers make their Safdie-esque coming of age film, Concrete Kingdom, shooting in New York this summer. Support their journey on @seedandspark: https://seedandspark.com/fund/concrete-kingdom"

Other Ways to Support

Even if you are not able to support us monetarily, there are other ways to help us reach our goal! Please give us a follow us on Seed & Spark. Once we have 500 followers, we unlock access to festival waivers and other resources offered by the Seed & Spark team.

You can also follow us on Instagram @concrete.kingdom.movie to get updates, behind-the-scenes content, and sneak peeks of the movie!

THANK YOU <3