Our heart through this film is to bring awareness & acceptance to Autism and specifically how siblings interact and cope. Written and produced by two female filmmakers, we are committed to have a diverse crew in gender and race.

Our belief is that film can move people in a way that allows them to see the world and others around them in a new perspective. That is why we were inspired to create Drought.

 

UPDATE - Drought has completed production & is currently in post!

In 2015, we dreamed of creating a story to change the perspective of others towards Autism, create opportunities for women in film, & employ talented folks in our community. In 2018, we did just that!! After winning the Seed&Spark Hometown Heroes Rally in 2017, we were on our way to make Drought with the help of The Duplass Brothers as Executive Producers. Now we are super close to finishing the film & hope to have a 2020 festival run & distribution!

 

 

What is Drought? 

Drought is the coming of age story of Sam who lives in a small southern town with her younger brother Carl, who is on the Autism Spectrum. Carl is fascinated by weather but the only problem is, the town is going through a drought. When Carl is fired from his job & their mom isn't around to help, the siblings decide to chase a storm out west with their best friend Lewis & estranged older sister Lillian. The four of them take off in hopes of finding the ultimate storm, but along the way they find much more when they learn about forgiveness, acceptance, and following your dreams.

 

Why Wilmington, NC?

Our beautiful town of Wilmington, NC & surrounding area is a community with a strong film history. As things shifted in the industry and productions left town, we decided to create our own films to tell inspiring stories, give jobs to those in our area, and experience to people passionate about learning this craft. When we heard about the Hometown Heroes Rally through Seed&Spark, we had to enter, it was exactly our heartbeat. 

 

 

Where did this story come from?

After gaining experience through our first short films, we were moved to write a story that just could not be contained in a short format. It deserved to be told in a feature length film. That story would turn into Drought. Before becoming an actor, and now director, screenwriter, and producer, Hannah was a teacher for children who are on the Autism spectrum. These kids showed her that they are unbelievably talented, smart, and have so much to offer the world. Yet there still seems to be so much that is misunderstood about these amazing people. She also discovered that there is another group of people that are just as amazing, the siblings of children on the spectrum. Often times these siblings provide a lot of care for their brother or sister and can be overlooked due to the energy it takes to raise a child with Autism.

 

 

Why are we're raising more funds?

Great question! We originally budgeted for our film to be completed on a 50k budget. We were really on track to do just that when a giant hurricane decided to join the party. Now, you plan for contingencies in film but not usually at Category 4 Hurricane! We also realize that this story is really special & deserves the best finishing touches which are more than we had originally planned. Our heart & hope is to raise the funds and audience to complete this story so that the WIDEST audience will see it!

 

In short, the funds contributed to this campaign will go to finishing the film in post-production including color, sound mixing, score, festival submissions, and all the technical things that make movies stand out! We will start festival submissions in August of this year!

 

 

Here are ways to join us in finishing this film:

- Click the FOLLOW button on our page. Followers help build our audience for the future. So go ahead, click the button!

- Share, share, share! Please share our page to your social media platforms. Tell your mom, your dad, your co-workers, your neighbors, your high school ex boyfriend or anyone who is interested in Drought!

- Contribute financially to the campaign (any amount is amazing) and be a part of bringing this story to the big screen & small screen - all the screens!

 

THANK YOU:

We cannot thank you enough for your interest and support in this story. Our hope is to bring everyone together and celebrate the unique differences we have and we cannot do that without you!