We wrote this story to reflect the beauty in ordinary lives and remind audiences that the innocence, messiness, and uncertainty of growing up will always be a story worth telling. 

Set in the American South, Friends But Not Friends is a coming-of-age pilot set over the course of one high school graduation party in the summer of 2014. Across one unforgettable night, a group of suburban teenagers confront crushes, betrayals, hidden feelings, and the quiet realization that everything is about to change.

This is a story about ordinary people trying to live authentically in a world that increasingly asks them not to. At first glance, the world feels easygoing, funny, and familiar. Full of nostalgia, awkward jokes, flirtation, and the reckless confidence of being eighteen. But underneath the humor is something deeply human and unexpectedly moving. These characters are suspended between who they’ve been and who they’re about to become, caught in the final moments before adulthood begins pulling them apart.

While the pilot is set in 2014, each episode in our season is set every two years during a celebration or ceremony that reunites the whole group of friends. They encounter each other during the moments in between of radical change, personal growth, and spirals of crisis. We follow their lives from ages 18-30, focusing on the intimacy of young adulthood and how our relationships shape who we become throughout these benchmarks of living. We go through their high school graduation, Christmas Break from college, university graduation, engagements and weddings, funerals and celebrations of life throughout the season.

SIMILAR SHOWS

Think Freaks and Geeks meets Crashing.

Similar to Crashing, a show created by Phoebe Waller-Bridge, Friends But Not Friends is structured around a group of young people whose lives are entangled within each other’s, but are not necessarily a solidified friend group. That is until their last high school graduation party, where an intense sequence of events bonds the graduates together for the next ten years of their young adulthood.

Tonally, the series blends biting humor with emotional honesty in the spirit of Freaks and Geeks, This Is Us, Fleabag, Crashing, and Sex Education. It constantly undercuts its own sentimentality, exposing the messy truths beneath first loves, betrayals, insecurity, and the fragile mythology of growing up.

The idea behind Friends But Not Friends came from us, as creators, deciding to place our dreams and futures in our own hands. We've built lasting friendships and relationships with supremely talented people, all living in this perpetual limbo of waiting to be chosen. Waiting to be cast. Waiting for our shot.

This show became a vessel for us to make it happen for ourselves, and tell the kinds of stories that represent who we are as we navigate the trials and tribulations of being a young person chasing their dreams.

Many coming-of-age stories today focus on spectacle, fantasy, or heightened drama, often overlooking the emotional significance of everyday experiences. 

We want to make film feel like film again. Film that lives in color and vibrancy, and that doesn’t shy away from prolonged moments of intimacy. Where we don’t trade off the still beauty of human connection for short attention grabbing clips designed to overdose your mind with dopamine and prevent you from resting in the world we worked so hard to build. 

We need to see ourselves, as humans, now more than ever. See our human moments of growth, challenge, and search for identity represented through narratives we can relate to. 

We want to be entertained, yes. But we also want to be seen. 

This is why Friends But Not Friends is a story worth telling.

Friends But Not Friends seeks to remind audiences that some of life's most defining moments are as hilarious as they are ordinary. Friendships, first crushes, insecurities, and the search for identity. It is our homage to the bittersweet realities of adulthood and the difficult, beautiful process of learning how to live honestly. 

We want to be a friend to audiences. To be the friend you miss that moved away all those years ago or the one that stayed close by. To be the friend who sees you at your worst or the one you would give anything to be with one last time. When the world feels like it's falling a part, friends are the ones that remind us we aren't alone. Hope is only ever one story away.

This story is for every friend we've ever had, past, present, and future. Your friendship changed our lives forever. This is for you. Thank you for being our friend.

Crowdfunding builds community and support behind our project, not just financially, but energetically. Through your support, you become part of a collective of creatively aligned souls all working towards giving birth to our inspirational baby. We want our supporters to feel how impactful their contribution is, and know that this would not be possible without their generosity. 

We have a script, an ever-growing team of supremely talented creatives, and a vision for what this pilot could be. When we finish this pilot, we are creating a direct to consumer approach with the finished product, whether that be creating a web-series format to release it to the public, or burning CD's ourselves.

We are making this pilot, and it will be in your hands, especially if they were used to donate, share, or support Friends But Not Friends in any tangible way. Our priority is to make sure that every hand that held us during this process gets the final project to hold and cherish as their own. Like a pair of friendship bracelets, this pilot will live with you as much as it lives with us. We pinky promise.

Our goal is to use this pilot to seek artistic representation and get it in front of studio executives to pitch as a network series. We have written three episodes out of the eight we plan on shooting, and have grown immeasurably attached to the lives of these characters.

We’re raising $27,000 for Production and Post Production on Seed & Spark, and here is exactly where it goes-

Production:

Cast + Crew: $12,000

Locations/Sets/Insurance: $3500

Crafy + Catering: $800

Travel: $1200

Gear/Equipment: $3,000

Production Design/Props: $1500

Post Production: 8,000-10,000

Our stretch goal is $35k, which would ensure the completion of the production and post-production.

The majority of our cost goes into paying our cast and crew fairly, as well as equipment and location rentals.

Every dollar donated goes directly into an essential cost for the development of this project.

We are deeply committed to protecting the human process of filmmaking. We take a strong stance against the increasing implementation of AI in the entertainment industry. We believe stories like this only resonate because they are built through genuine collaboration, vulnerability, and lived experience. This project is rooted in human creativity, and every dollar raised goes toward supporting the artists and craftspeople bringing it to life.

We aren’t just funding a single episode. We are building the foundation for a series that allows young people to truly see themselves on screen honestly, compassionately, and without exaggeration. 

Funds from this campaign will go directly toward paying cast and crew fairly, securing locations, production design, sound, equipment rentals, and post-production so we can create a proof-of-concept pilot strong enough to pitch as a full series. 

HELP US MAKE OUR DREAMS COME TRUE!

If you love to see queer relationships explored on screen, coming-of-age storytelling, and the hilarity around the humiliating process of growing up and getting tall, we are making this for you!

Please share this with your friends and family, and become a part of the ever growing friend circle that is making Friends But Not Friends possible.

PLEDGE:

Pledge to make a donation to our campaign! Whether you pledge $1,000 or $15, we mean it when we say every dollar counts. Don't forget to visit our Incentive page!

SHARING:

Following and Sharing are critical parts of our crowdfunding campaign—in fact, it's how crowdfunding works! It's about getting the word out, telling friends, artists, and family about the campaign, and getting as many eyeballs on it as possible. 

It's also the perfect way to contribute if you aren't able to make a financial contribution!

Following helps us unlock Seed&Spark creator perks! Share our campaign! The more people who see this, the greater our chances are of reaching our goal! This can be talking to friends and family, re-posting, sharing on your stories, or all of the above (preferably)! Here’s a little math for you: If 1,000 people donate $25 we’ll reach our goal! Not bad! But we need those shares to make it count.

This is why we need your support!

Follow us on Seed&Spark as well as Instagram! This is where you can see our progress and share our updates!

WHAT TO SAY:

Here are some ideas for what you can say to share our campaign:

• My friends Lizzy and Nicky are crowdfunding for their pilot @friendsbutnotfriends and I'm so excited to see it come to life! Find out more on the @seedandspark page #FriendsButNotFriendsTv
• So excited to support @friendsbutnotfriends and indie filmmakers hilarious new tv show! #FriendsButNotFriends on @seedandspark! Join them here:

Thank you for all your support! We're so excited to take you along this journey!

Hope is only ever one story away.  Be the friend that makes Friends But Not Friends possible.