It's a tale as old as time: boy meets girl, boy falls in love with girl, boy and girl live happily ever after. Yawn. Thankfully, this isn't that story. You're welcome. 

Grand Romantic Gestures finds Joe and Katie in a diner on their one year anniversary. But, this story isn't about Joe and Katie. This story is about Katie. When Joe proposes to her, she is faced with a decision: say yes to the comfortable and the familiar, or take ownership over her own destiny and venture into an unknown world to discover what else might be out there for her. Katie's tale is an exploration of tension, dichotomy, and courage. It is about a woman rejecting the tropes of "happily ever after" and having her own journey full of depth, complexity, and strength. Plus, it's complete with a wild twist that brings new meaning to, "not if you were the last man on earth!"

In the words of our incredible Cinematographer, Zac Sprague, "Humor, opposition, and tension dominate the script..and represent a wealth of opportunities to portray the friction between Joe and Katie, Katie’s rising resolve, Joe’s desparation, and the revelation of the world the’ve been living in." The bulk of our film takes place at a booth in a diner, which have long served as the setting for breakups, planning, revelations, fights, and more in cinema. We aim to pull inspiration from movies like Punch Drunk Love, Paris, TX, and Miracle Mile for inspiration, allowing us to visually play with tension, frame weight, and power dyanmics between our two characters.

We are a determined team of indie filmmakers from a variety of backgrounds and experiences who are united under one common theme: making good stuff. Learn more about us HERE!

Your contributions will be utilized for production costs including location fees, feeding our cast and crew, and (most importantly) ensuring each member of our cast and crew is paid a fair wage for their time and talents. The entirety of this campaign is geared toward our pilot episode, with the hopes that it will serve as a solid proof of concept to send out on the festival circuit and to potential investors. It would not be possible without your help, and we are endlessly thankful for you.

We are planning for two-and-a-half days of production. Shoots will be done overnight at a local diner that is allowing us to rent out their space during non-business hours. The owners of this diner also own an identical diner just down the road that has been closed for nearly a decade and will serve as the perfect visual ot build out our exterior world. 

Production is going to take place in January of 2023 in Georgetown, TX. Our cast and crew fully recognize the ongoing health threats associated with Covid and other virsuses that are prevelant in the winter months and will ensure the production is Covid-compliant in order to protect the health and safety of our team. 

Once we complete the pilot episode of Grand Romantic Gestures we are planning for a year-long festival run with the hopes of shopping it to investors who may be interested in producing the remaining episodes. Our Producer, Marissa, is the Shorts Programmer at Austin Film Festival, so she knows a thing or two about how to have a successful festival run! Season 1 is currently fully written and ready to be pitched.  Thank you so much for taking the time to contribute to our project!

SPREAD THE WORD

The only way we will reach our crowdfunding goal is if we reach beyond our networks. It is time we breathe new life into the tired old "boy meets girl" story.  If you’d like to be a part of supporting our team and a project that champions women both on and off screen, YOU can help us!

Please share our campaign via your social media, email, word-of-mouth, however you want!  We can't do this without you!

Here are some examples.  Feel free to copy and paste!

Help the filmmakers behind @grandromanticgesturesseries by supporting their film that champions women everywhere who are independent, complex, and strong characters. Join them on @seedandspark: https://seedandspark.com/fund/grand-romantic-gestures

Boy meets girl. They fall in love. Boy asks girl to marry him and they live happily ever after. YAWN! Join the filmmakers behind @grandromanticgesturesseries as they turn the romcom genre on it's head to deliver something entirely new and refreshing...with a wild twist. Join them on @seedandspark: https://seedandspark.com/fund/grand-romantic-gestures