I Do This For A Living - Feature Film
Conway, Arkansas | Film Feature
Drama, LGBTQ
I Do This for A Living is an intimate convergence of worlds; family life, art, and healing. Both on screen and in our real-world relationships. This film is based on my family, myself living in the American South. I will be directing my parents as themselves while healing relationships.
I Do This For A Living - Feature Film
Conway, Arkansas | Film Feature
Drama, LGBTQ
1 Campaigns | Arkansas, United States
Green Light
This campaign raised $11,914 for production. Follow the filmmaker to receive future updates on this project.
61 supporters | followers
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I Do This for A Living is an intimate convergence of worlds; family life, art, and healing. Both on screen and in our real-world relationships. This film is based on my family, myself living in the American South. I will be directing my parents as themselves while healing relationships.
About The Project
- The Story
- Wishlist
- Updates
- The Team
- Community
Mission Statement
The Story
Logline
Jeff, a working class man, must settle his differences between work and family before he loses the only way of life that he knows.
The Story
This is the story of my father, Jeff, based on actual events, moments and feelings from small town Arkansas.
Director's Statement
Noah grew up in a small farming town of 700 in north eastern Arkansas, raised by a stay at home mom and a diesel mechanic.
Noah strives to make films relating to specific struggles in the southern community, and sees themselves as an ethical filmmaker who sees the art as a way of life and a means of helping people.
"This story is loosely based on my life growing up in north east Arkansas, so most of the locations, characters and incidents are taken from different aspects of life that I’ve been around as a kid/teenager. It excites me because it deals with a lot of themes that I have been interested in and wanted to write about. It is also very challenging to separate myself from the work and to make it as good as I can, to tell someone else's story and not necessarily my own--at least on the surface level. Bridging the gap between filmic truth/reality and actuality is something that I hope to do well." - Noah Arthur Woods
_______________________________________________________________
Characters
Jeff - A working class father in his mid-50's battling the responsibilities of work, family, and himself.
Cheryl - A teacher juggling the state of her son, Ab, and taking care of Jeff.
Ab - A recovering addict that had to move back home, struggles with love and depression.
Bo - A trans girl, who is dealing with an abusive household, finds comfort under Jeff's wing while helping Ab.
_______________________________________________________________
The Location
The film will be shot on location in the small town of Tyronza, Arknasas. Where the filmmaker and most of the cast and crew grew up. Its a small community off of the highway between Jonesboro Arkansas and Memphis Tennessee, where it is surrounded by fields of crops and roads left to rubble in the wake of bigger cities, and bigger corporations
Most of the town is people who have been there their whole lives, and have seen the town slowly deteriorate into just residents and empty businesses.
The heart of the film come from Tyronza and the little details that have been forgotten over time.
During the summers, the heat slams down on the people whom inhabit, much like Jeff - working in a diesel shop, sweating everyday to make a days wage.
___________________________________________________________________
AUDIENCE AWARENESS/ MARKETING
The LGTBQ+ community is very important to me as myself and many of my collaborators are queer. The fluidity of gender and self-expression is a big influence – not only my life but in the stories I strive to tell. I see myself as an ethical filmmaker and with that comes inclusion of all. I find most mainstream television and films tend to approach queerness as an “other” perspectivethat often fetishizes this group or approaches LGBTQ+ subject matter in an insensitive way. Thus, my works aim to be raw and truthful, and, since the air around which queerness is discussed in the South is seldom inclusive, I hope to speak as a real and counter narrative around “taboo” issues.
This film is not only a passion project, but the next step in my life. In some ways I feel as if I cannot grow as a person until I overcome hardships and expressions in my life. Thus, this project manifested itself and with your help – and most importantly, your trust, you can help me make this step.
The picture will be marketed as an indie drama/thriller based in Arkansas dealing with working class and LGBTQ+ issues with an emphasis on unique storytelling through entertainment.
The film will be marketed in an online social media presence lead by the director and producer. Also in a door-to-door, guerilla style strategy of getting the film into locals hands in the pre and post production stages, i.e., pamphlets and links to updates/website, placing posters and promo material in bigger cities such as Memphis and Little Rock.
Reaching out to local businesses is key. Obtaining trust with backers that they are investing in a worthwhile and LONG TERM reward--bringing eyes to their community and struggles.
COVID-19 GUIDELINES:
Safety is very important to us. We will be taking precautions needed to keep everyone in our cast and crew safe.
Most of our cast and crew will be vaccinated. Testing will be made available for everyone along with the needed care.
Thank you so much for taking the time to get to know this project. It is one that we hope finds its way through the art life and can connect with people.
Please follow our website at: www.idothisforaliving.com
And our Instagram for more information: @idothisforaliving.mov
Wishlist
Use the WishList to Pledge cash and Loan items - or - Make a pledge by selecting an Incentive directly.
Food For Filming
Costs $2,000
This would allow for the production to feed everyone involved.
Art Design
Costs $1,500
This helps us get needed production materials such as wardrobe, props, set design, make up, etc.
Gear
Costs $3,000
To help secure and rent needed gear for the camera, grip and electric department.
Festivals and Distribution
Costs $1,000
This will allow us to submit to festivals around the world and also allow for needed expenses.
Share this update!
About This Team
Hi, I am Noah Arthur Woods.
Writer/Director/Actor/Editor
I am a young southern filmmaker from Conway, Arkansas, raised by working-class parents and homeschooled until I discovered my life revolved around film. I finished my bachelor’s degree in film at the University of Central Arkansas in 2020.
My experiences as a child were stifling. I was never comfortable in my own body and spent hours and hours watching movies alone in my room. Since I was homeschooled and didn’t have many friends, films were a way for me to have intimate connection and see others’ perspectives. I would even brave yardwork in the heat of Southern summers to save enough money for DVD’s and grow my film collection.
Over my four years at university, I accumulated a wide variety of experience, having worked on 25+ projects – from sound, gaffing, assisting camera, producing, acting and in my case – my passion – cinematography, editing and writing/directing. I have written and directed two short films, and a feature (shot over two years as five individual short films). The Lights are Closed and My Eyes are Dark, which was awarded Audience Choice at the Filmland 2021 Festival and the Technical Achievement Award for cinematography, editing, and directing at the UCA Film Festival.
The short film Massacre, which I shot and edited, has been accepted to festivals around the states and has received accolades for photography and overall production. Additionally, I have worked in the camera department on four independent features, either as a camera op or assistant camera.
The "I Do This For A Living" team includes long time friend and film partner, David C. Cruz, who is helming the role of Director of Photography. He and Noah lived together during the making of their first features, and share a deep love of camera work and personal storytelling.
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Amalia Eddings
Producer
Amalia Eddings is a Colombian-American producer/director born and raised in Arkansas with a Bachelor of Arts in Filmmaking from the University of Central Arkansas. She currently works as an Associate Producer & Editor at video production company Content Titan. Previously she had worked as an editor/co-producer for the Arkansas-based independent production company Mudroom Films, primarily working on the feature documentary, "The 'Vous", about the lives of the waiters at the internationally famous BBQ restaurant, The Rendezvous in Memphis, Tennessee. In 2019, She interned at Vanishing Angle, a Los Angeles based production company known for award winning films such as, Sundance and SXSW winning feature "Thunder Road ''. In 2020/2021, She produced an Arkansas-made independent spanish-language feature "Llego Hoy '', about a Mexican mother's journey of reconnecting with her son and smuggling him into the States, set to be released in 2022.
Coming from a life mixed with a Hispanic and American southern background, Amalia aims to make films that promote cultures and communities that remind her of her own and are often overlooked. “I Do This For A Living” has such a nostalgic southern small town aora that any southerner will immediately feel connected to the characters who are just trying to get by day-by-day despite all the unplanned aspects life throws at them.
Marty Lang
Co-Producer
Marty Lang is an Assistant Professor of Film at the University of Memphis. He has written and directed two feature films, STAY WITH ME, being released in 2022, and RISING STAR, distributed worldwide by Content Film in 2013. His producing credits include the web series THE RIDE, a Sundance 2020 world premiere, OUT OF MY HAND, a 2016 Indie Spirit Award nominee, BEING MICHAEL MADSEN, starring Michael Madsen, Virginia Madsen, David Carradine and Lacey Chabert, and CHOMPY & THE GIRLS, featuring Udo Kier, released in 2021 by Freestyle Digital Media. He is also the creator of the Connecticut Film Industry Training Program, a state-sponsored, nationally-recognized film workforce development initiative that ran from 2008 to 2012. He is a member of the Writers Guild of America, West.
Jeffery Woods
Producer
Jeffery Woods was raised in Tyronza, Arkansas. He received his degree from the University of Central Arkansas in Management Information Systems and currently works in Nashville Tennessee. He has also been in the photography business for over a decade and runs Redwoods Photography.
His experiences with the subject matter of "I Do This For A Living" is a valuable one, aiding in the representation of the town, the people and the message. He is working closely alongside the production.
Current Team
Incentives
- The Story
- Wishlist
- Updates
- The Team
- Community
Mission Statement
The Story
Logline
Jeff, a working class man, must settle his differences between work and family before he loses the only way of life that he knows.
The Story
This is the story of my father, Jeff, based on actual events, moments and feelings from small town Arkansas.
Director's Statement
Noah grew up in a small farming town of 700 in north eastern Arkansas, raised by a stay at home mom and a diesel mechanic.
Noah strives to make films relating to specific struggles in the southern community, and sees themselves as an ethical filmmaker who sees the art as a way of life and a means of helping people.
"This story is loosely based on my life growing up in north east Arkansas, so most of the locations, characters and incidents are taken from different aspects of life that I’ve been around as a kid/teenager. It excites me because it deals with a lot of themes that I have been interested in and wanted to write about. It is also very challenging to separate myself from the work and to make it as good as I can, to tell someone else's story and not necessarily my own--at least on the surface level. Bridging the gap between filmic truth/reality and actuality is something that I hope to do well." - Noah Arthur Woods
_______________________________________________________________
Characters
Jeff - A working class father in his mid-50's battling the responsibilities of work, family, and himself.
Cheryl - A teacher juggling the state of her son, Ab, and taking care of Jeff.
Ab - A recovering addict that had to move back home, struggles with love and depression.
Bo - A trans girl, who is dealing with an abusive household, finds comfort under Jeff's wing while helping Ab.
_______________________________________________________________
The Location
The film will be shot on location in the small town of Tyronza, Arknasas. Where the filmmaker and most of the cast and crew grew up. Its a small community off of the highway between Jonesboro Arkansas and Memphis Tennessee, where it is surrounded by fields of crops and roads left to rubble in the wake of bigger cities, and bigger corporations
Most of the town is people who have been there their whole lives, and have seen the town slowly deteriorate into just residents and empty businesses.
The heart of the film come from Tyronza and the little details that have been forgotten over time.
During the summers, the heat slams down on the people whom inhabit, much like Jeff - working in a diesel shop, sweating everyday to make a days wage.
___________________________________________________________________
AUDIENCE AWARENESS/ MARKETING
The LGTBQ+ community is very important to me as myself and many of my collaborators are queer. The fluidity of gender and self-expression is a big influence – not only my life but in the stories I strive to tell. I see myself as an ethical filmmaker and with that comes inclusion of all. I find most mainstream television and films tend to approach queerness as an “other” perspectivethat often fetishizes this group or approaches LGBTQ+ subject matter in an insensitive way. Thus, my works aim to be raw and truthful, and, since the air around which queerness is discussed in the South is seldom inclusive, I hope to speak as a real and counter narrative around “taboo” issues.
This film is not only a passion project, but the next step in my life. In some ways I feel as if I cannot grow as a person until I overcome hardships and expressions in my life. Thus, this project manifested itself and with your help – and most importantly, your trust, you can help me make this step.
The picture will be marketed as an indie drama/thriller based in Arkansas dealing with working class and LGBTQ+ issues with an emphasis on unique storytelling through entertainment.
The film will be marketed in an online social media presence lead by the director and producer. Also in a door-to-door, guerilla style strategy of getting the film into locals hands in the pre and post production stages, i.e., pamphlets and links to updates/website, placing posters and promo material in bigger cities such as Memphis and Little Rock.
Reaching out to local businesses is key. Obtaining trust with backers that they are investing in a worthwhile and LONG TERM reward--bringing eyes to their community and struggles.
COVID-19 GUIDELINES:
Safety is very important to us. We will be taking precautions needed to keep everyone in our cast and crew safe.
Most of our cast and crew will be vaccinated. Testing will be made available for everyone along with the needed care.
Thank you so much for taking the time to get to know this project. It is one that we hope finds its way through the art life and can connect with people.
Please follow our website at: www.idothisforaliving.com
And our Instagram for more information: @idothisforaliving.mov
Wishlist
Use the WishList to Pledge cash and Loan items - or - Make a pledge by selecting an Incentive directly.
Food For Filming
Costs $2,000
This would allow for the production to feed everyone involved.
Art Design
Costs $1,500
This helps us get needed production materials such as wardrobe, props, set design, make up, etc.
Gear
Costs $3,000
To help secure and rent needed gear for the camera, grip and electric department.
Festivals and Distribution
Costs $1,000
This will allow us to submit to festivals around the world and also allow for needed expenses.
Share this update!
About This Team
Hi, I am Noah Arthur Woods.
Writer/Director/Actor/Editor
I am a young southern filmmaker from Conway, Arkansas, raised by working-class parents and homeschooled until I discovered my life revolved around film. I finished my bachelor’s degree in film at the University of Central Arkansas in 2020.
My experiences as a child were stifling. I was never comfortable in my own body and spent hours and hours watching movies alone in my room. Since I was homeschooled and didn’t have many friends, films were a way for me to have intimate connection and see others’ perspectives. I would even brave yardwork in the heat of Southern summers to save enough money for DVD’s and grow my film collection.
Over my four years at university, I accumulated a wide variety of experience, having worked on 25+ projects – from sound, gaffing, assisting camera, producing, acting and in my case – my passion – cinematography, editing and writing/directing. I have written and directed two short films, and a feature (shot over two years as five individual short films). The Lights are Closed and My Eyes are Dark, which was awarded Audience Choice at the Filmland 2021 Festival and the Technical Achievement Award for cinematography, editing, and directing at the UCA Film Festival.
The short film Massacre, which I shot and edited, has been accepted to festivals around the states and has received accolades for photography and overall production. Additionally, I have worked in the camera department on four independent features, either as a camera op or assistant camera.
The "I Do This For A Living" team includes long time friend and film partner, David C. Cruz, who is helming the role of Director of Photography. He and Noah lived together during the making of their first features, and share a deep love of camera work and personal storytelling.
Amalia Eddings
Producer
Amalia Eddings is a Colombian-American producer/director born and raised in Arkansas with a Bachelor of Arts in Filmmaking from the University of Central Arkansas. She currently works as an Associate Producer & Editor at video production company Content Titan. Previously she had worked as an editor/co-producer for the Arkansas-based independent production company Mudroom Films, primarily working on the feature documentary, "The 'Vous", about the lives of the waiters at the internationally famous BBQ restaurant, The Rendezvous in Memphis, Tennessee. In 2019, She interned at Vanishing Angle, a Los Angeles based production company known for award winning films such as, Sundance and SXSW winning feature "Thunder Road ''. In 2020/2021, She produced an Arkansas-made independent spanish-language feature "Llego Hoy '', about a Mexican mother's journey of reconnecting with her son and smuggling him into the States, set to be released in 2022.
Coming from a life mixed with a Hispanic and American southern background, Amalia aims to make films that promote cultures and communities that remind her of her own and are often overlooked. “I Do This For A Living” has such a nostalgic southern small town aora that any southerner will immediately feel connected to the characters who are just trying to get by day-by-day despite all the unplanned aspects life throws at them.
Marty Lang
Co-Producer
Marty Lang is an Assistant Professor of Film at the University of Memphis. He has written and directed two feature films, STAY WITH ME, being released in 2022, and RISING STAR, distributed worldwide by Content Film in 2013. His producing credits include the web series THE RIDE, a Sundance 2020 world premiere, OUT OF MY HAND, a 2016 Indie Spirit Award nominee, BEING MICHAEL MADSEN, starring Michael Madsen, Virginia Madsen, David Carradine and Lacey Chabert, and CHOMPY & THE GIRLS, featuring Udo Kier, released in 2021 by Freestyle Digital Media. He is also the creator of the Connecticut Film Industry Training Program, a state-sponsored, nationally-recognized film workforce development initiative that ran from 2008 to 2012. He is a member of the Writers Guild of America, West.
Jeffery Woods
Producer
Jeffery Woods was raised in Tyronza, Arkansas. He received his degree from the University of Central Arkansas in Management Information Systems and currently works in Nashville Tennessee. He has also been in the photography business for over a decade and runs Redwoods Photography.
His experiences with the subject matter of "I Do This For A Living" is a valuable one, aiding in the representation of the town, the people and the message. He is working closely alongside the production.