It's an unusually hot October day in San Francisco. Game 3 of the World Series dubbed "The Battle of the Bay" is about to commence. The San Francisco Giants vs the Oakland A's. The entire Bay is watching, including the Dimayuga family from a tiny house in Daly City.

The Dimayugas are gathered for the double-birthday-party of two cousins with completely different approaches to life.

34-year-old Brian is a duty-driven, risk-averse accountant who’s hesitant to accept a big promotion, citing the role’s relocation to LA as the reason.

And 17-year-old RJ is a daredevil skater on a mission to land the cover of Thrasher magazine by ollie-ing across a four story tall roof gap. He just needs a working camera.

Their paths collide in Brian’s childhood bedroom when RJ tries to smooth talk Brian into letting him borrow his old camera. Brian was a talented photographer in his youth, but it’s since become a long-forgotten passion. This sparks a conversation about Brian's past. RJ's Future. And the question: Is following your dreams worth the risk?

When RJ’s intentions to ollie the roof gap are revealed, the conversation sours. Brian refuses to aid RJ in attempting such a dangerous stunt. Tensions rise as they argue their points of view until finally boiling over when RJ calls Brian a coward for not having enough courage to pursue his own dreams.

The conversation ends when they’re called by the family to blow out their birthday cakes.

But RJ’s words make Brian reflect—on his career, on his dreams... He takes in his old bedroom, his childhood artifacts... then realizes... his camera is gone…

RJ is nowhere to be found…

And the Loma Prieta EARTHQUAKE hits…

The Inspiration

Most of my older cousins were in elementary school when the real Loma Prieta earthquake hit.

They would go to my grandma’s house every day after school and on this particular day, my mom brought my older brother, who was born just 10 days earlier, to the house to meet them. 

The excitement of meeting the newest member of the family was short lived once the earthquake hit. So every year on my brother’s birthday, my cousins retell the story of the earthquake, joking about how they thought he was a demon baby for bringing the earthquake with him!

The earthquake story has always stuck with me and one day when thinking about a short film idea I could write, it clicked to set it here.

Why This Story Matters

The world is changing. What was once considered a “safe” career path is not so guaranteed anymore. Mass layoffs, economic disruption, and AI are all forcing us to reconsider our own paths, and the illusion of a “stable career” is slowly fading.

But something happens when we realize that the future isn’t guaranteed. We start taking risks. We pivot back to paths that were once childhood dreams left behind. Because those dreams weren’t guaranteed… but neither is the alternative.

In our story Brian chooses the safe path, and his dreams of being a professional photographer are shelved, but when RJ’s daredevil view on life makes him to question his own, he might just realize why some dreams are a risk worth taking.

The Writer & Director

Hi, I’m Patrick Maclan. A Filipino American filmmaker born and raised in the Bay Area.

Loma Prieta will be my first big narrative short, but I’ve spent years directing music videos and writing screenplays. Here’s some of my work: Put Me On Somethin’ - P-Lo & E-40, Light This B Up - P-Lo, G-Eazy, Jay Ant, Drop It - Myles Parrish. With Loma Prieta, rather than make a proof-of-concept short of a feature script, I set out to write a contained short film with a true ending. Because I love a good ending. And trust me, we got a good one.

There’s a bunch of stories about Asian American kids pushing back against their traditions in hopes of assimilating to western society, but growing up in a predominantly Filipino neighborhood, that was never my experience. I wasn’t worried about being bullied for bringing leftover Filipino food to lunch the next day. 

The truth is there’s a lot of untold stories from the Asian Diaspora.

In 2018 I was terrified to tell my mom I was moving to LA. Pursuing such a volatile career in film with no school, no prospects, just a dream. When I finally gathered the courage to tell her, I thought she would try to talk me out of it, but instead she told me— 

“Go! Of course, go!”

“...you’re not mad?”

“Why would I be mad? It’s what you want to do, right?”

She supported me 100%.

I was shocked. I think I was conditioned by all the tiger moms I saw on screen. And up until then I never really realized how much Asian American representation influenced my own thoughts. If I had seen an Asian mom like that on screen, maybe I wouldn't have been so terrified in the first place. And if another kid saw that, maybe they would find the courage to pursue their own dreams sooner. The more stories we get to tell, the more we get to expand upon “what it means to be Asian American.” The more we get to step away from tropes. The more we get to just be human.

Because Asian American stories are really just human stories, and the cultural specificities are just the colors that paint the world.

The Team

Christianne Sykes - Producer

Christianne Sykes is an award-winning producer and director, and an entrepreneur, born and raised in the San Francisco Bay Area. Her recent films includes “Building on History & Legacy: The Filipino-American Experience” and “The Incredible Sensational Fiancée of Sèyí Àjàyí”, both in which received accolades in 2025, underscoring her commitment to empowering stories by bringing them to wider audiences. She brings over a decade of experience guiding projects from idea to delivery, grounded in creative vision, operational leadership, and a focus on meaningful impact. She is also the founder of CeeWave Productions and Rep’d Film Collective, both Bay Area-based initiatives focused on building representation and highlighting stories in Film and Media.

Kiersten Villanueva - Producer

Kiersten Villanueva is a Filipino American independent filmmaker based between the Bay Area and Los Angeles, and is the founder of Tribu Tales and Head of Film/TV/New Media at Empowerhouse. Under Empowerhouse, he’s produced two short films, Milk & Honey and Lola Never Smiles, directed by Rachel Leyco and Alex Tobias respectively. He’s currently in post production for his next short film, Mimic - a horror story featuring the Filipino shapeshifting vampire, the Aswang!

Tehillah De Castro - Cinematographer

Tehillah de Castro is a Los Angeles-based cinematographer from the San Francisco Bay Area. Recognized as one of American Cinematographer’s 2025 Rising Stars of Cinematography, her credits span a wide-range of work from feature length films to commercials and music videos. She’s worked with some of the biggest names in music, including Olivia Rodrigo, Bruno Mars, Kehlani, and Post Malone. Her critically acclaimed indie feature, How to Blow Up a Pipeline (2022), made waves after its premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival. And her short film, Trokas Duras (2025), won the Short Film Jury Award for U.S. Fiction at the Sundance Film Festival.

Featuring Original Music By P-Lo

P-Lo has become known as a rising star on the left side of the country known for his catchy raps, energetic production, and smile full of gold teeth. Hailing from the Bay Area, his start came from founding the HBK Gang which revitalized the Bay Area's once stagnant music scene. As he was crafting his own music, his production for other artists took off with commercial hits for artists such as Yo Gotti, Wiz Khalifa, Chris Brown, Trey Songz, Kehlani, Sage the Gemini, YG, & more. His full length project More Than Anything laid a foundation for P-Lo as he stepped out from behind the scenes with his breakout record "Put Me On Somethin'" featuring E-40. As his fanbase grows and more people get acquainted with the Filipino-American MC, his sound has expanded too with songs that range from melodic records to thunderous anthems.

Budget Breakdown

Stretch Goals

We need $20,000 minimum to make this film, but with an increased budget we can add production value, better visual effects, and pay our crew better wages.

$25,000: Upgraded VFX - With a small VFX budget, we’re limiting the way we can shoot the skateboarding, earthquake, and rooftop sequences, but by reaching this goal we can bring these scenes to their full potential.

$30,000: Increased Production Design, Props, and Costume Budget - Recreating a period accurate 1989 San Francisco is a big undertaking. By reaching this goal we’ll have bigger budgets for 80s props, costumes, and production design, helping us achieve an overall richer world.

$35,000: Increase Crew Pay - The reality of low-budget filmmaking is that it takes a lot of favors. By hitting this stretch goal, we’ll have the ability to pay our cast & crew better wages.

Production Timeline

How You Can Help

Contribute your way!

Contributing in any capacity is greatly appreciated. No amount is too small or too big!

If you want to contribute more than the Executive Producer incentive, or if you want to pledge an amount in between incentives, enter your custom amount by hitting “Make A Pledge” in the top right of the page, and contribute your way.

Share our campaign!

Share this campaign to family, friends, skaters, photographers, dreamers, millennials with a mid-life crisis, anyone who you think would be interested!

Follow our Instagram!

@lomaprietafilm

We’ll be sharing updates on the project and info about our in-person crowdfunding events in SF and LA there.

From the bottom of my heart, thank you so much.

Sincerely,

Patrick Maclan