Only Business
New York City, New York | Film Short
Drama
In this coming-of-age story, our two main characters struggle to redefine the power dynamic in their friendship when their independent business finds unexpected success. Complicated by their opposing views on sexual liberation, the film explores the intricacies and intimacies of female friendship.
Only Business
New York City, New York | Film Short
Drama
1 Campaigns | California, United States
Green Light
This campaign raised $14,830 for production. Follow the filmmaker to receive future updates on this project.
93 supporters | followers
Enter the amount you would like to pledge
In this coming-of-age story, our two main characters struggle to redefine the power dynamic in their friendship when their independent business finds unexpected success. Complicated by their opposing views on sexual liberation, the film explores the intricacies and intimacies of female friendship.
About The Project
- The Story
- Wishlist
- Updates
- The Team
- Community
Mission Statement
The Story
Inspired by the stories of OnlyFans creators, and the many Instagram influencers who have launched their businesses from their iPhones, Only Business' creative team is thrilled to embark on this project. From pitching their bikini company in a Business for Entrepreneurs Class to becoming an overnight success, Savanah and Ruth face a lot of questions from the public. Who are the angel investors who got their bikini line off to its incredible start? How do best friends seamlessly transition into business partners? The ambitious best friends navigate the nuances of a new business, all the while sitting on a big secret.
Set in New York, Ruth Dunn and Savanah Buckler – broke and uninspired business students at NYU – are tied at the hip. They're not just roommates, Sav and Ruth are best friends and soon-to-be business partners. When the two begin secretly raising money for their bathing suit line with the help of a subscription-based porn profile, Sav and Ruth are surprised by the success of their business. But will that success come at a price?
(The Relationship):
.jpg)
Their relationship is codependent, sure, but that never seemed to be a problem... until now. When Savanah stops needing Ruth's validation, and Ruth begins to question the nature of her feelings for Savannah, the power dynamics shift and trouble is on the horizon.
Straight-A, student body president Ruth has always felt like Savanah needed her. Ruth is opinionated, strong-willed, passionate, knows what she wants... all qualities that have served her well in being successful in college.
(Ruth):
.jpg)
Savanah, on the other hand, has floated aimlessly through life, lacking a strong sense of self. Sav finds herself gravitating towards Ruth, because her electric best friend made her feel special and seen. However, when Ruth offers up Savanah an identity that finally makes Savanah feel alive and like she has found her true being, Ruth struggles to get Savanah's attention back.
(Savanah):
The film is structured around an interview for a podcast that highlights successful female entrepreneurs. As the interviewer peppers them with questions, Savanah and Ruth seem amicable at first. But, through flashbacks, we learn about the damaged friendship at the core of their powerful new business. In the flashbacks, we are also let in on the secrets that Ruth and Savanah are hiding from the world and the potential societal backlash that comes with them.
(Podcast Studio):
.jpg)
We chose New York as the location for this story to take place because New York is the city of hustlers. As the saying goes, it's the city that never sleeps. New York oozes the promise of success, which is why it attracts creative young people with big dreams. But New York's imperfections – its cliches, its high cost of living, its demanding lifestyle – are plentiful and present in our character's lives. The location needed to reflect the grit of our characters, so what better place to set our film than Williamsburg, New York.
(New York; photography by Art Director Nicole Shears):
.jpg)
The film also examines the topic of subscription-based pornography. With the rise of the cam girl in recent years, people who identify as sex workers (and people who do not) have found success on virtual pornography platforms. With the 2016 launch of OnlyFans (a content subscription service), some creators report coming to the site to make some extra money, but then found the experience made them feel attractive and empowered.
The debate surrounding sites like OnlyFans acts as a throughline for the film. Ruth and Savanah have opposing views on the value of putting the most intimate parts of yourself online for the consumption of others, and the film's goal is to show the very real experiences women have in regards to their bodies and the judgment and shame they inherit living in a cisheteropatriarchal world. So, will the truth ever come out to the public that the backing for Savanah and Ruth's superstar company is all from Savanah's OnlyFans? You'll have to watch our film to find out.
-31 (dragged).jpg)
WHY NOW?
You may be wondering why our team would make a film now, during a global pandemic? Believe me, we recognize all the struggles the past year has brought and we don't take that lightly. We recognize that many people around us have lost jobs, loved ones, struggled through hard times, felt isolated and depressed, all of which make it difficult to ask for funding. However, we also see that this is a perfect time to tell this story. With the rise in cam girls and OnlyFans during the pandemic, it's time that sex workers get the respect they deserve.
The "Only Business" team sees it as our duty to tell a story humanizing sex workers and strong powerful women and showing that they can be one in the same. We would like our audience to watch our film and question the biases and prejudices they may have about sex workers or even better, enforce their support of every human having autonomy over what they choose to do with their body and how they feel about those choices.
The film is written. The team is built. We have the general dates for filming (look out April, here we come). All we need now is help from you to make it so we can afford our principal photography and post-production. Your pledge will allow us to make a clean cut of the story we are trying to tell. Your pledge will get “Only Business” to the highest quality picture we can achieve. Your pledge will help us create a film we are proud to submit to festivals, where we hope to achieve recognition for our creative storytelling about strong women. And should any investors take an interest in our story, we may even have a whole series in mind.
Though COVID certainly makes for challenges in filming, our team has already made a plan on how we will stay safe on set, which includes having one of our team members, Heather Scott, taking a COVID Safety Compliance course. With that, we will be able to ensure our health and safety. 2020 taught us that roadblocks only make us stronger. We are entering 2021 knowing that we can weather any storm, especially as a team of powerful, creative, passionate women.
Wishlist
Use the WishList to Pledge cash and Loan items - or - Make a pledge by selecting an Incentive directly.
Transportation and Van Rental
Costs $700
A Van for this project will allow us to move quickly and efficiently from each location we shoot at.
Location
Costs $1,200
We will need to rent an Airbnb to shoot at, which will also double as housing for the team.
COVID Safety
Costs $1,000
We are dedicated to the mission of keeping all of our cast and crew safe and healthy.
Post-Production
Costs $1,200
We are dedicated to having the highest quality of editing to bring our story to life.
Food for the Cast and Crew
Costs $1,400
Everyone's gotta eat.
Compensation for Labor
Costs $2,000
Our crew needs to be compensated.
Cash Pledge
Costs $0
Sony FX9
Costs $2,500
This camera will deliver the highest quality of image to tell our story.
Sound Equipment
Costs $600
Having great sound can make a break a project and we will stop at nothing to get this right.
Lighting Rental
Costs $2,000
Perfect lighting for the film is essential. Help us get the lighting gear of our filmmaker dreams!
Director's Monitor Rental
Costs $280
This allows our Director to see everything the DP is capturing on camera.
Costume Design
Costs $300
Wardrobe will show the nuances of our characters and depict their own personal style.
Set Design
Costs $1,200
We need to create the world in which Ruth and Savanah live.
Direct link:
Share this update!
About This Team
Priya Mishra - Director
Priya Mishra is a burgeoning filmmaker, who wrote and directed her debut short film, “Bath Bomb” in Fall 2019. A second-generation Indian immigrant who has lived in New York her whole life, and a girl who lost her mom during her junior year of college, Priya’s work centers on love, grief, acceptance, social-critique, and embracing your anger. With over 10 years of experience in visual arts and writing, Priya has found the film to be an exciting medium through which to exercise her prior talents. Priya hopes that her work will make audiences feel more connected with other human beings, angrier at the state of the world, and more willing to make it better by embracing vulnerability and kindness. When she’s not soliciting her friends for advice on her writing, Priya can be found gardening, baking, embroidering, and over-analyzing early 2000s sit-coms (#JustQuarantineThings).
.jpg)
Kyra Chen - Director of Photography
Kyra is a Taiwanese cinematographer and huge camera nerd passionate about lighting and crafting images in service of telling stories that need to be heard from voices that do not have the chance to speak enough. While studying Visual Arts and Music at Columbia University, Kyra devoted every free moment outside of academics to working behind the camera and crewing in the New York indie film scene, which led to her cinematography work premiering at the 2020 Athena Film Festival. Most recently, her adventures in filmmaking have led her from shooting 35mm shorts while training at the Film and TV School of the Academy of Performing Arts in Prague to lensing documentaries on the streets and through the mountains of Cuba through NYU Tisch School of the Arts to production managing a feature film under the big sky of Montana.
Nico Shea - Art Director
Nicole is a Brooklyn based Art Director. She grew up in Southern California exploring many mediums of art from a very young age. She attended California Institute of the Arts (CalArts) receiving a BFA in Filmmaking. While at CalArts, Nicole spent her time making experimental films and Art Directing music videos and short films. Her work ranges from very surreal experimental to realistic and practical. In the past few years, she has worked to bring the visions of many artists and directors to life including ASAP Rocky, Charli XCX, Jacquie Lee, Kimi Selfridge, Blair Waters, Alex Girav, and more. In 2018 Nicole moved to New York and has since worked for Pier 59 Studios, Red Marble Media, as well as working freelance as a Production Designer for various projects. She is so excited to bring the set of Only Business to life. Working with this cast and crew full of powerful, amazing women is her dream come true.
Allison Lewis-Towbes - Producer
Allison Lewis-Towbes is a New York-based actor and producer. Originally from Santa
Barbara, California, she left the West Coast to study at Northwestern University. There,
she had the opportunity to work both on camera and on stage and also spent a
summer at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Arts in London.
Allison moved from Chicago to New York in 2019, where she co-founded the NY
chapter of OTVReads, an offshoot new play program of California’s On The Verge
Festival (of which she is a founding company member). She’s also trained in the
professional program at The Barrow Group during her time in New York. Allison is a
proud member of SAG-AFTRA.
Her interests include queering narratives, running along the West Side Highway, and walking her dog (who’s
objectively better than any other dog, don’t fight her on this). Thank you to this dream
team.
Heather Scott - Producer
Heather is an attorney by trade—earning a JD from Pepperdine Caruso School of Law and an
LL.M. in Fashion Law from Fordham University School of law. She has experience working at
SAG-AFTRA and in the music industry. Heather is dedicated to using her law degree in
furtherance of the creative arts.
Allie Scott - Producer and Writer
Allie is a Los Angeles native who has in recent years become a bicoastal artist.
After spending the last two years living in New York, Allie has just relocated back to LA as
her home base. She has been acting and storytelling since the age of 6 and has made it her life purpose to tell stories that encourage people to be the fullest version of themselves.
Allie is making a splash in the production world as "Only Business" is her producing debut.
Allie plans to continue to write and produce many more projects to come and believes the
female-identifying storyteller needs to be heard. She will stop at nothing to make sure this
happens by using her voice and raising up the voices of the powerful females around her.
-1.jpg)
Current Team
Incentives
- The Story
- Wishlist
- Updates
- The Team
- Community
Mission Statement
The Story
Inspired by the stories of OnlyFans creators, and the many Instagram influencers who have launched their businesses from their iPhones, Only Business' creative team is thrilled to embark on this project. From pitching their bikini company in a Business for Entrepreneurs Class to becoming an overnight success, Savanah and Ruth face a lot of questions from the public. Who are the angel investors who got their bikini line off to its incredible start? How do best friends seamlessly transition into business partners? The ambitious best friends navigate the nuances of a new business, all the while sitting on a big secret.
Set in New York, Ruth Dunn and Savanah Buckler – broke and uninspired business students at NYU – are tied at the hip. They're not just roommates, Sav and Ruth are best friends and soon-to-be business partners. When the two begin secretly raising money for their bathing suit line with the help of a subscription-based porn profile, Sav and Ruth are surprised by the success of their business. But will that success come at a price?
(The Relationship):
Their relationship is codependent, sure, but that never seemed to be a problem... until now. When Savanah stops needing Ruth's validation, and Ruth begins to question the nature of her feelings for Savannah, the power dynamics shift and trouble is on the horizon.
Straight-A, student body president Ruth has always felt like Savanah needed her. Ruth is opinionated, strong-willed, passionate, knows what she wants... all qualities that have served her well in being successful in college.
(Ruth):
Savanah, on the other hand, has floated aimlessly through life, lacking a strong sense of self. Sav finds herself gravitating towards Ruth, because her electric best friend made her feel special and seen. However, when Ruth offers up Savanah an identity that finally makes Savanah feel alive and like she has found her true being, Ruth struggles to get Savanah's attention back.
(Savanah):
The film is structured around an interview for a podcast that highlights successful female entrepreneurs. As the interviewer peppers them with questions, Savanah and Ruth seem amicable at first. But, through flashbacks, we learn about the damaged friendship at the core of their powerful new business. In the flashbacks, we are also let in on the secrets that Ruth and Savanah are hiding from the world and the potential societal backlash that comes with them.
(Podcast Studio):
We chose New York as the location for this story to take place because New York is the city of hustlers. As the saying goes, it's the city that never sleeps. New York oozes the promise of success, which is why it attracts creative young people with big dreams. But New York's imperfections – its cliches, its high cost of living, its demanding lifestyle – are plentiful and present in our character's lives. The location needed to reflect the grit of our characters, so what better place to set our film than Williamsburg, New York.
(New York; photography by Art Director Nicole Shears):
The film also examines the topic of subscription-based pornography. With the rise of the cam girl in recent years, people who identify as sex workers (and people who do not) have found success on virtual pornography platforms. With the 2016 launch of OnlyFans (a content subscription service), some creators report coming to the site to make some extra money, but then found the experience made them feel attractive and empowered.
The debate surrounding sites like OnlyFans acts as a throughline for the film. Ruth and Savanah have opposing views on the value of putting the most intimate parts of yourself online for the consumption of others, and the film's goal is to show the very real experiences women have in regards to their bodies and the judgment and shame they inherit living in a cisheteropatriarchal world. So, will the truth ever come out to the public that the backing for Savanah and Ruth's superstar company is all from Savanah's OnlyFans? You'll have to watch our film to find out.
WHY NOW?
You may be wondering why our team would make a film now, during a global pandemic? Believe me, we recognize all the struggles the past year has brought and we don't take that lightly. We recognize that many people around us have lost jobs, loved ones, struggled through hard times, felt isolated and depressed, all of which make it difficult to ask for funding. However, we also see that this is a perfect time to tell this story. With the rise in cam girls and OnlyFans during the pandemic, it's time that sex workers get the respect they deserve.
The "Only Business" team sees it as our duty to tell a story humanizing sex workers and strong powerful women and showing that they can be one in the same. We would like our audience to watch our film and question the biases and prejudices they may have about sex workers or even better, enforce their support of every human having autonomy over what they choose to do with their body and how they feel about those choices.
The film is written. The team is built. We have the general dates for filming (look out April, here we come). All we need now is help from you to make it so we can afford our principal photography and post-production. Your pledge will allow us to make a clean cut of the story we are trying to tell. Your pledge will get “Only Business” to the highest quality picture we can achieve. Your pledge will help us create a film we are proud to submit to festivals, where we hope to achieve recognition for our creative storytelling about strong women. And should any investors take an interest in our story, we may even have a whole series in mind.
Though COVID certainly makes for challenges in filming, our team has already made a plan on how we will stay safe on set, which includes having one of our team members, Heather Scott, taking a COVID Safety Compliance course. With that, we will be able to ensure our health and safety. 2020 taught us that roadblocks only make us stronger. We are entering 2021 knowing that we can weather any storm, especially as a team of powerful, creative, passionate women.
Wishlist
Use the WishList to Pledge cash and Loan items - or - Make a pledge by selecting an Incentive directly.
Transportation and Van Rental
Costs $700
A Van for this project will allow us to move quickly and efficiently from each location we shoot at.
Location
Costs $1,200
We will need to rent an Airbnb to shoot at, which will also double as housing for the team.
COVID Safety
Costs $1,000
We are dedicated to the mission of keeping all of our cast and crew safe and healthy.
Post-Production
Costs $1,200
We are dedicated to having the highest quality of editing to bring our story to life.
Food for the Cast and Crew
Costs $1,400
Everyone's gotta eat.
Compensation for Labor
Costs $2,000
Our crew needs to be compensated.
Cash Pledge
Costs $0
Sony FX9
Costs $2,500
This camera will deliver the highest quality of image to tell our story.
Sound Equipment
Costs $600
Having great sound can make a break a project and we will stop at nothing to get this right.
Lighting Rental
Costs $2,000
Perfect lighting for the film is essential. Help us get the lighting gear of our filmmaker dreams!
Director's Monitor Rental
Costs $280
This allows our Director to see everything the DP is capturing on camera.
Costume Design
Costs $300
Wardrobe will show the nuances of our characters and depict their own personal style.
Set Design
Costs $1,200
We need to create the world in which Ruth and Savanah live.
Direct link:
Share this update!
About This Team
Priya Mishra - Director
Priya Mishra is a burgeoning filmmaker, who wrote and directed her debut short film, “Bath Bomb” in Fall 2019. A second-generation Indian immigrant who has lived in New York her whole life, and a girl who lost her mom during her junior year of college, Priya’s work centers on love, grief, acceptance, social-critique, and embracing your anger. With over 10 years of experience in visual arts and writing, Priya has found the film to be an exciting medium through which to exercise her prior talents. Priya hopes that her work will make audiences feel more connected with other human beings, angrier at the state of the world, and more willing to make it better by embracing vulnerability and kindness. When she’s not soliciting her friends for advice on her writing, Priya can be found gardening, baking, embroidering, and over-analyzing early 2000s sit-coms (#JustQuarantineThings).
Kyra Chen - Director of Photography
Kyra is a Taiwanese cinematographer and huge camera nerd passionate about lighting and crafting images in service of telling stories that need to be heard from voices that do not have the chance to speak enough. While studying Visual Arts and Music at Columbia University, Kyra devoted every free moment outside of academics to working behind the camera and crewing in the New York indie film scene, which led to her cinematography work premiering at the 2020 Athena Film Festival. Most recently, her adventures in filmmaking have led her from shooting 35mm shorts while training at the Film and TV School of the Academy of Performing Arts in Prague to lensing documentaries on the streets and through the mountains of Cuba through NYU Tisch School of the Arts to production managing a feature film under the big sky of Montana.
Nico Shea - Art Director
Nicole is a Brooklyn based Art Director. She grew up in Southern California exploring many mediums of art from a very young age. She attended California Institute of the Arts (CalArts) receiving a BFA in Filmmaking. While at CalArts, Nicole spent her time making experimental films and Art Directing music videos and short films. Her work ranges from very surreal experimental to realistic and practical. In the past few years, she has worked to bring the visions of many artists and directors to life including ASAP Rocky, Charli XCX, Jacquie Lee, Kimi Selfridge, Blair Waters, Alex Girav, and more. In 2018 Nicole moved to New York and has since worked for Pier 59 Studios, Red Marble Media, as well as working freelance as a Production Designer for various projects. She is so excited to bring the set of Only Business to life. Working with this cast and crew full of powerful, amazing women is her dream come true.
Allison Lewis-Towbes - Producer
Allison Lewis-Towbes is a New York-based actor and producer. Originally from Santa
Barbara, California, she left the West Coast to study at Northwestern University. There,
she had the opportunity to work both on camera and on stage and also spent a
summer at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Arts in London.
Allison moved from Chicago to New York in 2019, where she co-founded the NY
chapter of OTVReads, an offshoot new play program of California’s On The Verge
Festival (of which she is a founding company member). She’s also trained in the
professional program at The Barrow Group during her time in New York. Allison is a
proud member of SAG-AFTRA.
Her interests include queering narratives, running along the West Side Highway, and walking her dog (who’s
objectively better than any other dog, don’t fight her on this). Thank you to this dream
team.
Heather Scott - Producer
Heather is an attorney by trade—earning a JD from Pepperdine Caruso School of Law and an
LL.M. in Fashion Law from Fordham University School of law. She has experience working at
SAG-AFTRA and in the music industry. Heather is dedicated to using her law degree in
furtherance of the creative arts.
Allie Scott - Producer and Writer
Allie is a Los Angeles native who has in recent years become a bicoastal artist.
After spending the last two years living in New York, Allie has just relocated back to LA as
her home base. She has been acting and storytelling since the age of 6 and has made it her life purpose to tell stories that encourage people to be the fullest version of themselves.
Allie is making a splash in the production world as "Only Business" is her producing debut.
Allie plans to continue to write and produce many more projects to come and believes the
female-identifying storyteller needs to be heard. She will stop at nothing to make sure this
happens by using her voice and raising up the voices of the powerful females around her.