Tiny Homes for Camp Fire Survivors

Sacramento, California | Film Short

Documentary

Amanda Lipp (Lipp Studios)

1 Campaigns | California, United States

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This campaign raised $17,680 for post-production. Follow the filmmaker to receive future updates on this project.

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This is the heartfelt story of a tiny home building project for survivors of one of the deadliest & most destructive wildfires in history, the 2018 Camp Fire in California. Over 400 families are still displaced and on the tiny home waitlist, some living in cars and tents. We are building everyday.

About The Project

  • The Story
  • Wishlist
  • Updates
  • The Team
  • Community

Mission Statement

It's the little things that change the world. This film is critical because it sparks awareness that leads to tiny homes getting built - and even bigger picture - local & global awareness about tiny homes as an innovative, sustainable, and low-cost relief option for those in need. 

The Story

 The heart of the story:

The film follows the tiny home building, tiny home reveal days, interviews of families who have received the homes, and the founder of the project, Alyssa Nolan-Cain - a local Butte County resident and single mother of three who lost her home herself, and then learned how to build tiny homes for Camp Fire survivors by watching YouTube videos. Alyssa's family lost their own home in the Butte Lightning Complex fire of 2008, so she knows first-hand what it's like to lose everything in a moment. Without any prior building experience, her empathy and ambition drove the project and led to hundreds of volunteers coming from around the U.S. to help build. The past year over 15 tiny homes have been built, over 40 homes pre-funded, and over 20 media outlets have covered this project. This project has organically grown by the ripple effect of everyday people paying it forward.

We hope other communities around the world will be inspired by this story of rebuilding amidst tragedy.

The need:

The Camp Fire was the deadliest wildfire in CA history, completely destroying the towns of Concow, Paradise, and other communities in Butte County. As COVID-19 presents additional obstacles during this fire season, many survivors are still displaced and grappling with loss. We expect that number to grow exponentially given the impacts of COVID-19 and 2020 fire season approaching.

Tiny homes for survivors:

These tiny homes are built by volunteers, grassroots style. People who lost homes themselves have been building homes for their neighbors. Each home costs about $10k each in materials and is made possible by ongoing fundraising and sponsorships locally and nationally. The homes are prioritized for Camp Fire survivors with the highest need (people living in cars and tents) and custom built to their needs and dreams. When homes are ready to be gifted, there is a big "reveal day" for the family or individiual receiving the home. The build site has truly become a place for recovery, community, and hope. 

 

 

The Filmmaker:

Amanda Lipp has been making short documentary films about mental health and social impact since age 18. She graduated from UC Davis with a B.S. in Human Development and has huge passion for social causes. She has made over 50 short documentaries about mental health and social impact locally and internationally. Learn more about Amanda here.

She was born and raised in Sacramento, just an hour from where the Camp Fire occured. "When the fire hit, it was hard to fathom that just an hour away people's lives were being destroyed."

When she first heard about the project, she signed up to volunteer as a builder. But then she got that filmmaker feeling, and knew she had to tell the story. She also knew that a film would be the best way to elevate the project and bring in more volunteers. She's been hustling the past year investing her personal time and resources to bring this story to life.

Amanda and the Tiny Home Founder, Alyssa, have become close friends, bonded through their shared passion for social entrepreneurship and community building.

This is more than a film. It's a movement.

It's the little things that change the world. This film is critical because it sparks awareness that leads to tiny homes getting built for Camp Fire survivors - and even bigger picture - local & global awareness about tiny homes as an innovative, sustainable, and low-cost relief option for those in need. 

This project has been a labor of love. We have hundreds of hours of footage ready to be cut in time for rapidly approaching festival deadlines, and we need your help to make it happen! As with many creatives, we have limited capacity and are crowdfunding in order to hire additional help with post-production costs. Our COVID-19 safety plan is simple, we are editing remotely and following social distance protocol.

Film Goals:

1. This fundraiser will help us complete a short documentary and submit to film festivals.

2. Our next goal is to use this short film as the "heartbeat" to gain traction so we can make more films that dive deeper into tiny home stories that help different demographics.

Fundraiser Goals:

We hope to exceed our $15,000 crowd-fundraising goal on Seed & Spark and raise our dream goal of $30,000 so we can really take this film to the next level in post-production, submit to multiple film festivals around the globe, and then begin storyboarding new films about tiny homes.

We sincerely thank you for your belief in this tiny but mighty project!

Tiny home sponsors & press

Wishlist

Use the WishList to Pledge cash and Loan items - or - Make a pledge by selecting an Incentive directly.

Data Management

Costs $2,000

Hard drives are pricey, and critical to safely store & organize media.

Visual Editing

Costs $6,000

Piecing hundreds of hours of footage into an impactful film is the heart of it all. We need help!

Crew Thank You

Costs $500

Little thank you stipend's to volunteer crew.

Color Editing

Costs $1,500

Editing color and "mood" of the footage

Cash Pledge

Costs $0

Marketing

Costs $1,500

To promote the final short film and build a movement (website, social media)

Film Festival Costs

Costs $500

We believe this story is Sundance & Tribeca festival quality! There are some costs to submit.

Legal

Costs $500

Legal counsel to ensure subjects and the film is protected.

Sound Design

Costs $2,500

High quality sound and music is key to a great film.

About This Team

The Director, Amanda Lipp is a self-taught documentary filmmaker and social entrepreneur. She is the owner of Lipp Studios based in California. She graduated from UC Davis and has made over 50 films around the U.S. about mental health and social impact since age 18. Film clients have included Columbia Psychiatry, Sutter Health, and University of Wisconsin. She is a regular guest lecturer at colleges and universities nation wide, clients including Princeton University and Rotary. She is also Founder and CEO of The Giving Gallery, which sells art to support partnered mental health charities. Check out her portfolio and background on her website.

The Producer, Darcy is a crisis communications consultant, a former photojournalist, and entrepreneur. She is the founder of Activism Articulated, a crisis communications firm she co-owns with her wife Jasper James that is located in Sacramento, CA. They are one of the only advocacy communications firms that are run by queer, mixed-race women that provides media training and crisis consulting for organizations and community groups nationwide. Projects have included the Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe, Standing  Rock “Water is Life” Campaign, Black Women United, Women’s March National, the Sierra Health Foundation, CASTLA, 50 Women Can Take the Lead and the Build. Black. Coalition and the Black Bill of Rights. Check out her website here.

Together, we are two queer cis women from Sacramento, CA who have a passion for sustainable design, filmmaking, and future-forward innovation. This is our first film project together, though each of us has worked independently in film and television for over a decade. 

 

Current Team

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