Our film represents teens as fully dimensional people that deserve to be listened to with empathy and respect. We want this film to show a raw and honest depiction of being closeted in rural America without demonizing those that don't understand or accept us.

Your donation is tax deductible! RED is a fiscally sponsored project of Film Independent, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization. Contributions on behalf of RED are payable to Film Independent and are tax deductible less the value of any goods or services received, as allowed by law. The value of goods and services being offered is noted under each donation level. 

 

 

Summary

Earlier this year a team of amazing filmmakers came together to bring a short story I wrote over 10 years ago into to life. We are now raising the funds to complete post-production and release the film so that it can reach those who need it most.

Red is from a time when the nearest thing to being open about my sexuality was through my writing.

I often tested the waters of coming out by taking close friends to a 24 hour diner. I would read them stories which had gay subplots and I would gauge their reactions.

Red has always been one of the most special stories in my life. At the end of almost 20 years of being in the closet, my heart was terribly thinned and my exhaustion was nearly insurmountable.

It is this moment for many queer youth where tough decisions are made... and I was fortunate.

I came out within a year or two of writing Red, and eventually found some semblance of happiness. To this day, that is not a given for many, and the scars of those traumatic years remain today.

 

 

The Overview

One late night in a Hollywood coffee shop in 2017 I was having coffee with a friend and contemplating what my next project could be.

This was a year after Trump had galvanized the divide in America greater than ever before, a year of him endlessly stoking fires. Not only did he give voice to the long-discredited "Deplorable," but he opened the door for many on the left to develop their own kind of hatred.

A segment of the left now has an irredeemable hatred for people on the right. All-the-while, the country writ-large bleeds the toxicity of deep division. US vs THEM.

I had to make Red into a movie. I had to re-humanize the underground and have three characters who are part of it but only just because of it. I wanted to tell their story with honesty and empathy, and have no villain but this division.

Red is a story that gives voice to a hidden artery of our society; the other side. This story explores the nuances of a culture straight Americans think they know, and queer Americans (often rightfully so) fear.

This is a story of a pain that truly knows no boundaries and persists to this day.

This is a story told with empathy not disdain.

The closet still exists in conservative white towns, of course. It is also deep rooted in minority communities, left-leaning religious communities, and affluent places like Beverley Hills. The more open society becomes, the more the closet has been vilified and shamed, deepening the suffering.

 

 

The Impact of Red

 

Red takes a story from before and uses it to identify, explore, and understand the fear and pain from today’s alarmingly caustic climate.

 

They are all stuck in a world wholly constituted by the generation before them. A time on the cusps of when so many young people could come out more freely— an option that didn't exist for me.

 

I didn’t come out of the closet until I was 22 years old. It is remarkable how life before seems to be such a blur— like I was born the night I came out in a West Virginia apartment, wine drunk (read: wasted and sobbing) with my best friend.

 

Red seeks to find the story from before, to identify, explore, and understand the fear and pain from the perspective of today’s Trump Country climate.

 

The power of voice and understanding can never ever be underestimated.

 

For people to see their story and know they are not alone can heal so much.

 

I speak with abundant experience. To look on a screen, be it a large theater, a television, a laptop, or an iPhone, the power of seeing your story changes your life. To see your truth told by someone else, to see first hand that you are not alone and that you are understood, it is a feeling you cling to.

 

I clung to the indie queer films of Greg Araki when I was young, and clamored for the truths that Gus Van Sant knew about me. They were my only access points to a life I thought I'd never have.

 

After a short film festival run, we plan to release this film for free. We will use targeted ads to hit 10s of thousands of people in rural communities across America who can watch this film and find power and strength through truth and similarity.