UPDATE: LET'S STRETCH!!!!

You showed us that anything is possible, and now we've set our sights on our first stretch goal total of $11,000 (which means raising another $3500) to help us cover our post-production costs including:

• Editing

• Color correction

• Sound mixing

• Music

THE STORY

Survival Job opens in a Method acting class in New York City. Student Tessa Wren struggles to connect with her classmates because she is overwhelmed with her day job and life outside the classroom. The teacher, Mimi Bond, articulates the importance of turning our constraints into our creative inspiration, or what Stanislkovski describes as “the creative state of being.”

When a phone call from Tessa’s agent derails the class, Tessa must race through midtown to get to her appointment on time. 

But the appointment is not what is seems, and Tessa must rely on the skills she’s honed as an actress in order to escape her constraints (with the help of a monologue from Chekhov’s The Seagull) and face her deepest fear: truly connecting with another person. 

We don’t want to spoil the ending, but as Tessa tells us, she “trusts no one.” We discover this is because everyone is more than who they first appear to be. Survival Job shines the spotlight on the reality that we all contain a multitude of identities within. 

THE STORY BEHIND THE STORY

Being an actor in NYC has always been challenging, but this past year has been particularly devastating for actors who have had both their theatrical dreams and their survival jobs taken away. But as the late Carrie Fisher advised, ‘take your broken heart and make it into art.” That is an underlying message of film as well as the impetus for making it. 

Monica first came up with the concept for a show about an actress who may or may not be a CIA agent following a conversation with her parents years ago. They suspected that her unusual life of travel, training, and experiences might mean that she worked for the CIA. The reality was far less glamorous. Since she was fifteen, Monica has worked “survival jobs” including: waitressing and bartending in over 26 bars and restaurants, singing in a Big Band in Nagasaki, babysitting, temping, children’s birthday party princess, hand-model, shoe-model, health coach, public speaking coach, cater-waiter, stand-in, photo double, background actor, health coach, copywriter, and more. 

Following a crisis of identity while understudying in a Broadway show, Monica took a hiatus from acting for most of a decade. She traveled to 50+ countries, and as an entrepreneur, hosted hundreds of events/workshops/talkbacks and created a podcast about the intersection between philosophy, self-help, and emotional intelligence.

But a chance encounter with a former acting colleague led her to a method acting class where, for the first time, Monica experienced sense memory, basic relaxation, and utilizing both the subconscious mind and the imagination to enter the unknown in a way she didn’t know was possible. Her love for acting and the theater was rekindled and her view of theater and the importance of storytelling to connect us has become a thread in her writing and artistic endeavors.

Survival Job has a flawed but complicated female identifying protagonist and a majority female-identifying cast and crew. 

THE VISUAL STORY

The visual world of Survival Job is a love child between Barry meets Alias.

The bare interiors of an off-Broadway studio and an empty stage contrast sharply with the exterior shots of Times Square, a canvas of color and sound.

Other visual sources of inspiration for the mood include: Vertigo, The Americans, and Killing Eve. 

HOW YOU CAN JOIN US

We know (and love!) that theater and filmmaking are two of the most collaberative arts possible. This dream would not be possible without the vision, talent, and dedication of our cast and crew. 

But we can't do it alone!

Your support goes directly to helping us make this movie. 

We have some AWESOME incentives to show our sincere appreciation for your support! Be sure to check them out and hit the follow button at the top of our campaign page to get the latest updates and behind the scenes photos.

THANK YOU for being part of the SURVIVAL JOB FAMILY! We're thrilled to have you join us!