As a group of emerging women directors who are majority BIPOC and including LGBTQIA+ identified, we are uniquely qualified to tell a series of stories about underrepresented women. We aim to fill in the perspectives largely left out of American history.

WE HAVE REACHED 100%!! THANK YOU SO MUCH TO EVERYONE THAT CONTRIBUTED!

You all have set us over the edge! We hit 100% of our goal which takes us from the development stage to pre-production! With filmmaking there’s a lot involved in each stage. That’s where our stretch goals come in! 

With $32,000 we'll be able to cover COVID testing costs for anyone working in person during pre-production (this involves location scouting, meetings, casting sessions, rehearsals).

With $35,000 we can hire a storyboard artist to visualize the scenes across all our stories and make animatic sequences. 

And with $40,000 we can hire a production designer to bring our multi-decade house to life much earlier. The house is the character in our film that is present in all the stories. We need to conceptualize what it will look like and all the changes it will go through the 7 decades.

 

Website: www.throughtheblindsanthology.com

THROUGH THE BLINDS started after some of the us met through a Directing Actors Workshop hosted by the Alliance of Women Directors. During a reunion potluck, we shared our struggles and career goals, particularly how difficult it is to kickstart our first feature film as women directors. Becca had this idea of making an anthology feature film about women, and we all gravitated heavily towards it. After we all created successful short films, our next shared challenge on our journey was to make our first feature film! We decided to band together to make this film the way we want to make it - each of us has an equal say - and telling the stories we want to tell.

Making a feature film is a long process. We've collaborated in the last two years to develop the film and supported each other along the way not only as collaborators, but as friends. The period coincided with the global pandemic, where we were all stuck at home and were reevaluating our relationship with home (shelter, safe space, workplace, domestic realm, privilege, identity). We feel we have crafted a story that is really special and tackles it all.

 

Our seven short films take place inside the same house from 1957 to 2019. We explore the meaning of home, our place in it, and the evolution of women historically and culturally - what changed and what we are still fighting for - all through very personal and specific lenses. 

We start in 1957 with a white housewife struggling to cope as a family of Filipino Americans moves into the house across the street and the world rapidly changes around her. Director Kristine Gerolaga imbues this absurdist film with an unsettling eeriness and investigates the redlining and blockbusting practices of the time.

In 1965, we meet RIVER, a precocious and opinionated 6-year-old Black girl, who is against her father's worship of a "White Jesus," and to be honest, White people in general. When her Mother, Helen, returns home after a long hospital stay, seeming not quite the same,  River's "perfect world" is threatened. Director Destinee Stewart crafts a story of Black Americans in the 1960s with the backdrop of the Civil Rights movement and the public policies against Black Women. 

Moving to 1976 and focusing on the youth who had grown up during the Vietnam war and the turbulent politics of the 1960s, we tell the story of Frances, a 22-year-old experimenting with LCD for the first time. She has to decide if she wants to marry her 'good-on-paper' fiance or explore her career interests. Director Rebecca Louisell draws from her family's stories of the time and explores themes of independence versus conformity.

In 1988 two teenage sisters, Addy, who is neurodivergent, and Tessa, a very popular girl, are at odds with each other when Addy starts exploring her sexuality and begins resenting Tessa for growing distant. All while a serial killer is on the loose in the neighborhood. Director Jessica Liu paints a portrait of burgeoning womanhood, in the milieu of 80s aerobics, synth-pop, and looming danger.

Next, we are in 1994. Venice, a lonely 8-year-old girl, strikes a life-changing, albeit short, summer friendship with her neighbor Hannah, who comes from a very religious family. Director Sylvia Ray draws from her personal life growing up in Barstow, CA, and explores how moments in our youth can have profound impacts.

In 2002, Veronica, a single mom of Southeast Asian descent, comes home to find her house ransacked after a break-in. With the police not being able to do anything and the suspicion of her abusive ex-husband, she goes through desperate measures to protect her family at all costs, including getting a gun. In this thriller, Director T. L. Quach shows us the psychological effects of having your safe space violated.

We come to a close in 2019, where Veronica's daughter, now 30, has to come back to the family home to sell it after her mom passes away. In a world where everyone is virtually connected but isolated at the same time, she deals with her grief, past mistakes and finds her path to the future she wants. Director Luisa Novo, a millennial herself, crafts a story of looking for connection in the world of today.

 

Photo: Chara Andrews

We are 7 women directors based in Los Angeles, from many different backgrounds, identities and personalities. Collectively we've directed more than 50 short films and web series episodes, plus music videos, micro shorts, and branded content. We have experience in many different production roles and in post-production. Some of us are also teachers and actors. We understand the industry very well, which also means we know its problems and barriers. 

According to the Celluloid Ceiling report produced annually by the Center for the Study of Women in Television and Film at San Diego State University, after reaching historic highs in 2020, the percentages of women directing top grossing films declined in 2021.  Women comprised 17% of directors working on the 250 top grossing films in 2021, down from 18% in 2020.  The percentage of women working as directors on the top 100 films retreated from 16% in 2020 to 12% in 2021. - Celluloid Ceiling Report

With THROUGH THE BLINDS, we found a way to pursue our career goals in a collaborative and uplifting setting, where everyone has an equal voice and the means matter as much as the result. We are advocates of inclusive workplaces and the telling of diverse stories that are actually representative of the world we live in.

We also have three experienced producers and awesome humans on board: Alexandra Renzo (Meow Wolf: Origin Story), Kay Tuxford (The Miseducation of Bindu) and Adam Wyatt Tate (Nomadland). 

 

We have been developing the script for two years and as directors, we are ready to shoot it! But financing is the hardest part of making a film, and to get started with pre-production we need initial funds to help us with:

• Hiring a Casting Director and Securing Talent
• Hiring Key Crew Members
• Finalizing a Budget
• Concept Art
• Location Scouting
• Business Expenses

 

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INSTAGRAM: @throughtheblindsfilm

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@throughtheblindsfilm, an anthology feature from seven women directors, is crowdfunding for initial funds to kickstart pre-production! Check out their campaign on @seed&spark. Directors: @kristinegerolaga @destineestewart_creates @rlouisell @jessicajliu @sylbialin @tlquachfilms @luisamnovo

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THROUGH THE BLINDS is an anthology feature film with seven intimate stories spanning decades under one roof. With female protagonists ranging from a 50’s housewife to a present-day career-focused millennial. Made by seven women directors on a mission to tell stories of underrepresented communities. Want to contribute to get it off the ground? YOU CAN! Visit Seed&Spark Campaign to learn more. And follow our instagram page: @throughtheblindsfilm

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And follow the directors on Twitter! @itsgerolaga @destineecreates @blouisell @JessicaJLiu__ @TLQuachfilms @sylbialin @luisamnovo