Rafael
Logline
A grief-stricken comedian searches for answers after losing the man who raised her.
Synopsis
After losing her grandfather, Mina, a grief-stricken comedian, self-sabotages her comedy career and becomes a ride-share driver in a desperate attempt to get out of her head. She soon realizes it doesn’t matter what she does, the memories of her and her grandfather follow her everywhere. Mina must follow the memories to finally find the peace her grandfather would’ve wanted for her.
Funding
With funding, we will be able to:
- Secure permits
- Hire talented SAG actors
- Create visual effects to elevate the story
- Gear rental
- Hire production crew
- Post-production (editing, sound mix, color)
How You Can Help:
CONTRIBUTING
By donating ANY amount you will help us bring this very personal story to life. A lot of moving parts go into making a film, your donations will help ensure we have all the tools necessary to tell this story the way it is intended to be told.
SPREADING THE WORD
If you are unable to give, we’d love for you to share this page and let people know that we’d love their help in getting this project funded. Share on social media, your group chats, or at happy hour!
Nitty Gritty
“This country does not provide us containers for grief” – my mentor and friend Amritha Dhaliwal
This was something my friend told me as I was navigating the biggest loss of my life. Even though I was seeing two therapists, was surrounded by family, had wonderful friends to reach out to, I still felt completely lost. I expected sadness, I expected anger but I didn’t expect the constant dissociation, the fear of sleeping, the inability to focus, and the alienation between my mind and body. As I was going through this journey, one thought stayed at the forefront of mind: I don’t want anyone to ever go through this the way I did. It wasn’t so much the actual things that were happening but it was the not knowing where and why they were manifesting in this way. I created this film so that you have less questions and in the hopes that you are able to allow yourself to freely accept your grief journey.
Thank You So Much
Diana Cabuto is a storyteller born and raised in Mexico by her mother and abuelita. She is a theater, film and commercial actress as well as a principal performer for The Dollface Dames Variety Cabaret Company. She appeared most recently in the Amazon limited series Things Eternal and Netflix series Gentefied. Some of her work in film includes the upcoming Focus Feature Film American Society directed by Kobe Libii. She has partnered with actress and storyteller Christina Igaraividez in producing, writing and directing their very own content Channel @Latinaish.tv dedicated primarily but not limited to women and diverse talent. Her first love is theater. She recently wrote and directed her first short film now in the festival circuits.
Rodriguez was born and raised in South Central Los Angeles and has worked in film and TV for several years. He is most known for being the co-creator of the web-series “Hey Vato.” Rodriguez has produced a number of short films and also wrote and directed the short film titled “The Ranfla” and the award winning webseries “My Friend Frida.” Rodriguez also has feature length projects currently in development.
Christina Igaraividez is a writer, performer and producer. Whether it’s an ensemble theater production or a digital short, she is constantly working on how to get people to laugh (and sometimes cry). She has trained in comedy across Chicago, New York and Los Angeles at places like Second City, iO, and UCB. Her YouTube channel has received notoriety from outlets such as HuffPo, Perez Hilton, LA Weekly, Upworthy and was a finalist for the Sundance YouTube New Voices Lab. She is also an ensemble member of Studio Luna (formerly Teatro Luna) where she co-produced an Audible Original titled Talking While Female & Other Dangerous Acts that features 25 stories from Latinas across the U.S. on the themes of risk and resilience. She is the co-creator for the social media sketch comedy channel Latinaish TV (found on Facebook, Instagram, Youtube).
We're at 47% of our goal holy guacamole! Folks have picked up some great perks and we can wait to share them with you. But this can only happen with your help! There's still time to contribute.
We've been flying high with gratitude from your amazing messages of support for wanting to see this film made. I can't thank you all enough.
