"Growing Up Vegas" Graduate Thesis Film

My name is Amber Beard I am a poor graduate student at the University of Southern California, School of Cinema-Television. Lacking common sense, I decided to follow my dreams and major in film. Contrary to popular belief, not all USC students are rich. :-) Having financed the last two years of my education completely with student loans, I am up to my ears in debt. This year will be my last in school. As I prepare to shoot my thesis film, I am now faced with a dilemma: How to raise money to finance my thesis film? Films are costly to make. I must feed my crew, pay for film and film processing, rent camera and lighting equipment, pay for props, costumes, make-up. Even with student discounts, the cost is daunting.

In the thousands of dollars. My fellow students have primarily turned to rich relatives or personal savings for support in making their thesis films. Alas. My relatives are not rich. As I was born into poverty, I have no personal savings. I've gotten this far through hard-work, tenacity and creativity. Much of my movie I will finance through loans, but I am asking for kind-hearted souls interested in the arts, and independent movies for donations. I need your help to make this dream a reality.

It is possible for your donation to be tax-deductible through my school, but I would need your name, address and phone number along with a check made payable to the University of Southern California (NOT ME). In return, I would send you a copy of the Donation Letter along with a letter verifying the school's non-profit tax I.D. number. If your donation exceeds $250 the school would send you a receipt as well. If you wish to do this, contact me via email for details.

If you make a donation of $250 or more I will list you in the credits of my movie as a Sponsor, and invite you to its premiere screening in LA. USC is one of the top film schools in the nation, and our short films are seen all over the world, in numerous festivals. If the film does well, it could garner great publicity and recognition. You would be a part of that.

ABOUT THE MOVIE:
I suppose if you are going to make a donation to a movie, you would want to know what it's about, huh? Well, the title of the movie is "Growing Up Vegas". The movie is a 16 minute short, to be shot on super 16 and transferred to HD. It is a highly character driven story about a young tomboy, Taylor, who hangs out at the local casino where her single mom, Lizzy, works as a cocktail waitress. There Taylor meets and becomes infatuated with a washed-up Elvis Impersonator. It's a coming of age story drawn from experiences in my own life. The tone is along the lines of "Lost in Translation". I plan to shoot in Las Vegas, as I was born and raised in Las Vegas and I love the town. My crew is comprised all of my fellow students who are very passionate about this project and are donating their sweat, blood and tears to this project free of pay. Thank you so much for anything you can give.


ABOUT THE CHARACTERS:

TAYLOR is an awkward 15 year old teenager, who shoots at beer-bottles and listens to heavy metal. She's awkward at school and a loner. She would never get a date for prom. Not because she's ugly, but because she doesn't realize she is pretty. She doesn't have many friends. She is at that age where she is just beginning to discover herself. Her father left when she was young. Consequently when she meets Tony the Elvis Impersonator, she mistakenly miscontrues his paternal gestures and tries to seduce him by dressing up as a cocktail waitress.

TONY is a washed up Elvis Impersonator. At one time he dreamed of super stardom, but through cruel twists of fate, or a string of bad luck he has wound up playing nightly Elvis gigs at a grungy, local casino. He is cynical, but he wears his cynicism like a mask. Underneath he is a true romantic. He has a crush on Taylor's mom, Lizzy. At first, he offers to help tutor Taylor at her math homework in order to get to Lizzy...

LIZZY is a tough, hard-working single mom, whose daughter, Taylor, is everything. She makes ends meet by working odd hours at the casino as a cocktail waitress. Having been deserted by Taylor's father, she is a little gun-shy about men, but that doesn't stop her from being attracted to Tony, whose charm and obvious talent draws her in.

ABOUT THE CREW:

AMBER BEARD (Writer/Director) was born and raised in Las Vegas, Nevada. There she attended the University of Nevada, Las Vegas where she did a triple major in theater, film and fine art. She was then accepted to the University of Southern California, where she is now pursuing an M.F.A in film production. She hopes to someday write and direct her own films, maybe even be the first woman to win an oscar for directing. If that fails, she has decided that she will become a big-rig truck driver and travel across the nation robbing banks to pay off her student loans. If someday you see her on the highway, be sure to honk your horn and wave "Hello".

JULIA DAMERON (Producer) Julia Dameron is a passionate filmmaker who has spent her entire life seeking out the magic of filmmaking. Born in Boone, North Carolina, yet raised in Minneapolis, Minnesota, living in Orlando, Florida, then in Munich, Germany, and finally in Los Angeles, California, she has created films as far back as she can remember. She graduated at Gallaudet University with a Bachelor of Arts in Television/Cinema. Still remaining dissatisfied with her education, Dameron now studies at the graduate film school at the University of Southern California. Dameron has written feature screenplays, directed, edited, produced, shot films, done sound directing, and even assistant directing. Dameron (lovingly referred to as Jules) has been involved in films such as “The Deaf Man”, “Vital Signs”, “Night Fall”, “Our Song”, “Goggles”, “Deaf Patients in the Hospital: What Now?” and the list gets longer. Julia Dameron is currently producing several films inside and outside of the USC School of Cinema/Television.

GRACE K LEE (Producer) Grace K. Lee spent a decade of her early years growing up in the northeast working towards a career in pediatric surgery. Soon after completion of her first feature-length film at the age of 15, however, she was positive that becoming a filmmaker was more of the creative challenge that she required. Grace began her film education by attending Tisch School of the Arts at New York University to receive her undergraduate degree followed by her current pursuit of her MFA from the University of Southern California in Film Production. Consistently discovering that nothing brings her more joy than the process of filmmaking, she continues to experience life as a director and producer.


JOHN HARRISON (DP) John Harrison is a cinematographer from Vancouver,
Washington whose work has taken him to a variety of locations across the country and around the globe. His resume includes both fiction and documentary films for a diverse clientele that ranges from National Geographic to local and international non-profits. Currently he is living in Los Angeles where he’s pursuing an M.F.A. in Cinematography at the University of Southern California.

MATT PAGE (Art Director/Production Design)
Matthew CW Page of Massachusetts has worked in Los Angeles since 2003, while in Los Angeles he has worked on a various array of independent films both shorts and featurettes. His production design credits include the Black/White Series directed by H.E. Connell of Displaced Yankee Productions in Hollywood, CA which premiered at the Charlie Chaplin Theatre in Hollywood. The Boy Princes by director Darren Herczeq of Tyrant Pictures of Los Angeles, CA, which premiered at the REDCAT in Los Angeles, CA. Other production design credits include: Unspoken by director Fei-Fei Wang, Ding Ding!, The Band (premiered at the REDCAT in Los Angeles), and Philomena. His art direction credits include: Fray, and Untitled #2. He has also held several other notable positions on independent films while in Los Angeles such as Creature/Special Effects for Film, Costume Designer for Film, Set Design for Theatre, Visual Dramaturge for Theatre, Properties Design for Theatre, and Properties Master/Artisan for Theatre. In regards to Matthew’s work in Theatre during his time in Los Angeles he has worked on two national premiere plays: Fantasias for the Immoderate directed by Heidi Carlsen, and Slavey directed by Bart DeLorenzo. Though Matthew predominantly works in Film these days he has his background working in Theatre, having worked across the nation from California, Texas to Massachusetts. Matthew holds his Master of the Fine Arts from the California Institute of the Arts and his Bachelor of the Arts degree from Salem State College. Matthew has also studied at the University of Southern California School of Cinema and Television.

TOM SANCHEZ (Editor)
Tom Sanchez has been doing free lance editing since 2002, working on various student films, corporate videos, or independent shorts. He graduated from Creighton University in 2003 with a B.A. in Journalism and Mass Communications. He currently attends the USC school of Cinema where he has edited various projects and has completed the Intermediate editing course taught by Norm Hollyn. He has recieved two 1st place awards at the Hot Shops Film Festival for his work and has recently received the James Bridges Scholarship for merit in directing and did sound for "El Chisme" a 546 film at USC. He currently works at the Marcia Lucas Post building as an Avid Lab Monitor.