THE PROJECT

I am raising $50,000 to produce an ultra-low budget indie feature film LUCKY ME in Winston-Salem, NC Summer 2024.

THE STORY

Claire Fort’s feature film directorial debut LUCKY ME is a multi-generational, coming-of-all-ages dark comedy about the messy, weird ways we experience loss, grief, and healing. 

After hitting what she thought was her rock bottom, Liv discovers she’s carrying a high-risk pregnancy, but despite challenges at every step, she hopes the baby might be her chance to turn her life around with the help of her chosen family.

The film deals with aging, access to Healthcare, grief, and navigating life as a sexy, fly, confused, black woman in America. It’s about family, history, and how folkx navigate the space between being black and white.

This film is about the pitfalls of the American healthcare system and the long, tedious process of black women getting diagnosis and treatment. 

I want to shed light on women’s reproductive issues-it took me 10 years to get diagnosed with endometriosis, fibroids, and adenomyosis. I want to share my story in the hopes that women will be listened to, heard and diagnosed much earlier.

THE DIRECTOR

Hey ya’ll! I’m Claire, the daughter of a poet and dancer. I was born in Wilmington, North Carolina. I am an actor and filmmaker. I love dogs and running long distances. I teach Acting and Directing at UNCSA School of Drama. 

As a kid, I studied in Montessori and became proficient in finger painting. Once my dad got a job (teaching Poetry and the Harlem Renaissance) at Southern Connecticut State University, we moved to New Haven where we fell in love with Pepe’s pizza and Italian ice. Nebraska is where I spent my teenage days, surrounded by cornfields and cows. This is where their mom, Wendy (a dance therapist), was diagnosed with Non-Hodgkin’s Lymphoma. Only eight months after her diagnosis and just weeks after 9/11, she passed away. Losing her at such a young age influenced my work as an artist and how I identify as women of color. 

I write about blackness, mothers, fathers, single parents, and anyone who has lost someone they love. 

More of the Team

Written by Claire Fort
Produced by Fort Sisters Films

Director of Photography: Will Adashek (Dear Sister, Gotta Get Down To It) IMDB

With support from the Wendy Fort Foundation of Dance, Literature & Film
 

Where your Donations Go

Your contribution covers paying our Creative and Production team including: Cast, Director,  DP, Sound Mixer, Lighting Design, Gaffer, Editor, Colorist, and so many other amazing creatives.

Other costs include:

Location: Location rentals and set design costs
Equipment Rental: Quality Camera, Lighting and Sound
Craft Services
Post-Production
Editing
Sound Mixing
Color Correction
Film Festival Entry Fees
IndieGoGo Fees

WHY NOW?

I want to celebrate both the process and product of indie filmmaking. 

I want to change how we make films. 

I believe if the community comes together to support both the filmmaking process and final product, we can dismantle the economic barriers faced by new filmmakers, and in the long-run bring more film opportunities to local areas by creating more sustainable filmmaking models. 

THE PLAN

Filming Locally: We plan to film in Winston-Salem and surrounding areas. 

Hiring Locally: We are committed to hiring current UNCSA students, alumni,  professors, and local filmmakers.

We are committed to hiring a range of creatives at every career level: mid-late level professionals, educators, students, recent alumni, and those new to film-making. 

We are committed to Equity, Diversity, Inclusion and Belonging in our hiring and production process.

THE IMPACT

As a woman of color I know intimately the challenges and importance of paving your own way in the entertainment industry, which more often than not, doesn’t offer equal opportunities to WOC.

By supporting our project, you are giving our incredibly talented cast and production team of predominantly Female QTPOC, the opportunity to work behind and in front of the camera, and helping pay them industry rates for their talent and hard work.

PREVIOUS WORK

Claire and Shelley Fort wrote, produced, starred in and directed Dear Sister. Dear Sister is a six episode dark comedy.

In 2020 the Fort sisters successfully raised $11,000 in an INDIEGOGO campaign raising funds to shoot what could be considered the first two episodes of the series, or seen as an extended proof of concept.

Dear Sister was an official selection at the Austen Comedy Film Festival 2020 and a finalist for Women’s Fund Grant in NYC 2020.

Other Ways You Can Help

IN-KIND DONATIONS! Locations and food costs are the biggest portion of a budget. Have a friend with a cabin in the woods on a lake? Or know a hotel manager to house our out of town talent? Or run a catering business? These types of donations are just as vital to our production!

Sometimes financial support is not an option. Here are some other fun and free ways to support:

FOLLOW US on Instagram @fortsistersfilm & @fort.claire

REPOST our content on social media & tagging us using #luckymefilm

Don’t know what to say?

Copy and Paste: Can’t wait to see @luckymethefilm created by ! Support HERE  https://www.indiegogo.com/project/preview/0713ea13 #luckymefilm

We can’t wait to show you what we make.

THANK YOU!

Claire’s Select Acting Credits

The Making of King Kong, Target Margin Theatre (Dir. Eugene Ma), The Fire This Time Festival, (Dir. Candis C. Jones), Space on Ryder Farm Roving Dinner, (Dir. Ken Prestininzi), The Snow Queen, New Victory Labworks/Blessed Unrest, Macbeth w/ NY Classical Theatre.

(Jane) Pride@Prejudice, (Juliet) Romeo and Juliet, (Indiana Repertory Theatre), (Talidia) Brooklyn Bridge (Seattle Children’s Theatre), (Viola) Twelfth Night, UW, (Oya) In the Red and Brown Water, UW.

TV/Film: Roswell, NM/CW, Dear Sister (webseries, Austin Comedy Film Festival 2020) Gotta Get Down To It (feature, Dir. Jon Tazewell)-*Official Selection *Charlotte Black Film Festival, Winner Best Director,, Philadelphia Independent Film Festival, Middlebury New Filmmaker Festival, Columbus Black International Film Festival, San Francisco Black Film Festival. Harlem International Film Festival), Breezewood (Short) (*Official Selection Harlem International Film Festival, St. Louis Black Film Festival, San Francisco Black Film Festival, Arts Ohio Short Festival “Audience Award,” Athens International Film Festival, Langston Hughes African American Film Festival.

Breezewood (Short) -*Official Selection Harlem International Film Festival, St. Louis Black Film Festival, San Francisco Black Film Festival, Arts Ohio Short Festival “Audience Award,” Athens International Film Festival, Langston Hughes African American Film Festival.

Claire earned her M.F.A in Acting from the University of Washington, BA Kenyon College, Drama.