What is the project?

This project is an anti-bullying short film titled "Courage is Fire". It follows the story of a shy seventh grade girl named Christine who is mercilessly bullied in class. One day after she's slammed face-first into a locker, Ashley (who is a Junior and the most popular girl at school) happens to see her on the ground crying. This presents her with a dilemma. She's running for class president and doesn't want to lose her popularity by getting involved. After a brief struggle, Ashley walks away, doing nothing to help Christine. As the bullying continues Ashley is tormented by the fact that she refuses to help her. Finally, she decides to act. In the student presidential debate, she announces that her vice-presidential candidate will be Christine. This shocks and disgusts the rest of the school who for the most part turn against her. In the high school drama that ensues, she and Christine campaign hard not only to win the election - but to make a lasting difference in their school.

Note: This clip in the pilot video showing one boy repeatedly kicking the other on the ground was not staged. While filming the opening scene, we saw a group across the street "play" fighting and I recorded it.

Who is the intended audience?

While the film clearly shows the violence and emotional distress that bullying causes, it will be done in a clean, wholesome manner so that parents would feel comfortable having their middle and high school students watch it. 

My intention for the film after it is finished is to make it available to schools free of charge to show as part of their bullying awareness efforts.

What is the current status?

Currently, the main cast has been chosen and the pilot video above was produced to give a feel for the final production.

The next stage is to produce a full 15-20 minute short film in the summer.

What will the funds be used for?

My goal is to make this film professionally and get it widely distributed. I've done other short films with no external funding (one I produced last spring won the 2011 Jersey's Best Short Film award at the Jersey Shore Film Festival) but my vision is to make this film at a more professional level.

The first priority is paying the actress for Ashley. When I asked her about her plans for the summer, she told me she was thinking about looking for a job. I proposed that if this campaign were successful, I'd offer her more than a summer job would pay to stay with the film and she agreed.

After this is addressed, I plan to purchase a 35 mm lens and adapter for my camera like the one pictured above for about $2,200.00. Currently, I'm filming on the default lens that came with it and if I had a 35 mm, it would give the film a more professional look.

Whatever is left, I plan to put towards a makeup artist, lighting crew and equipment, music, film festival submission, distribution, and other related costs.

About the Director

David Daudelin is an independent filmmaker living in Independence, NJ just outside Hackettstown. He began making films when he was about 12 years old and made many casual videos during his teenage years.

In the beginning of his sophomore year in college, he made a short promotional video for the honors freshman retreat which was featured on the college website's home page. Since that time, he's produced several more videos for the school including one that was shown as part of a presentation at the 2010 National Collegiate Honors Council conference. In 2009, he placed first in three video contests and was afterwards recruited by the hosting company of one of the contests to produce a commercial for them. He was also hired to film several graduations and weddings.

He produced his first serious short film in January 2011 titled, Since All Else Fails. After that, he produced another short film for a final class project titled, Only Way Out, which won the "Jersey's Best Short Film" award at the Jersey Shore Film Festival and received an honorable mention from the Metropolitan Film Festival of New York in the student film category.

Since then, he's done numerous paid jobs including second cameraman for a shoot at AOL Headqarters and assistance filming two TEDx talks at his college. He currently shoots on the Sony HVR-Z7U and owns a Glidecam HD 4000.