About this project
OBVIOUS CHILD: a 2014 Sundance World Premiere!
$37,214
631
OBVIOUS CHILD is an honest comedy about what happens when Brooklyn comedian Donna Stern (Jenny Slate) gets dumped, fired and pregnant just in time for the worst/best Valentine's Day of her life. Forever nudged by her parents to make better choices, Donna's forced to do just that when a one-night stand leads to a difficult decision that does and does not define the rest of her life. Though confident in her choice, Donna must gain the confidence to believe in her talent, herself, and the best in those around her, especially one surprisingly decent guy (Jake Lacy) who just might make this the worst/best Valentine's Day ever.
Alongside Jenny and Jake, our movie stars some of my all-time favorite New York performers — Gaby Hoffmann, Gabe Liedman, Richard Kind, Polly Draper, and David Cross. We shot all over Brooklyn and Manhattan for 18 days in the Spring of 2013, mostly in our friends' apartments and on the streets where we live (a mix of favors and blessings and happy and less-than-happy accidents!). We edited all Summer and Fall, and are now headed to Park City for our World Premiere at the 2014 Sundance Film Festival.
I first made the "Obvious Child" short film in the Winter of 2009 with my friends Anna Bean and Karen Maine. We were frustrated by the limited representations of young women's experience with pregnancy, let alone growing up. We were waiting to see a more honest film, or at least, a story that was closer to many of the stories we knew. We weren’t sure how long that wait was going to be, so we decided to tell the story ourselves. The short starred Jenny Slate and had a pretty nice festival run. When we shared it on the Internet it was really exciting to see that people were actually watching it. But what was even cooler were the conversations the movie ignited. That truly encouraged and inspired me to expand to feature-length, to share this film and these conversations with even more people around the world.
In developing the feature we've been lucky enough to be supported by some heroic film organizations like IFP, Rooftop Films, Tribeca Film Institute, and the San Francisco Film Society. A lot has evolved and changed since the short, but the heart of it's the same. I'm really thrilled and honored to be premiering this feature at Sundance next month, and I can't wait to share it with all of you.
Thank you for believing in our movie and us!
Gillian Robespierre
Writer/Director, OBVIOUS CHILD
\\ // CHECK OUT SOME OF OUR REWARDS ON THE RIGHT \\ //
$100 + Up Reward: Limited Edition OBVIOUS CHILD Tote. Featuring the Donna Stern holy trinity of adult womanhood: blouse + schedule + car phone. // PLUS the OBVIOUS CHILD DVD, link to the "Obvious Child" short w/ director's commentary + praising you on the Great Wall o' Thanks under the heading "People Who Have Chill Totes"
$250 Reward: Limited Edition 27''x40'' signed Sundance Poster! // Designed by our friend Juan Miguel Marin at La Moutique. PLUS the tote, a digital download of the OBVIOUS CHILD feature, link to the "Obvious Child" short w/ commentary + praising you on the Great Wall o' Thanks.
$500 Reward: Marcel the Shell records your voicemail! (Ok so it's Jenny Slate but like, as Marcel.) If you didn't know Jenny and her husband Dean Fleischer-Camp are the humans behind the shell, well: That is a fun fact you should know. // PLUS the tote, OBVIOUS CHILD DVD + digital download of the OBVIOUS CHILD feature, link to watch the "Obvious Child" short w/ commentary + praising you on the Great Wall o' Thanks.
$500 Reward: Bestie x Bestie besties record your voicemail! More fun facts for you, newbie: Bestie x Bestie is (/are?) Jenny Slate and Gabe Liedman. They're also BFFs in our movie and in Very Real Life. Peep their friendship below. // PLUS the tote, OBVIOUS CHILD DVD + digital download of the OBVIOUS CHILD feature, link to watch the "Obvious Child" short w/ commentary + praising you on the Great Wall o' Thanks.
Risks and challenges
Other than wanting to meet Parker Posey so badly and praying that she's at Sundance so we can sit next to each other on the shuttle bus and become really good friends who share secrets and clothes, our biggest Park City goal is that the people who see this film really connect with our story, and that their enjoyment helps us sort out the most meaningful distribution for our film. Like many filmmakers on Kickstarter, the main variable for us at this time is how we'll ultimately distribute the film, which would not affect *if* we deliver rewards, just *when.* Depending on how we decide to go about the commercial release of the film, the digital download and DVD rewards may be delivered sooner or later than their current estimated delivery dates. We promise to keep all our backers posted on our progress and to be as transparent about that timing as we can. You guys are helping us complete and share this thing. You're a part of this now, and it's important to us to respect that by keeping the lines of communication open and honest along the way.
As we explore the right schedule and strategy, we just ask that you keep in mind that every release is its own beautiful (/bonkers) snowflake, and we're trying to figure out the most thoughtful way for the story you're helping us tell to have the biggest impact. We want you plus a whole slew of additional humans to see and share our movie, to keep making more movies we love as much as this one, and to keep getting better at what we do. If you read all that and you're still backing us, thanks so much for accepting these risks and challenges as part of the process, and for still being part of it all!
Learn about accountability on KickstarterQuestions about this project? Check out the FAQ
Support this project
Funding period
- (32 days)