During my freshman year at the University of Southern California (USC), I lived in the College-Uni dorm on the 3rd floor, the cinema floor. (I believe the dorm is now called North Residential College). The majority of us were from out-of-state or out-of-county and majored in cinema-television or theatre. We became a second family as we endured the transition into college life…and hundreds of fire alarm evacuations at all hours. We created a special bond that still resonates amongst us after all these years. So when one of us puts out a call for assistance, the others reach out to help (at least I do).

In this instance I am referring to my friend Adrian “Alex” Cruz—who often referred to me as “Michigan” during our college days. Aside from being a talented actor, Cruz co-created the Syfy mini-series Ascension. His current project, Eat Me, is an independent feature film that needs financial assistance so it can reach completion and distribution. Cruz and his partner Jacqueline Wright have created a Kickstarter to reach their financial goals and get this film out to the masses.

Eat Me is based on a critically acclaimed play with the same title written and performed by Wright in the Los Angeles area. In both the film and play, Tommy (played by Wright) believes she has nothing left to live for when a home invader named Bob interrupts her suicide attempt. The desperate and brutal journey that follows will change both their lives forever.

Eat Me does touch on some difficult subject matter and contains scenes of “extreme brutality” and “raw emotions.” It can be described as “an insightful, darkly hilarious and terrifying exploration of the extremity of human endurance.” The filmmakers promise that it is a story of healing and redemption.

Wright was offered numerous opportunities to turn her play into a film but opted to wait for the right team of collaborators to safeguard the material and not turn it into something exploitative. Wright and Cruz have used their own personal savings, used their home as the shooting location and called in favors in order to shoot the entire film in just ten days “without sacrificing quality, style or integrity.”

Their funding goals will help cover the two additional days of shooting needed to complete the project, the editing, the sound and the color correction. If they receive funds beyond their initial Kickstarter goal, they can add in more music, visual effects, promotional materials and distribution efforts.

Back in our USC film school days, we all dreamed of creating our own films and have them presented in a forum for the world to see. We spent a lot of time and money studying the art of storytelling and bringing that story to life. I am happy to be able to do my part and help my fellow Trojan live his dream and tell his story.

If you are interested in being a part of the project dedicated to bringing the play Eat Me to the big screen, check out their Kickstarter page here.

**Quotes are directly from the Eat Me Kickstarter page.

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