HOME - definition -n- the place in which one's domestic affections are centered; adv-deep; to the  heart; v. to navigate toward a point by means of coordinates other than those given by altitudes.

H.O.M.E. - as an acronym- is to be interpreted as wherever you call home. Some might say "wherever you lay your head at night".  The word HOME has many meanings to many people, which is why we've used it as an acronym.

The feature length film is comprised of 3 unique character driven and distilled vignettes tied only in theme, focusing on issues of urban alienation and being lost, both physically and spiritually. All of the stories take place in New York City  and are told through the immigrant perspective. The characters in these stories find themselves in an internal struggle with their environment and proceed to navigate through their path of understanding via town car, subway or on foot.

Our New Journey

"The Passenger" is the 2nd installment of H.O.M.E. being produced by Gashouse Films ( Short Film award recipient- 2009 HBO/NY Latino International Film Festival). Part one, which had a successful fundraising campaign last Summer, is currently in post production.  We are now gearing up for another campaign with an award winning team and wanted to share our latest endeavor with you.

"The Passenger" focuses intimately on the rare emotional connections we make and their importance. Employing traditional narrative techniques but peppered in allegory, the story involves Gabriel, an older & lonely, Ecuadorian livery car driver from Queens and his random encounter with Sze Wun, a young Chinese mother desperate to get home to her child despite being stranded after work. While listening to a soccer match he's bet "his life" on, Gabriel offers her a ride home, setting the stage for the events that follow in which their bonds become revealed despite linguistic and cultural barriers.

To make things easier for us in terms of execution, we decided  early on to set up our fundraising strategy into two phases. This being the second. In addition to our previous team of Giselle Rodriguez &  Ingrid Matias (VP- National Association of Latino Independent Producers- NY) , we've added producer, Vanessa Verduga and Executive Producer, Darren Dean, who comes to us on the heels of his latest award winning film Kiryanwanda (Sundance 2011 Audience Award).

The Plan

We are currently casting with the Orpheus Casting Group (Maria Full Of Grace, Girlfight) and  planning to shoot on location in Queens, New York City this coming late Winter/Early Spring. We are looking forward to filming in one of the most culturally diverse places in the world. Since we will be working with a small cast & crew and limited equipment, we've been able to keep our budget relatively low. However, given the nature of this costly medium, we are seeking monetary support over the next 60 days to assist us in just being able to get the film "in the can" ( minimum amount needed for principal photography) covering rentals & general production expenses.  

Why Make a Film

We feel the story of "The Passenger" is one that needs to be told, particularly to engender understanding and provide social commentary on certain urban social issues. The marginalized characters portrayed help us to understand through their circumstances that there is such a thing as a universal language. Despite their differences and barriers, a bridge is created through basic human understanding and contact.

This has unfortunately become less and less within our highly developed urban societies where heightened technology is supposed to draw us closer and "connected" yet we are becoming more isolated and those meaningful encounters and relationships are slowly vanishing. We seem somewhat to have forgotten the power of human contact and how to nurture the spirit through this. It's a quest for human connection that bridges cultures through the experience of interaction.

If we don't reach our fundraising goal we miss an excellent opportunity to raise awareness through this film on the growing disconnect that has been developed in our societies.

What We Need & What You Get

We've got some great perks for our donors, such as a featured walk-on role, Associate Producer credit, invitations to the set during the filming, tickets to the festival premiere as well as collectible posters and t-shirts related to the film. We are also offering tax deductions on all PAY PAL donations. These will be through our returning fiscal sponsor, Art For Progress, a 501(c) 3 non profit organization. www.artforprogress.org ( this is the link to check them out and all of their activities - NOT a link to donate through)

SPECIAL OFFER * From 4/5- 4/15 we will include a DVD copy of the award winning short "LALO" 

Please note that you do not have to have a Pay Pal account in order to donate but can do so as a "guest" with your credit or debit card.

Other Ways You Can Help

Please help us get the word out to share and make some noise about our campaign. We found that sharing can be as valuable as a donation sometimes and be sure to check back for updates on our progress. We are currently in the midst of casting for the lead roles!