Our Crowdfunding Groups
About Us:
Founded in 2010, Applause for a Cause is Northwestern University’s only student-run film organization that writes, produces, directs, edits, and premieres a feature-length film each year, and the only student film organization that raises money for a philanthropic cause. The only student group of its kind nationwide, Applause donates the proceeds from our film’s screening to that year’s selected charity. It is our mission to use our love of filmmaking to make a difference in our local community. Past films have successfully raised thousands of dollars for local and national causes, including last year's production, Charge, which helped raise $3,000 for Storycatchers Theatre, a Chicago-based organization focused on rehabilitating court-involved youths through the performing arts.
This Year's Project:
For our 10th anniversary production, we have chosen to produce We’re the Marvels, written by recent Northwestern graduate Christian Ubillus. We’re the Marvels follows a young woman who prepares a Thanksgiving dinner for a group of friends as a practice run before making actual Thanksgiving dinner for her family. As we see the prep, the dinner, and the aftermath, out of order, we start to see that she and her friends similarly struggle with feelings of over-reliance on others - a feeling that’s just waiting to burst. In connection with the film’s themes relating to family and supporting one another, all proceeds from ticket sales at our film’s premiere will benefit the Howard Area Community Center, a local social service agency and food pantry that provides affordable and free education, employment, and health assistance programs for the greater neighborhood of Rogers Park, Chicago.
How You Can Help:
To produce We’re the Marvels, we need all the help we can get! Simple tasks such as purchasing costumes, paying actors a fair wage, and upgrading our equipment are difficult to achieve without the necessary resources. We invite you to become a part of our film by supporting our project.
If you would like to contribute to our project, you can make a gift here to help make our film a reality. Gifts of any and all sizes go a long way toward the production of our film.
By giving to our campaign, you will provide a wonderful creative opportunity for students that will ultimately impact the local community. Together, we can make a great film for a great cause!
No matter your ability to contribute financially, you can also help us by sharing our project via email and social media with others! We will keep you updated throughout the campaign on our progress—the more people you tell about Applause, the faster we’ll reach our goal!
A $25 gift will go toward the buying of props and costumes needed to make our film come to life!
Your $45 gift can help contribute toward post-production costs and making the film look great at the premiere!
Help pay for location fees and transportation expenses with a gift of $75!
A $100 gift can go toward purchasing camera equipment to make our film look beautiful!
With your $250 gift, you can contribute toward a fair wage for an actor’s hard work!
A $500 gift will go toward buying new sound equipment and help future Applause films!
Upgrade our lighting equipment with a $1,000 donation and support Applause for years to come!
