Back Our Comedy Short: 'Body Positive'

A YouTube fitness video quickly goes off the rails when the instructor’s true nature is revealed.

Thanks for visiting our GoFundMe page! My name is Haley Farbota, and I’m the writer for the short film “Body Positive.”

Like many femme folks, I have not always been kind to my body. Quite the opposite, in fact. For a depressingly large percentage of my life, I put a lot of energy into thinking about, achieving, and maintaining thinness at all costs.

Body positivity was most assuredly not a thing in my most formative years, and I am grateful it's in our discourse now. But with its advent in our social lexicon, I noticed the language around health and wellness becoming… slippery, at best. Women’s fitness content began to exist in a bizarre duality, where one could wax philosophical mid-burpee about how important it is to love yourself, while taping a video whose title all-caps exhorted the viewer to “GET BIKINI READY.” Ultimately, we are still supposed to have problem areas - we are just supposed to say we don’t feel that way.

It feels - dare I say - like wanting to have your birthday cake-flavored protein bar, and eat it too.

Which led me to write “Body Positive.”

WHAT WE’RE DOING:

Our comedy short “Body Positive” is a satirical take on the classic Youtube fitness video, written by Haley Farbota with Ashley Maria (Emmy Nominated, Pioneers in Skirts) attached to direct.

At a taping, new backup dancer Chloe realizes that the fitness instructor is slowly turning into a demon - and expects Chloe to join the dark side, too.

The short is an absurd, lighthearted commentary on women navigating societal expectations of their bodies (and the girl-on-girl crime that sometimes ensues as a result). It examines the language around women’s fitness influencing - where body positivity and body negativity often find themselves in a dysfunctional union - and ratchets it up to an 11.

We look forward to submitting the finished film to comedy and film festivals worldwide, and hope to encourage discourse on the way we talk about our bodies, both on social media and off.

HOW YOU CAN HELP:

This project is a labor of love, like the labor that gave me my child. And just like giving birth in America, it costs more than you'd probably expect to make a short film happen. Which is why we need your help!

For those who are able to donate, every dollar makes a difference! Donations will help us immensely with the non-negotiables of filmmaking, like:

We know times are tough, though - if a donation isn’t in the cards right now, we would be honored if you could share our fundraiser with people you know, particularly friends for whom the themes of our film may resonate. Which is, well...

...a lot of people.

WHAT YOU WILL GET:

This has been a tough few years for the film industry, and a tough few months for the arts in general. Your support means more now than ever.

Donors to our GoFundMe will receive a special thanks in the credits of "Body Positive," as well as updates on production and post-production via our GoFundMe page. (When people lament the lack of support for the arts these days, you will now also have an excellent opportunity to sneak in a humblebrag.)

For donations of $2,500 or above, you will also receive an Executive Producer credit, and an invite to our premiere (NOTE: does not include travel or accommodations, but will be super fun).

We can't stress this enough - your assistance means the world to us. Independent filmmaking relies on the support of people who are passionate about stories told outside of the box. We need a space, too. So from the bottom of our hearts - and the outside of the box: thank you.

Stay tuned for updates, and thank you for stopping by!

To learn more about Ashley Maria Productions, please visit https://www.ashley-maria.com.