Effectively Schizo: A Mental Health Comedy!

Our Story

Mental health is not what defines a person. We are everyday people with senses of humor and quirks, and we are compelled to share ourselves as individuals.

The representation of the token “crazy person” or depicting dramatic serial killers as schizophrenic are impediments to people's understanding of mental illness. This series aims to be entertaining for people with or without mental illness as a positive portrayal of mental illness.

You’ll be helping to bring this project to life while supporting a greater initiative.

With that said, the writers aim to create a comedy series that destigmatizes mental health conditions. By portraying the daily struggles of a woman with schizoaffective disorder in a lighthearted and silly manner (without making fun of her), it shows the audience that life can be enjoyed amidst not-so-normal things going on.

Our Mission

We are looking to create a pilot episode of this series in the hopes of seeing it through to major media. A large portion of the population lives or knows someone who struggles with mental illness. Our mission is to portray people with mental health issues in a realistic and comedic way that demystifies their conditions and highlights the impact of mental health conditions. We want to showcase the everyday struggles that people with mental illness face, and then normalize it through comedic exploration.

Episode 1 - Acceptance (The Pilot)

In the first episode we meet our main character Jules. She is diagnosed with schizoaffective disorder by a psychiatrist. Jules struggles with the diagnosis and searches for a “socially digestible” term to avoid social stigma. Through her journey of self-acceptance, we meet other characters that give insight into other mental health conditions.

Who Benefits

This new series will benefit all types of viewers by allowing them to see mental illness in a more authentic way. It will shine a light on mental illness in a unique style.

Where Funds Are Going

The funds raised during this campaign will go towards:

Pre-production
Table Read Rental Location: $114

Production
Crew costs: $2,800 for 4 day shoot
Wardrobes/Props: $400
Lunch/refreshments for 4 days: $200
Locations: TBD

Post-production
Editing & Special Effects: TBD
Music: TBD
Publicity: $200


What You Get For Helping Us

A finished pilot, yes. But we’ve also got some great bonuses for those who contribute during this campaign!

Here are the rewards for contributing!
$10- Digital poster of the cast
$25- Digital production stills of the pilot recording and the digital poster of the cast
$50- We will send a top-secret email with special reel of outtakes!
$100- Your name will appear in the pilot (send us whatever name you would like and we will put it in the pilot episode)
$250- You will receive a personalized credit at the end of the pilot episode
$500- You will become an executive producer and have your name in the beginning credits!
$1,000- Immersive Literature- we will write you into the storyline of our next episode!

Deadline

We plan to begin shooting in the beginning of September, so we need to raise funds by August 1st, 2019 in order to purchase and reserve all of the necessary items beforehand.

Stretch Goal

Our goal to shoot the pilot episode is $4,000, but our stretch goal is $8,000. If we reach our stretch goal we will shoot a 2nd episode of Effectively Schizo!