Donate to TAGA

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Donate to TAGA ✩

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Why give?

Help stories from Filipino, Asian, and mixed Third Culture communities get seen and heard.

TAGA, which means ‘From’ in Tagalog, is a travel horror that reimagines the ‘stranger in a strange land’ trope. It follows a Filipina American girl, who travels to the mountains of Luzon to reconnect with her roots. When she ends up immersed with a group of privileged eco tourists who disrespect the local beliefs, they risk falling prey to a monster foretold in the folklore they scorned. 

The film is about the dark, neo-colonial side of travel. What happens when we travel with our own impenetrable narratives that we force on others, rather than opening our eyes to the narrative truths of others.

Thanks to CAPE and Janet Yang Productions, I was honored with the Julia Gouw grant for female, Asian American filmmakers. Past winners of this grant have premiered at Sundance and have catapulted their directing careers forward. TAGA is their first project focused on Pinay identity and also the first horror, so it’s go big or go home, and I’m fundraising to cover the budget gap.

In 2 short months, we’re going to shoot this film in the Philippines. But bringing camera gear, crew and cast overseas takes money and resources. While the CAPE grant generously supports us up to $25,000, our film needs another $50,000 before the cameras can roll. Why this much? Taga is an ambitious film, with monster prosthetics, cast from around the world, rural locations, and special fx like fire, fog and stunts. We’re also deeply committed to paying our cast and crew fair rates so that they can make a livable wage. 

The good news is that because of our incredible fiscal sponsor, From the Heart Productions, your donation is eligible for a 100% tax deduction and can be accepted from individuals or businesses. Donations made by December 31st can be applied to this year’s tax filing.

While monetary donations are the best way for you to support my project, we are also seeking other in-kind donations like travel points or miles that can be redeemed for flights to the Philippines. These are also eligible for a tax deduction!

I’m so eager to share this very personal film with you and show the world that Filipina stories and filmmakers matter. Please join me by contributing to Taga today!


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True representation means the privilege to exist in fictional stories as well as factual. Our ghosts and monsters, myths and legends matter to culture, and deserve to be reimagined and born anew for every generation.

Thank you for helping bring TAGA to life.

GIVING LEVELS

  • $20 PAMAYANAN

    “Community / Togetherness”

  • $50 KAPWA

    “Kindred / Neighbor”

  • $100 BAYANIHAN

    “To unite to achieve a common purpose.”

  • $200 KABABAYAN

    “Comrades / Compatriots”

  • $500 DAMAYAN

    “To care or express sympathy”

  • $1000 MALASAKIT

    “To care for something as if it were your own.”

    Associate Producer

  • $3000 BALIKBAYAN

    “To return home / send love home.”

    Executive Producer

Giving FAQs

  • From The Heart Productions has been helping filmmakers get their projects made for over 30 years through the Roy W. Dean Grant.  

    They pioneered fiscal sponsorship for filmmakers.  Through their Fiscal Sponsorship program, From The Heart continues its mission to encourage and bring to fruition unique projects with compelling stories that might otherwise have never been made.

    As a 501(c)(3) public charity, From The Heart Productions Inc (FTH), sponsors projects with their nonprofit status. This allows filmmakers to solicit donations that are tax deductible  for your donors.  That gives people a powerful incentive to give money to your project.

  • Yes, we accept non-cash donations of tangible items.  We will give the donor a letter of thanks and a receipt noting the items donated.  

    Any kind of item can be donated.  We can accept almost any type of donated non-cash item for the purposes of a project and issue a receipt to the donor for the item. However, we cannot issue a donation letter for any large items such as boats, cars, or jets at this time.

    Donations of intangible services such as legal services or rent free office space are very valuable but are not tax deductible under the law.  For that reason, we can’t issue a receipt for those types of donations.

  • Donating frequent flyer miles or travel points would be very valuable to the production since it can help cover flights to the Philippines. There are a few ways to donate, depending on your program. Some points like Capital One may be transferred directly to us. Other travel points may call on you to book the flights for us, in which case we’d give you an in-kind donation letter for the value of the flights, which you can then deduct from your taxes. Please contact Producer Joyce Liu-Countryman for assistance with making an in kind donation. JoyceLiuCountryman@gmail.com.