Always on
This project successfully funded on 23rd June 2025, you can still support them with a donation.
Donny & Lisa
Glasgow, Glasgow City, United Kingdom
Aim: As part of our final masters project, Donny & Lisa is a coming-of-age, Glasgow-based short film that begins production in June 2025.
The Story
‘Donny & Lisa’ explores the complexities of gender, the societal pressures placed on young men, and the casual yet deeply-rooted misogyny that's ingrained in everyday life. The story follows two childhood best friends who attempt to reconnect after time apart at university. When Lisa is drawn into an unexpected night out with Donny’s new friend group, one he tries to shield her from, they’re eventually forced to confront the distance between them, the toxic culture he's now surrounded by and the quiet sense of betrayal thats followed due to his choices.
Directors Statement
This story is told through a personal lens, shaped by my own experiences and perspective as a young woman.
I want to challenge reductive portrayals of victims in the media and show that Lisa is not defined by her trauma but a fully developed character whose past does not make her fragile or broken, but it does inform her experiences, and the way the world responds to her reveals the deeply-rooted misogyny that casually occurs in everyday interactions.
While the audience should empathise with Lisa, I don’t want to vilify Donny entirely. His character is intentionally complex, he is flawed, insecure, and desperate to belong. His actions are unjust and disappointing, but they are also a product of class divides and the social pressures placed on young men. Donny relies on his male friend group for companionship and stability. He represents many young mens who, despite being aware of what’s right and wrong, will choose self-preservation over confrontation.
I believe the story is timely, relevant, and part of a wider conversation about gender, human imperfection and taking accountability when we've made mistakes. I felt that opposite-gender friendships and the struggles of navigating those and male-dominated spaces as we get older and less naive, is something I’d struggled with and the complexities of it are severely understated. I wanted to showcase this through a broken friendship and two people that have become out of sync in each others lives.
The Funds
This project is part of the MA UWS filmmaking course and one of few films to be selected on the program to enter production. The university itself has provided £500 per student working within this project who are part of the postgraduate course which will be primarily used to fund cast. Furthermore it grants us access to around £3,000 worth of equipment and post-production studios.
Therefore, all donations will significantly help in the following areas:
- Location Arrangement
- Travel & Transport
- Catering
- Set Dressing
- Props
Each donation will help us achieve our goal of creating an Industry standard film. Donors will receive regular updates on how the project is developing to show effective use of the funds provided.
The Team!
- Director: Holly King
- Producers: David McColl & Lucy Gilmour
- Director of Photography: TJ Turner
- Production Designer: Maider Uranga
- Assistant Director: Charlie Grove
- Sound Recordist/Designer: Ellie Hodgson
- Art Assistant: Ana Amorós López
- First Assistant Camera: Kelly Stewart
- Editor: Alice Grant
We are incredibly grateful to any contribution towards our project, alongside your participation and support towards independent Scottish film. Please feel free to ask any questions regarding this project within the 'Contact project' section.