Invisible Young is a sponsored project of The International Documentary Association, a 501C-3 non-profit organization. All contributions may be tax-deductible to the extent permitted by law.

Our Story

How is it that a teenager, often as young as thirteen, ends up living on the streets of a major urban center in the United States of America?  Begging for spare change (aka “spanging”), panhandling, rummaging through trash cans for a meal, sleeping on sidewalks or under a bridge?  What happened in this young person’s life that caused them to end up on the streets, in many cases severed from their childhood home?  Why aren’t their parents doing anything to help?  And what’s it like to become homeless at such a young age?  How does someone this age survive on the streets?  What's in their cards for the future? 

These are the questions we attempt to answer in Invisible Young.

The film looks at youth homelessness primarily through the eyes of four young adults, all of whom were recently homeless as teenagers (runaways) in the city of Seattle, Washington.  In revealing interviews, these four young people talk about their childhoods, their parents, and why and how they ended up on the streets.  Their stories will surprise and amaze you.

They also reveal how hard it is to survive on the streets, and the unique skills that are needed to do so.  They openly discuss some of the tools they used to cope with the strain of this lifestyle (which, unfortunately, can frequently include the abuse of alcohol and hard drugs).

While many young people never make it off the streets (unless prison counts), many do.  Three of the four characters in this film have made significant strides toward regaining a more normal life and a hopeful future. The fourth (still only 19) is trying hard but still has a long way to go.  While Invisible Young is hardly a “feel good” film, their stories are inspirational, and will attest to the strength of the human spirit.

Read more about the film at www.invisibleyoung.com.

The Impact

The overall goal in making this film is to raise awareness around this issue, and to dispel myths and misconceptions about homelessness youth (aka runaways).  We believe that people who see this film are likely to have significant change in their attitude about homelessness, especially homeless youth.

It is our intent to distribute this film as broadly as possible (film festivals, television, VOD, Netflix, educational institutions), and thereby reach millions of viewers (ideally).

What We Need & What You Get

A high quality film, suitable for broadcast on network and/or cable television, is an expensive undertaking. 

We have been in production on this project for one full year.  We've shot most of our footage and have begun editing, but there's still a lot to do.  We will use these funds for:

• Crew expenses and salaries for remaining shoot days (mostly b-roll)
• Musical score and narration
• Color correction, sound, and format conversions for broadcast deliverables
• Enhancement of our website
• Legal review, title search and errors and omissions insurance
• Press kits and marketing materials
• Publicist’s fees
• Film festival entry fees
• Creation of supplementary materials for educational distribution

One more thing - IndiGoGo isn't our only planned source for finishing funds.  But, the more you can contribute here, the better chance we stand of reaching our total fundraising goals.  And if we exceed our goal for this campaign, please don't let that stop you!

Any amount, no matter how small, will help enormously.  Large amounts will help even more :)

Other Ways You Can Help

Crowdfunding works best when contributors help spread the word.  Please help us spread the word to your friends, families, colleagues, and neighbors by sending a link to this page on your various social networking sites. And make sure to “Like” the film on Facebook!

You may also donate your frequent flier miles! Film festivals are a big part of the distribution plan, and festival programmers always prefer films which can be attended by the filmmaker, so we will be needing round-trip tickets and accommodations to attend film festivals in 2012-2013.