Vin's wife is away, recovering from a serious illness. After months of taking care of her, Vin has the apartment to himself, thick-cut bacon, and an afternoon to feel alive. I Eat Bacon is a short film that imagines what it takes to find vitality in the face of uncertainty and pain.
A note from Dipti, our director, about the film
This is my third film as a writer and my first as a director. I am also a playwright and I wanted to bring the electricity and intimacy of live performance to film. The viewer will experience a very private ritual, close enough to feel every breath.
Matthew Maher
Matt Maher is our lead! Recent Film and TV credits include Primetime, The Bride, The Mastermind, Relay, Air, Funny Pages, Captain Marvel, “Our Flag Means Death”, “Hello Tomorrow”, “Outer Range” and “Elsbeth”. Theater Credits include the world premieres of The Flick and Mr Burns (a post electric play), Othello at New York Theater Workshop and, most recently, Well I’ll Let You Go at Studio Seaview.
Our ask
We're raising $48,500 to make the film. It's a single actor in a single location, so the money goes on screen: the performance, the crew, and the edit, sound, color, and mix that get it ready for festivals. We aim to shoot before the end of the year and to premiere in spring 2027 on the Oscar-qualifying festival circuit. Where your money goes The full budget is $49,606. With a single actor in a single location, almost every dollar goes on screen:
Cast, crew and creative team: $23,746. Our lead actor (under SAG-AFTRA, the actors’ union), the writer-director and producer, and the camera, lighting, sound, hair and makeup, and design team.
Equipment: $4,900. Camera, lighting, grip and sound rentals.
Location, art and production: $3,800. Location, set dressing, props, wardrobe, meals and transport.
Post-production: $7,400. Editing, sound design and mix, color, music and festival deliverables.
Insurance, legal and admin: $4,500.
Festival submissions: $750.
Contingency: $4,510. A 10% safety net required by SAG-AFTRA.
Timeline
November 2026: we shoot in New York.
Early 2027: post-production (editing, sound, color and mix).
Spring 2027 onward: premiere and run at Oscar-qualifying festivals.
Credit by contribution
$20,000: Executive Producer $10,000: Co-Producer $5,000: Associate Producer $2,000: "Made Possible with the Generous Support of" $250: Name in the “Special Thanks” end credits $50: A thank-you on our social media
Gifts of any size are welcome and appreciated. Donations are tax-deductible to the extent allowed by law through our fiscal sponsor, Fractured Atlas.
Our Team
Dipti Bramhandkar (writer/director) is a Mumbai-born playwright and filmmaker; member of LAByrinth Theater Company (founded by the late Philip Seymour Hoffman). Two decades in advertising trained her in reduction, in finding the essential insight. Now she applies this to theater, film, and audio plays, with a sustained focus on desire, identity, and belonging. Plays: "Islands of Contentment" (Hypokrit Productions / The Tank), with Daphne Rubin-Vega, Laura Gómez, Kalki Koechlin, Danny Pudi. "Conjuring the King," Silver Palm Award. "American Rookie" (Luna Stage), her solo show. "Is There Even Porn in India?," invited to the Cape Cod Theater Project, Sonia Friedman dramaturgy. Guild Hall playwright-in-residence; Farm Theater Fellow, 2023–24. Films: "Joan's Teeth" (starring Kathleen Turner) — 3x Best Performance in a Short, 1x Audience Choice, 1x Best Short; on the festival circuit. www.diptibramhandkar.com
Neil Alexander Collier (producer) is a Pulitzer, Emmy, and Peabody Award-winning filmmaker who has spent two decades in 30 countries searching for answers. He started that search at the BBC in London, sharpened it on the front lines of the Arab Spring with Al Jazeera, and has carried it through work for VICE, HBO, and The New York Times, with a focus on the Middle East and Latin America. He directed and produced the film "So They Know We Existed" (2021), a portrait of life in Gaza that won a Peabody Award, and directed "Scout Master" (2022), the first feature-length production in Al Jazeera's "Fault Lines" series. In 2024, he was part of the New York Times team awarded the Pulitzer Prize for International Reporting, and in 2025 he won an Emmy for his reporting on Gaza. He is also a painter and writer, working across screenplays and short stories. www.neilcollier.com
Barbie Leung (Director of Photography) 梁麗君 Barbie Leung is an award-winning queer-identifying, New York based cinematographer. Features include Kids Like Me (Dir. Cynthia Lowen, Jon Cohrs) which premiered at Tribeca Festival '26, indie thriller Hidden Exposure (Dir. Todd Bogin), and the New York City Ballet's George Balanchine’s The Nutcracker in Shared Reality for Cosm Entertainment. Leung was named a 2026 Emerging Cinematographer by the International Cinematographers Guild. She was a Sundance ReFrame Rise Fellow 2024, after being selected for the American Society of Cinematographer’s prestigious ASC Vision Mentorship program in 2022. Her camerawork has also screened at Sundance, Raindance, SXSW, and Outfest. https://www.barbieleung.com/
Help us spread the word
Follow the film on Instagram at @ieatbaconfilm for behind-the-scenes updates. If you can’t give, sharing the campaign helps just as much. Post it with #IEatBacon and tag @ieatbaconfilm.
A personal thank you on our social media when the film is finished. Every gift helps put this film on screen.
Special Thanks
Donate $250.00 or more
Amount is fully tax-deductible.
Your name in the “Special Thanks” section of the film’s end credits, on screen at every festival screening.
Made Possible By
Donate $2,000.00 or more
Amount is fully tax-deductible.
Your name in the end credits under “Made Possible with the Generous Support of,” recognizing you as one of the supporters who brought this film to life.
Associate Producer
Donate $5,000.00 or more
Amount is fully tax-deductible.
An Associate Producer credit in the film’s end credits, recognizing your role in getting I Eat Bacon made.
Co-Producer
Donate $10,000.00 or more
Amount is fully tax-deductible.
A Co-Producer credit in the film’s end credits, recognizing your major role in making I Eat Bacon possible.
Executive Producer
Donate $20,000.00 or more
Amount is fully tax-deductible.
An Executive Producer credit in the film’s credits, our highest recognition for the supporters who make the film possible.
