THE VANDALIST FOUNDRY
IS A FILMMAKERS CLUBHOUSE BY DAY,
CINEMA BY NIGHT.
A CURATED SPACE IN NYC TO WORK, LEARN, CREATE, AND FIND COMMUNITY.
EVERY QUARTER, WE ALSO FUND MULTIPLE PROOF-OF-CONCEPT FILMS FOR $20K+.
FOUNDRY MEMBERS GET IN-PERSON ACCESS BEFORE THEY PREMIERE
AT OUR "GREENLIGHT NIGHT" AND ARE OPTIONED TO STUDIOS.
APPLY FOR:
We believe great movies shape culture by reminding us of our shared humanity.
There is arguably no better medium (at scale) that allows us to step into someone’s soul and witness the world from a perspective not our own. In many ways, it is the closest we have to time travel and teleportation into alternate universes.
But why is that important, beyond the obvious entertainment value?
As the modern world globalized from tribal communities into capitalist cities, we’ve been given a blessing and curse to completely curate our cosmos. We see what we want to see, hear what we want to hear.
We live in partitioned apartments, walk with airpods stuffed in our ears, drive our own vehicles, and surround ourselves with people we know. We consume media by an algorithm that rewards self-validating content. Front yards are shrinking, churches are skewing older, and third spaces are disappearing. It is easier now than ever to live in an enclosed bubble – or rather, it is harder than ever to break out of one.
But when you sit in a dark room to watch a movie – by yourself or with others – you are subjecting yourself to an experience that is not your own.
How revolutionary, to step into the eyes of a gay black boy growing up in the Miami projects (MOONLIGHT), a lowly trash compactor robot (WALL-E), or a cubicle worker who discovers the world is but a virtual simulation to keep him asleep (THE MATRIX).
If the movie is any good – with a story so sweet and craftsmanship so precise – you will hardly notice the medicine within candy, until the picture cuts to black and you have swallowed the movie whole. But by then it will be too late; some small part of your core being – your biology and your soul – will have been altered forever.
Once the novelty wears off, you realize the film was never about heartbreak, grief, shame, ambition, growth, love – it was about you. It always was.
The very best of films remind us of our shared humanity.
“My uncle says we live three times as long since man invented movies.” – Yi Yi, Edward Yang
We believe great movies shape culture by reminding us of our shared humanity.
There is arguably no better medium (at scale) that allows us to step into someone’s soul and witness the world from a perspective not our own. In many ways, it is the closest we have to time travel and teleportation into alternate universes.
But why is that important, beyond the obvious entertainment value?
As the modern world globalized from tribal communities into capitalist cities, we’ve been given a blessing and curse to completely curate our cosmos. We see what we want to see, hear what we want to hear.
We live in partitioned apartments, walk with airpods stuffed in our ears, drive our own vehicles, and surround ourselves with people we know. We consume media by an algorithm that rewards self-validating content. Front yards are shrinking, churches are skewing older, and third spaces are disappearing. It is easier now than ever to live in an enclosed bubble – or rather, it is harder than ever to break out of one.
But when you sit in a dark room to watch a movie – by yourself or with others – you are subjecting yourself to an experience that is not your own.
How revolutionary, to step into the eyes of a gay black boy growing up in the Miami projects (MOONLIGHT), a lowly trash compactor robot (WALL-E), or a cubicle worker who discovers the world is but a virtual simulation to keep him asleep (THE MATRIX).
If the movie is any good – with a story so sweet and craftsmanship so precise – you will hardly notice the medicine within candy, until the picture cuts to black and you have swallowed the movie whole. But by then it will be too late; some small part of your core being – your biology and your soul – will have been altered forever.
Once the novelty wears off, you realize the film was never about heartbreak, grief, shame, ambition, growth, love – it was about you. It always was.
The very best of films remind us of our shared humanity.
We don’t believe in the “auteur” myth. Yes, a singular leader (the director) must carry the map of the vision and direct their crew to row towards a certain direction – but the crew are the ones ultimately rowing the boat, not the leader.
We believe great films come from great talent. Great talent comes from great culture, and great culture comes from leaders who value these three things above their own ego:
1. CURIOSITY, or the hunger to continue asking why long after everyone else left satisfied.
2. COURAGE, or the willingness to fail in front of everyone, and let them fail in front of you.
3. CANDOR, or the pursuit of objective truth, especially when inconvenient.
These values equip leaders to empower their teams in discovering the new.
To discover something new is akin to exploring a dark cave; you can either slowly dig your own tunnel or walk down someone’s pre-excavated path. If you choose the first, you may eventually find diamond, or you may wear out your pickaxe and die of starvation. But if you choose the trodden path, the best you'll find are scraps of gold and silver. It may be enough – it certainly is for many people – but it will never be the diamond. And if you ever reach the person you were following, then it will be the competition that ends both of you.
And as long as humans desire, audiences will always want something new, something original, something like the diamond. That much has been a constant.
Our goal as filmmakers is to excavate the new, the diamond, by practicing and upholding curiosity, courage, and candor amongst our valiant crew.
We may occasionally dig down the wrong path, but “an essential aspect of creativity is not being afraid to fail” (Edwin Land). We must embrace failure without judgment, the way children create with unfiltered chaos. It will be messy. It will be painful. But it will force us to grow and find a better path forward into the unknown.
There is nobility in entertaining people, and we believe cultivating a fertile environment where creative crews can create their best work is a worthwhile, honorable pursuit.
If done well, the legacy of a great movie may endure forever, enriching the lives of many long after our time.
We don’t believe in the “auteur” myth. Yes, a singular leader (the director) must carry the map of the vision and direct their crew to row towards a certain direction – but the crew are the ones ultimately rowing the boat, not the leader.
We believe great films come from great talent. Great talent comes from great culture, and great culture comes from leaders who value these three things above their own ego:
1. CURIOSITY, or the hunger to continue asking why long after everyone else left satisfied.
2. COURAGE, or the willingness to fail in front of everyone, and let them fail in front of you.
3. CANDOR, or the pursuit of objective truth, especially when inconvenient.
These values equip leaders to empower their teams in discovering the new.
To discover something new is akin to exploring a dark cave; you can either slowly dig your own tunnel or walk down someone’s pre-excavated path. If you choose the first, you may eventually find diamond, or you may wear out your pickaxe and die of starvation. But if you choose the trodden path, the best you'll find are scraps of gold and silver. It may be enough – it certainly is for many people – but it will never be the diamond. And if you ever reach the person you were following, then it will be the competition that ends both of you.
And as long as humans desire, audiences will always want something new, something original, something like the diamond. That much has been a constant.
Our goal as filmmakers is to excavate the new, the diamond, by practicing and upholding curiosity, courage, and candor amongst our valiant crew.
We may occasionally dig down the wrong path, but “an essential aspect of creativity is not being afraid to fail” (Edwin Land). We must embrace failure without judgment, the way children create with unfiltered chaos. It will be messy. It will be painful. But it will force us to grow and find a better path forward into the unknown.
There is nobility in entertaining people, and we believe cultivating a fertile environment where creative crews can create their best work is a worthwhile, honorable pursuit.
If done well, the legacy of a great movie may endure forever, enriching the lives of many long after our time.
As a species, we do not have very sharp teeth or agile legs; we are apex predators because of our ability to communicate in large groups. Our combined brainpower and empathetic storytelling allows us to pass the baton of knowledge from one generation to next, pushing the collective frontier of our specialized crafts.
We are stronger in numbers.
That is why a studio or large company (a group of people working towards their own privatized goal) possess power over us lone, independent filmmakers.
The only way to free ourselves from these predatory gatekeepers is to work together amongst ourselves. To share our resources in education, access, status, and capital.
Most of us imagine this industry as a zero-sum game – to get to the top, someone else must come down. But we adamantly believe that there is room for everyone to create, so long as we create a bigger, better sandbox to play in. However, that new sandbox cannot be built overnight. It will require all of us to push for it until the governors realize that they are nothing without us, the working creatives.
As Mark Duplass famously said, “the cavalry isn’t coming”… but they were never needed.
We are the cavalry.
THE VANDALIST
New York City, September 2026
As a species, we do not have very sharp teeth or agile legs; we are apex predators because of our ability to communicate in large groups. Our combined brainpower and empathetic storytelling allows us to pass the baton of knowledge from one generation to next, pushing the collective frontier of our specialized crafts.
We are stronger in numbers.
That is why a studio or large company (a group of people working towards their own privatized goal) possess power over us lone, independent filmmakers.
The only way to free ourselves from these predatory gatekeepers is to work together amongst ourselves. To share our resources in education, access, status, and capital.
Most of us imagine this industry as a zero-sum game – to get to the top, someone else must come down. But we adamantly believe that there is room for everyone to create, so long as we create a bigger, better sandbox to play in. However, that new sandbox cannot be built overnight. It will require all of us to push for it until the governors realize that they are nothing without us, the working creatives.
As Mark Duplass famously said, “the cavalry isn’t coming”… but they were never needed.
We are the cavalry.
THE VANDALIST
New York City, September 2026