What Makes Wings · Support & Needs
Help Build the Wings
What Makes Wings is both a theatrical dance offering and a featurette-length dance film. Your support helps move the work from vision into rehearsal, from rehearsal into production, and from production into public offering.
Why Support Is Needed
This project asks for real resources because it is being built with real people.
What Makes Wings depends on dancers, rehearsal time, costumes, filming resources, production design, documentation, and post-production. Support allows ATMA Moves to compensate artists, protect the integrity of the process, and create a public-facing work that can live both on stage and on screen.
Two Forms · One Project
A theatrical offering and a dance film.
The work is being developed as one choreographic world that can live through two kinds of media. The order and scale of each phase will depend on funding.
The Stage Offering
The live work is the embodied root of the project. Rehearsal, ensemble practice, costume testing, staging, sound, and audience response help shape the movement world before it reaches its full theatrical form.
- Dancer rehearsal stipends and performance compensation
- Rehearsal space and possible venue expenses
- Stage management, lighting, crew, documentation, and production support
- Costumes, beadwork, textiles, props, and design materials
The Dance Film
The film expands the work into land, image, atmosphere, and cinematic ritual. It allows the project to reach dance film festivals, community screenings, educational spaces, and audiences beyond one performance date.
- Filming preparation, locations, cinematography, and lighting
- Artist and collaborator compensation
- Costume completion and production design
- Editing, sound, color, festival submissions, and distribution materials
Current Film Budget Snapshot
Where film funds are going.
The film budget is a working draft. Numbers may shift as the team, schedule, locations, and production plan are finalized, but the current draft gives donors a clear view of the project’s practical needs.
Draft film expense target
$20,000
Approximate total project expenses in the current draft, including cash and in-kind support.Cash expenses
$16,500
Current cash need for costumes, dancers, cinematography, production, sound, administration, and distribution.In-kind support
$3,500+
Estimated donated space, location access, crew support, and equipment resources needed to complete the film plan.Draft film budget categories
| Category | What it supports | Draft Amount |
|---|---|---|
| Costume Design & Fabrication | Feather headdresses, beadwork, dyed textiles, robes, costume materials, and the visual world of the guides. | $4,000 |
| Dancer Stipends | Compensation for 6 dancers across rehearsal and shoot days. | $6,000 |
| Cinematography | Director of Photography / cinematographer for planned shoot days. | $2,500 |
| Production Design & Props | Visual materials, objects, and design elements needed for the film world. | $1,250 |
| Camera / Lens / Gimbal Rental | Equipment needed to capture the movement with cinematic quality. | $800 |
| Music & Sound | Original music, sound design, sound mix, and mastering. | $1,600 |
| Insurance, Festival, and Admin | Fiscal sponsorship fee, insurance, festival submissions, and basic distribution needs. | $1,800 |
| In-Kind Support | Rehearsal space, donated filming location, volunteer set support, and loaned equipment. | $3,500+ |
This is a draft film budget, not a final locked budget. The numbers will be updated as the production timeline, locations, collaborators, and confirmed resources become clearer. The current Dance Films Association grant request is intended to directly support dancer stipends and costume fabrication.
Theatrical Production Budget
The stage budget is currently in development.
Because the full theatrical production scale is still being defined, ATMA Moves is not publishing a final stage budget yet. The categories below identify the areas that will need support.
Artists
Dancer pay, rehearsal stipends, choreographic direction, guest collaborators, and possible artistic support roles.
Space
Rehearsal space, work-in-progress showing costs, possible theater rental, technical rehearsal time, and venue needs.
Production
Stage management, lighting, crew, sound, documentation, costumes, props, insurance, and front-of-house needs.
How we are approaching the live production budget
The full theatrical production budget will be developed after the work-in-progress stage, once the final scope, venue, cast size, technical needs, performance dates, and production partners are clearer. A past Austin production budget has been used only as internal reference to understand likely live-production categories such as venue, lighting, stage management, crew, marketing, documentation, costume materials, insurance, food, and artist fees.
This page will be updated as the theatrical budget becomes more specific. Until then, donations and sponsorships may support the shared development needs that serve both the stage and film versions: rehearsal, dancer pay, costumes, production design, and documentation.
Current Priorities
What your support can fund now.
$100–$250
Materials
Helps purchase textiles, dyes, beads, feathers, costume materials, rehearsal supplies, or small production needs.$500–$1,000
Rehearsal
Helps support dancer rehearsal stipends, studio time, documentation, or development sessions.$1,500–$3,000
Production
Helps fund costumes, cinematography, production design, location needs, stage support, or crew.$5,000+
Major Support
Helps move the project into a major phase of production, including film shoot preparation or theatrical production planning.In-Kind Needs
Support does not have to be only financial.
In-kind resources currently useful
- Rehearsal space or donated studio hours
- Private land / outdoor filming location access
- Loaned camera, lighting, grip, or sound equipment
- Costume materials, textiles, beadwork support, or fabrication help
- Volunteer production assistance, documentation, or administrative support
Community partnerships
ATMA Moves is also seeking aligned community partners who believe in the public value of movement, healing, culture, and embodied art. Partnerships may include space, sponsorship, documentation, workshops, public programs, screenings, or cross-organizational support.
Donor Confidence
How funds will be used.
ATMA Moves wants sponsors and donors to feel clear and confident about what their support makes possible.
Project Use Only
Funds raised for What Makes Wings will be directed toward project and organization expenses connected to development, rehearsal, production, presentation, and distribution.
Public Benefit
The work is a public-facing artistic offering, not a primarily commercial enterprise. It is being created for artists, audiences, community engagement, and cultural contribution.
Fiscal Sponsorship
Donations may be made through ATMA Moves’ fiscal sponsorship pathway once active. This allows support to move through a clear nonprofit structure.
Transparency statement
The film budget is currently a draft and will be updated as the production plan becomes more concrete. The theatrical budget is still in development and will be shared once the scope is clearer. ATMA Moves will continue clarifying budget needs as grants, sponsors, donated resources, venues, collaborators, and production timelines are confirmed.
Development Roadmap
What happens next.
Now
Development
Movement language, ensemble structure, costumes, grant applications, and project support are being built.Summer / Fall 2026
Rehearsal
The work continues in rehearsal while the team develops visual language, funding, and production pathways.October 20, 2026
Showing
A work-in-progress showing through the Makers Program hosted by Shakti Moves in Austin, Texas.2027
Production
Depending on funding, the project moves toward film production, post-production, festival submissions, and future stage development.Support the Work
No one rises alone.
What Makes Wings is being built through community, lineage, discipline, resources, and care. Your support helps compensate artists, build the visual world, and carry the work toward stage, screen, and public offering.