Ornithomancy
Ornithomancy is an absurdist comedy that follows an anxious man who bases his major decisions on the flight pattern of birds, who minutes before an interview for his dream job, confronts the most important people in his life.
Our disheveled Candidate casually uses ‘ornithomancy,’ the ancient practice of reading omens from the flight pattern of birds, to make snap decisions on the anxiety inducing conservations he’s been putting off. When a bird flies left, he takes it as an immediate ‘no’, and a bird flying right as an absolute ‘yes'.
We’ll see the Candidate confront his aloof boyfriend on whether they should break up, choose whether he wants to renew his lease with his uppity ballerina roommate, battle his overly cool mom on if he’s coming home for the holidays, and deliver an ultimatum to his emotionally distant dad to stop shaming Candidate’s weight. All culminating in an interview that is… Shockingly taboo to say the least.
"A comedic meditation on indecision in the face of oppressive capitalism." - S. Vollie Osborn, Director.
Art by Storm Mina (film is live-action)
Originally written and performed as a one person play in 2019. The story has expanded to incorporate a full ensemble, and has evolved immensely over the past 5 years.
Picture from the premiere of Ornithomancy: the practice of reading omens from the flight pattern of birds at Theatre Battery in Kent, WA (2019).
Marquis The Honey Bear is a Northwest Emmy nominated producer, screenwriter, stand up comedian, UCB improviser, and 3x playwright: “Ricochet”, “Ornithomancy: the practice of reading omens through the flight patterns of birds”, and “Getting Distance". Mr. Bear Los Angeles Pageant 2023 winner, and Southland Honors Cultural Arts Award winner, for his contribution to the Los Angeles queer community through his charity club event, "Black Bear Joy". During his time as an Editor at WEBTOON Entertainment, he worked on 24 web comic book series. Marquis loves to write comedy about the intersections of blackness, queerness, and the ex-religious experience.
The Nitty-Gritty
This might be controversial, and I'm positive I'm the first person in the world to ever say this, but here it goes: films are expensive, honey! Worse, studios often don't invest in marginalized stories because our stories are considered ‘too risky’ to be worth the cost. This is why black and queer filmmakers so often have to champion projects on their own dime; and why I look to storytellers who've paved their own way to the table, like Issa Rae, Quinta Brunson, and Brian Jordan Alvarez.
Please share this campaign with your friends and enemies, bringing visibility to the campaign will help us make Ornithomancy a reality!
Your donation reflects your support of black queer led cinema movement, and makes this black queer's biggest dream come true.
Thank you endlessly,
Marquis The Honey Bear
Poster by Timo Reese (film is live-action)
Marquis Wright, or popularly known as Marquis The Honey Bear, is a Northwest Emmy nominated producer, screenwriter, stand up comedian, UCB improviser, and 3x playwright: “Ricochet”, “Ornithomancy: the practice of reading omens through the flight patterns of birds”, and “Getting Distance". Mr. Bear Los Angeles Pageant 2023 winner, and Southland Honors Cultural Arts Award winner, for his contribution to the Los Angeles queer community through his charity club event, "Black Bear Joy". During his time as an Editor at WEBTOON Entertainment, he worked on 24 web comic book series. Marquis loves to write comedy about the intersections of blackness, queerness, and the ex-religious experience.
S. Vollie Osborn earned their BFA in Film and Television Production at the Tisch School of the Arts at New York University. After winning several awards including Best Director at the First Run Film Festival Vollie earned a masters degree in Scriptwriting from Goldsmiths College at the University of London. Since then Vollie has continued pursuing artistic endeavors across several mediums. They are excited to be collaborating with such a talented writer Marquis on this upcoming project.
Logan Ellis is a producer and director originally from Kent, WA, where he serves as the artistic director of Theatre Battery. In Los Angeles, Logan is working as the creative partner to Ilia Isorelys Paulino at Cusp of Rebirth Productions. Logan is a 2020 graduate of the Yale School of Drama MFA Directing program, where he was awarded the Julian Milton Kaufman Memorial Prize for Directing.
Chris Register is a long time event producer, organizer, and caterer in Los Angeles. With over a decade of experience in live event production, and as a lifelong cinephile he has recently worked to bring his professional skills as a producer to the world of independent film; his goal to help talented creators bring their passion projects to life.
Hey bird watchers!
Our long journey has led us to today, day one of filming ORNITHOMANCY! Cannot describe how surreal it is to see this story that started as a one person show back in 2019 become a full production, supported by a PHENOMENAL cast and crew.
We couldn’t have done it without your support during the crowdfunding campaign, thank you for helping to make my big black gay dreams come true.
That’s all for now, can’t wait for you all to see some magic 🕊️🎥
Hey Bird Watchers,
The campaign is officially over, and I'm excited to announce: “Ornithomancy”, written by and starring Marquis The Honey Bear, directed by S. Vollie Osborn, is OFFICIALLY in production. Coming soon, thanks to YOU.
Y’all did this. 412 people came together to fund this film (EXTREMELY QUICK MIGHT I ADD), countless more shared this campaign, and my motley film team banded together to join me on this wild journey. We raised $23,685, SURPASSING our target goal of $22,500. It's hard to find the words for how grateful I am that you chose to walk the walk in supporting black queer cinema.
Making films and making people laugh has been all I’ve ever wanted since I was a closeted little gay black kid growing up in Washington state. You cared enough to make my dreams come true and I feel lighter than I ever have because of it. Thank you all FOREVER, I feel so lucky to have your support.
Now the real work begins… TIME TO MAKE A MOVIE 
(P.S. This last week of the campaign was a lot of work, so still catching up with shoutouts and bird videos. The rest will be delivered this week, thanks for your patience!)
Hey Bird Watchers,
Incredibly grateful to announce that since the last update, we have reached our minimum goal of $15,000, guaranteeing that this film will be brought to life! I can't thank you enough for the unprecedented level of support for this film. It feels surreal that this silly little story that used to be mine solely is now a project with an incredible level of individual investment behind it, and I'll never forget the gratitude I feel toward the communities I belong to.
As of today, we have raised over $19,344, with over 337 supporters! That is simply AMAZING. We're blown away by the support. At 85% of the way to our target goal of $22,500, we’re so close to fully funding a black queer comedy film!
Fully funding this project means that the cast, crew, and film will have the full support needed to bring this vision to life properly. It also shows that there is a strong demand for black queer film and sends a message to the studios who choose not to invest in our stories because they’re falsely considered “too risky”.
We have 4 days left, it all ends on May 4th, at 3pm PST. Will you help us get there?
If you haven't made a financial contribution, please do so today; any amount makes a big difference!
If you already gave, thank you so much! Please share our page with others, ask a couple of your friends to make a contribution in any amount, or please consider increasing the amount of your contribution by a few dollars. But only if you're able to, we're already very grateful for your contribution!
Thank you so much. We know that with your support we will get there! supportourstory.com/ornithomancy
Hey Bird Watchers!
Extremely happy to report that we are 75% of the way to our goal of $15,000, with over 215 supporters! I can't thank you all enough for the overwhelming support, you're walking the walk in proving that there IS a demand for black queer cinema. Home stretch!
11 days to go in order to make this project real, all or nothing! I am sure we can do this! If you know others who would be interested in seeing a project like this come to life, please encourage them to give! Every contribution of any amount seriously makes a black queer dream into a black queer reality. Thanks so much, and let's make this movie!
Best,
Marquis The Honey Bear
Hey everyone!
We're roughly a week into this campaign and we're already 25% of the way toward our goal! That's amazing progress and I can't thank you all enough for your contributions. Every contribution truly makes a difference and gets us closer to making this queer black comedy a reality.
22 days left to make this happen! prayer hands emoji
Best,
Marquis
