Cincinnati Filmmaker and Production Company Call for Donations to Help Fund Documentary

Storyocity and documentary crew on set of the film. Photo: howtofeedanartist.org

A Cincinnati filmmaker is co-directing a feature-length documentary that’s calling for financial support to facilitate pre-production.

Cat Rider, who graduated from the University of Cincinnati’s electronic media program in 2018, is co-directing “How to Feed an Artist” with zap mcconnel (stylized in lowercase) in partnership with local production company Storyocity.

The documentary is, “A love story between a woman and her dream.” It follows Mary Haglund, chef and owner of Mary’s Gourmet Diner. The diner in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, was a community hub and support system for artists for more than 20 years, Rider said. The establishment touched artists from everywhere, hosting exhibits, creating retail space for art, hosting events and offering employment opportunities.

The GoFundMe has secured $42,650 of a $55,000 goal with 232 individual donations as of this writing. The funding campaign ends Aug. 15. “How to Feed an Artist” is tentatively scheduled to debut in 2026.

“[The GoFundMe] is going to cover the rest of our pre-production, and then also getting us through our first couple of shoots actually, getting us well started into production,” Rider said. “We will have to fundraise more to cover all of production. But we really need support to keep actually shooting. We’ve shot a little bit by ourselves, like what we could manage personally, financially. And now we have so much more to shoot. And we want to do it well, so that pre-production is also really important. That’s what this first chunk is about, to cover those foundational, initial building blocks of the film to make the rest of it successful.”

The hardest part of creating a film, Rider and mcconnel say, is “getting it off the ground,” and this initial crowd-funding effort is a big part of that process. Since graduating from UC, Rider has worked in film production on a range of projects, both independently and with platforms like Netflix. She said “How to Feed an Artist” is particularly important to her, as it allows her to practice the many art forms that go into filmmaking while being an impactful story that deserves attention.

In a teaser for the film, Haglund comments on her story, saying that at first, she was feeding the artists but it turned into a reciprocation of life enrichment. “It changed my life forever,” Haglund says of the diner. “This is happening all over America where small businesses are connected to artists. We help feed them, we take care of them and they help take care of us.”

Rider and mcconnel refer to Haglund as a trailblazer and glass-ceiling shatter-er, who went above and beyond to serve her community. Mary’s Gourmet Diner was more than just a place to eat, and the documentary will take the viewer on a journey of that story through the eyes of the artists it touched, as well as Haglund herself.

“The unique thing and the thing that really attracted me to this project is that [Haglund] employed a lot of the artists of the town and didn’t just employ them, but gave them art shows,” Rider said. “Her space was booked at Mary’s Diner two years in advance. She would do the cooking for the shows and the artists would get 100% of the proceeds. It was just this hub where a lot of artists actually got their start.”

Rider says she can relate to the importance of exhibition accessibility, noting her first art show was a photography display at Coffee Emporium on Central Parkway. She says “How to Feed an Artist” is truly a layered story, telescoping in and out of first-person perspective from Haglund and branching out to her relationship with countless artists.

Clark Whittington, creator of the Art-o-mat — repurposed cigarette vending machines that dispense artwork — is one of many artists impacted by Mary’s Gourmet Diner, Rider says.

Storyocity producer Kayleigh Lennon says the story falls in line with the company’s mission, which includes telling stories that matter and that will have a positive impact on viewers.

“We live in a world where media is so constant and ever-changing and in our face every single day,” Lennon said. “We want to create content that stands out, that’s authentic, that’s real and that is also true to the design, art and creative world that we are living in, in our studio.”

Rider says the documentary is a feel-good story that’s relatable and conveys the importance of art in life. She’s looking forward to advancing to production and continuing to film the network of interviews that connect the message to the journey.

“Not only are we going to tell the plot points of [Haglund’s] life and the diner, but we’re also going to tap into what she has to say and what these artists have to say about the broader, deeper questions of life. And I think we need that. I think we need all kinds of documentaries. We need the whistleblower documentaries. We need the investigative documentaries; we all need these stories that help us actually re-examine ourselves. And that’s what this is. I’m very proud to give [Haglund] a platform to finally tell her story.”

To learn more, visit howtofeedanartist.org.
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