Filmmaker Malachi E. Robinson has launched a Kickstarter campaign for Cult Fiction: Chapter I, the next installment in his new horror series, after the project was selected by the Kickstarter Culture Fund and awarded $1,000 based on its creative design, story, and potential impact. Click here to support.
The campaign exists out of real financial necessity. According to the project’s Kickstarter page, the team recently learned they did not receive a grant that would have covered the film’s post-production costs. While some production funding is already committed, the loss of that grant left an unexpected gap, prompting the team to launch this campaign specifically to raise emergency funds, cover production costs, and compensate the crew.
Set in Washington, DC in 1988, Cult Fiction: Chapter I follows JB, a reclusive, brilliant underground musician who withdraws from the world outside his music, haunted by past failures and an undefined yearning for something more. After a performance at the BLACK X Room, he’s approached by Gabrielle, an old flame connected to a mysterious group of artists, who offers him DREAM, a mind-altering pill said to manifest desires. JB takes it, and the pill doesn’t just unlock imagination, it collapses the line between reality and hallucination, pulling him into disturbing rituals and a warped reflection of his own life. The project describes itself as more than a film: a case study on how an industry profits from an artist’s talent while feeding on their vulnerability. Robinson has cited Downtown 81, Requiem for a Dream, Bamboozled, and Suspiria as thematic and visual touchstones for the project.
Chapter I is actually the second piece of a larger planned story. Cult Fiction: The Prologue introduces Ezra Boone, a troubled performer in 1919 battling chronic depression, alcoholism, and insomnia, trapped between the demands of his craft and the demons consuming him. Ezra’s story serves as the connective thread running through every chapter of the Cult Fiction world, directly laying the groundwork for JB’s own struggles in Chapter I.
The project builds on Robinson’s existing work exploring artistry under pressure. His previous feature, The Poppaw Queen, won Best Documentary at the 2024 Prince George’s Film Festival, blending documentary storytelling with spoken word performance, while his short film Pipe Dream, recognized at the Independent Short Awards in Los Angeles, followed a rising pop star battling depression under the isolating weight of fame.
Robinson is also the founder of point.black, a creative agency and media production company built around authentic storytelling. The campaign is actively seeking creative collaborators, social media ambassadors, and media partners aligned with its mission to destigmatize mental health, particularly within the Black community and among artists navigating creative work under the pressures of capitalism.
With a funding gap now driving the campaign directly and a larger multi-chapter story already mapped out, Cult Fiction: Chapter I‘s ability to reach its goal will determine not just whether this installment gets finished, but how much of the broader world Robinson has built gets the chance to continue.