Everyone deserves to start somewhere, to be given an opportunity, especially when they are talented. Rachel Marie Burgess is a talented actress that not only wants to act, but also to help change the world at the same time. She is an inspiring woman that wants to stop bullying, hate crimes, and attacks against people who have been targeted on the basis of their race, gender, and sexuality.   Despite all of this, the director Zach Braff won’t even give her an opportunity to try!

Zach Braff, an actor/director/writer is refusing to give Rachel Marie Burgess an opportunity to audition for his newest film Wish I Was Here.  When a director allows certain financial backers to finance a film, they give away their rights to say how the film is produced, edited, and cast. They have to select from a list of pre-approved well-known actors, and they have no say in the final cut. But he decided to start something on kickstart, a website which allows anyone to help finance his film, which he set the goal at $2M. With this he gets to have the final say in everything about it, editing, location and actors.

Despite the kickstart funding and arguing that he wants to do everything differently with this film he is only allowing established actors/actresses to audition.   

People like Rachel Marie Burgess deserve an equal chance to audition for a movie that has been funded by the people!  Let’s send a unified message to Zach Braff letting him know that we want a truly different approach to this movie.  Let Rachel Marie Burgess audition for Wish I Was Here. 

“I grew up in a family and town where I was taught to love and to never be held back because someone says you’re not good enough. I was taught to dream, believe, and give back with everything I have, and that’s what I am trying to do. I have been bullied; I really want to show kids and adults alike, that they’re not alone. With acting, I’m given an opportunity to do what I love every day and to give back 100x more than I can right now, I’ll have a voice, and can show kids on a bigger scale they’re not alone and it’s okay to be them. I’m not even given the opportunity to try and I don’t think that’s fair. But I’m not going to give up, hopefully you won’t either.” – Rachel Marie Burgess