Pitch CampaignTHIRTY-ONE BELOW
A shuttered Dakota rail town votes not to leave. One woman in her sixties keeps the grain elevator and the vote alive through a whiteout winter.
by Awaiting creator · Launched Aug 20, 2026
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About this title
Synopsis
The vote was taken in the basement of the Lutheran church on a Tuesday in September, forty-one ballots, thirty-four to stay. Marge Halversen counted them herself, twice, and then went home and made supper. She is sixty-three. She runs the grain elevator her husband ran for thirty years, and in October the railroad pulled the spur, which means the elevator cannot ship, which means the arithmetic of the vote is now different from the arithmetic of September. Winter in Wendt goes to thirty-one below and lasts until April. Marge knows which families voted out of hope and which voted because she was standing there. She has a truck, a telephone, and a great many suppers between here and spring.
Who this is about
Marge Halversen is sixty-three, runs the grain elevator her husband ran, and is on a first-name basis with all forty-one people who still get mail in Wendt, North Dakota.
What goes wrong
The railroad pulls the spur in October. Without it the elevator cannot ship, and without the elevator there is no reason for anybody left to stay past spring.
What's at stake
Forty-one people voted in the church basement to stay. Marge counted the ballots, so she knows which of them voted out of hope and which voted because she was watching.
Why it keeps going
Each episode is one week of a winter that hits thirty-one below, one more household finding a reason to go, and one more supper Marge cooks for whoever is thinking about it.
Takeaway
A vote to stay is only as good as the coldest night that follows it.
Shelves
Themes
Story, in the creator's words
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Style
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Characters
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Tech stack
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Schedule
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Production plan
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Where your money goes
Your money goes straight to the creator to turn this pitch into a trailer. A pitch today is a poster and a logline. What the money buys is the first piece of film anyone will see.
Nothing is collected until two things are true
This campaign has to raise $300, which is 60% of its ask, and reach 50 backers. Whichever of the two happens later is the one that counts. Money without backers is one person, and backers without money is a crowd that cannot fund the thing, so a Pitch campaign needs both.
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Scripts and reference sheets locked
30%Rough cut delivered
30%Pitch delivered
40%The creator has 30 days from the day this campaign closes to deliver. No part of the money is released for the campaign simply closing.
What comes next
Creator
155
Campaigns run
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Titles on ArchTV
Delivery record
- Campaigns funded: 0
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