Underfunded

  • Tommy Joe Martins
    Director
  • Tommy Joe Martins
    Writer
  • Skylar Schock
    Producer
    She Had it Coming
  • Austin Valli
    Key Cast
    "JD Marshall"
  • Joseph Gray
    Key Cast
    "Eric Benning"
  • Patrick Logan
    Key Cast
    "Baker Brooks"
  • Kim Sandwhich
    Key Cast
    "Lacy Summers"
  • Project Type:
    Short
  • Genres:
    Action, drama, sports
  • Runtime:
    24 minutes 2 seconds
  • Completion Date:
    April 21, 2025
  • Production Budget:
    20,000 USD
  • Country of Origin:
    United States
  • Country of Filming:
    United States
  • Language:
    English
  • Shooting Format:
    Digital
  • Aspect Ratio:
    2:35
  • Film Color:
    Color
  • First-time Filmmaker:
    Yes
  • Student Project:
    No
  • Digital Cinema Package:
    Unavailable
  • Moonless International Film Festival
    Sumter, SC
    United States
    May 18, 2025
    Best Director
Director Biography - Tommy Joe Martins

Tommy Joe Martins is a professional race car driver and team owner whose passion for storytelling began long before his days on the track. A journalism graduate from the University of Mississippi, Tommy spent over a decade competing in NASCAR where he experienced the highs and lows of life in professional racing firsthand. His transition into filmmaking is fueled by a desire to tell grounded, character-driven stories rooted in authenticity. Underfunded, his directorial debut, draws from his own experience in the sport to explore themes of struggle, determination, and identity in a world where talent is secondary to funding.

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Director Statement

Despite years of racing on national television, I've often felt invisible in my sport. In 2016, I wrote a blog called “The Problem” that went viral, and got me reprimanded by NASCAR leadership. It also proved that my story—and those like mine—weren't going to be told from the broadcast booth.

Underfunded is a film born out of my love and frustration with the sport, and my desire to confront its biggest challenge: talent vs. money. I used my own experience to write characters who reflect real people I’ve met and been, who all face vastly different paths and challenges, despite having similar skills. I wanted to capture not just what happens inside the racecar, but the weight and consequences of the business decisions happening off the track. Drivers in the same cars can be faced with dramatically different circumstances.

I love the style and intensity of Tony Scott’s Days of Thunder and the underdog honesty of Moneyball. I hope Underfunded is both entertaining and introspective. For me, feeling irrelevant was just the beginning of a story worth telling.