Monthly Archives: September 2011

Locations

Posted by Mark of the Veil on

As we get closer to fundraising, I thought it would be good to start posting ways for people to get involved. As I’ve said before, the more we can have invested funds substituted by donated resources, the happier of a camper I’ll be, for two reasons: finances cause me headaches, and I think donated resources encourage a greater sense of community around a project.

(Having said that, we can’t get around needing money for some aspects, but I digress…)

Here is a list of locations that we’ll need access to, along with descriptions of what we need. If you have a lead, let me know in the comments!

Avelyn’s House
This location is a small, rundown house in a suburban area. We will be shooting both interior and exterior shots. The majority of the shoots here will be late at night (very late), and some of the exterior shots spill into the surrounding neighborhood, again at night, with a small gunfight in the street. That sequence might be a bit challenging…

Grocery Store
We’ll be filming both interior and exterior scenes, during the day. Simple scenes, just some dialogue, though we do have a store manager who acts a bit aggressively towards a panhandler.

Bar, Bar & Grill
These are two different locations, interior and exterior. Nothing fancy, just dialogue.

Unkempt Parking Lot
We’re looking for a shady, abandoned old lot. Three vehicles show up, and seven people have a conversation. Late at night.

Military Compound Interior
What we need here is a large warehouse area that can be divided up into different sets, resembling different rooms, holding cells, corridors and teleconference stations. We will need set construction in this one.

Country Gas Station
This is one of those ‘Maverick’ type stations out in the middle of nowhere, though preferably it’s not a chain gas station (if independent ones still exist). We’ll have exterior, interior and bathroom scenes.

Capitol Building Steps
This one will probably have to be faked, but I will be pursuing Boise city to see if it’s even a possibility. One scene, a gubernatorial candidate’s speech with a crowd of supporters is all this is.

Old Church Building
This one is an in depth shoot, interior and exterior, day and night. We need to use the sanctuary, we need a stairway, and we need an office where we can set up video gear and computers.

Campaign Building Office Complex
This is the gubernatorial candidate’s HQ, a simple office complex. Late at night, exterior and interior shots.

Restaurant
This is one scene, dialogue, filmed during the day.

Kylie’s Place
An apartment complex, interior and exterior scenes, day and night.

Hotel
This is a big one. We need a ballroom, a lobby, a hallway and a restroom. The banquet room features a large fundraiser dinner for the gubernatorial candidate, with a large video/PowerPoint screen. Tons of people, complete with police officers busting down a door. There also is a sequence in a media control room, but that could be a separate location removed from the actual hotel.

Anders’ House
Gwen Anders is the gubernatorial candidate, and her house is a large, spacious estate. Filmed late at night, these scenes are interior and exterior.

Observatory
This interior set resembles a daycare. One scene.

Cabin
Several exterior and interior scenes, all shot during the day. We’ll need a weekend for this one.

If you have access to any locations that might work for the above list, or any leads to folks who could help me get access, leave a comment or shoot me an e-mail.

Support and Fundraising Plan

Posted by Mark of the Veil on

I thought I’d give you a look at my strategy for getting the resources together by June 2012 for this film’s production. This is just an overview of what I believe is to come.

NOTE (10/1/11): My hope with this blog is that it would be a “living document” of sorts, that will show my changes in thought process as I move closer to establishing the means to make this film happen. This entry has been heavily edited, and those edits have been left visible to show a bit of how I’m adapting my approach as I gather more information from people who’ve gone before me.

~

Phase I: Seed Money & Fundraising Banquet Conceptual Artwork, Baseline Production Gear & Informational Packet
In mid to late October, I’ll be launching a[n] Kickstarter IndieGogo fundraising campaign for between $3,000 and $5,000 approximately $13,000. I’ve yet to determine the final amount due to some more research I need to conduct. The purpose of this money will be to act as seed money for the production, which will fund a more intensive foundation for branding (website possible website redesign [though at this point I think this site functions adequately], art direction), a professional breakdown of my screenplay with hard cold facts of what the current industry thinks my film should cost to make, the basic camera and production gear, and a private support/fundraising banquet in December that will launch Phases II and III culminating in a physical/digital informational packet  for specific individuals interested in learning more about the project who may be able to get involved financially or by providing resources.

This banquet informational packet will be hosted by the main cast and crew, and feature a few live video interviews with the cast, three to five preview scenes (along with the teaser trailer that premiered on this site last weekend), and a presentation of the data received from the professional breakdown, along with the current production schedule. After the main presentations, invitees will have the opportunity to meet and mingle with the cast and crew.

At this point, there is no longer a clearly defined Phase II or III – save to get this information out there, into the right hands. I’m rounding up some dollar amounts on different locations, and have determined what I’m planning on paying the cast – though if funds are short, I will be approaching the cast specifically with the proposal of becoming “investors” themselves, by giving their talents and time in exchange for much larger cuts of the returns.

Phase II: Funds for Production & Equipment
I’ll invite people I see in being either the “Phase II” crowd or the “Phase III” crowd (which I’ll get to in a moment) to the banquet. While I hope to circumvent much of the production’s monetary requirements by utilizing donated or discounted locations, catering and other miscellaneous services, I have every intention of a.) paying my cast and crew for their time, and b.) purchasing and renting pro quality production equipment, though on item “b.”, I also anticipate (or hope) some of that bleeds over from the “Phase III” crowd. The “Phase II” crowd is, for lack of a better term, the “money people”.

My intention with this crowd is two-fold. I will present in greater detail my self-distribution strategies, both through online means and a 2-3 month “film and concert tour” across the country I’ll be taking Mark of the Veil on in 2013. But I will also present this as an investment, not in simple financial returns, but in the future careers of every person on the team.

Every cast member has been painstakingly deliberated over and scrutinized by myself and a few of my peers before they have been selected. In some cases the conversations have been quite involved, and I believe the very best of the crop have and will be chosen, for each role. I have every confidence that, by the end of the last film (this is part one of a four part feature film series), every one of these actors will be well known. I say this not as a marketing ploy, but in complete sincerity. Again, watch the teaser trailer to get a sense of the caliber of talent we have with us.

Phase III: Donated Locations & Services

As I said, my plan for much of the needs of the production, aside from the people and production equipment, is through soliciting donated locations and services. There are a good number of locations – gas stations, bars, hotel lobbies and banquet halls, a church building, a large estate, a few houses and apartments, a hospital, a grocery store and more – that I hope to gain access to by means of simple exposure, or at least discounted rates. In addition, I fully intend on having good and healthy food consistently available to the cast and crew, and aim to invite a few different restaurants to the banquet.

I am also hoping to find legal aid that would be able to assist us in matters of insurance and liability. There are also vehicular needs, both on camera and for the cast and crew – I’d like to be able to shuttle my team about so they can focus on the production and not on where the next shoot is located.

This may all seem like pie in the sky, and of course we’ll make do with whatever we can find, but it is my intention to not simply make a film happen, but give the people that I’m privileged enough to work with the best experience possible. Beyond that, my hope is that through these connections, this film really becomes a Boise film, a project that everyone in and around this city can get excited about.

~

I’m making this up as I go, and I won’t deny that. All these plans might be completely changed by the time we get to where we’re going. But that’s what this blog is for, to document my thought processes as we get from point A to point B.

Thanks for reading, and stay tuned for more details on the Kickstarter IndieGogo campaign in the coming weeks. The rewards for getting involved will be pretty sweet, including a CD of the conceptual soundtrack, a DVD of the first table read, access to the preview scenes, and more.