I'm making another movie! [General]
2011 Feb 8
Dear fellow Ottawa Foodies,
For those of you who don't know me (and to those who do, my apologies for the repetition) I am a local foodie and filmmaker well into pre-production on my latest project combining my various passions. I have teamed up with an experienced Toronto producer, Zenon Turczyn to write and direct my third short movie titled “Call of the City”. The film, which was featured in last month's National Post, will be about a teenage girl from rural Ontario who is suddenly forced to choose between moving to Toronto to pursue her passion of photography at a prestigious art school or staying home to care for her disabled father. Since most of the production team will be under 25, this project will give many young people the opportunity to gain the necessary experience to pursue their creative passion -whatever it may be. The project has an anticipated completion date of May 1st 2011 so it may be eligible for the upcoming Toronto International Film Festival.
Along with our application to the Ontario Arts Council’s grant for emerging media artists, we are reaching out to all our friends and family to help cover the cost of production (which is about $10,000) and build an audience at the same time. As part of our outreach strategy, we are using an innovative method of fundraising known as crowd-funding, where people develop an online pitch and supporters from around the world can make a donation, interact with the project team, and tell their friends about the project in the hope that they too will make a donation. We launched our campaign in December at indiegogo.com/callofthecity with the intent to raise $4000 and within the first two weeks had already raised over $1000! As we begin the final month of the campaign, we must still raise $2300 to meet our goal. Should we not raise the entire $4000, IndieGoGo will fine us a whopping 9% of our goal and we will be unable to finish the film. Therefore, with good reason, our call for donations and referrals comes with increased urgency. This ambitious project was inspired by real people who grew up in rural Ontario having to face similar hard choices and will resonate with people who understand that a lack of access to social services in rural areas can have a devastating impact on families and communities by marginalizing people with special needs and forcing young people to move far away just to make ends meet.
Donating to our campaign is simple and quick. Pasting indiegogo.com/callofthecity into your address bar will take you to our project's main page, which includes more info about the film and project team. We even made a pitch video! From there, you will find a big button labeled "FUND THIS CAMPAIGN" on the right side of the page. Clicking on the button will take you to a list of preset donation amounts, each with an associated perk (For example, everyone who donates at least $100 will receive an autographed copy of the DVD, poster, and promotional stills; be eligible to be an extra in the film if they will be in Toronto during the filming period; have their name listed in the credits; receive a personal thanks; and be kept updated on the movie's progress). You can select a perk or skip the perks and scroll down to donate any amount you prefer. If you are unable to make a donation, you can still support the project by grabbing a widget and forwarding it over email to people you think may be interested in making a donation; or posting it on your blog, Twitter, MySpace, or Facebook pages. Every page visit resulting from a referral increases our chances of being featured on the site's home page, which may lead to even more donations! After making a donation and referring others, you're welcome to follow our progress as we reveal new production team members and cast.
With a little contribution, we can make it happen!
Thanks for your support.
Adam Bentley,
Writer/Director
"Call of the City"
For those of you who don't know me (and to those who do, my apologies for the repetition) I am a local foodie and filmmaker well into pre-production on my latest project combining my various passions. I have teamed up with an experienced Toronto producer, Zenon Turczyn to write and direct my third short movie titled “Call of the City”. The film, which was featured in last month's National Post, will be about a teenage girl from rural Ontario who is suddenly forced to choose between moving to Toronto to pursue her passion of photography at a prestigious art school or staying home to care for her disabled father. Since most of the production team will be under 25, this project will give many young people the opportunity to gain the necessary experience to pursue their creative passion -whatever it may be. The project has an anticipated completion date of May 1st 2011 so it may be eligible for the upcoming Toronto International Film Festival.
Along with our application to the Ontario Arts Council’s grant for emerging media artists, we are reaching out to all our friends and family to help cover the cost of production (which is about $10,000) and build an audience at the same time. As part of our outreach strategy, we are using an innovative method of fundraising known as crowd-funding, where people develop an online pitch and supporters from around the world can make a donation, interact with the project team, and tell their friends about the project in the hope that they too will make a donation. We launched our campaign in December at indiegogo.com/callofthecity with the intent to raise $4000 and within the first two weeks had already raised over $1000! As we begin the final month of the campaign, we must still raise $2300 to meet our goal. Should we not raise the entire $4000, IndieGoGo will fine us a whopping 9% of our goal and we will be unable to finish the film. Therefore, with good reason, our call for donations and referrals comes with increased urgency. This ambitious project was inspired by real people who grew up in rural Ontario having to face similar hard choices and will resonate with people who understand that a lack of access to social services in rural areas can have a devastating impact on families and communities by marginalizing people with special needs and forcing young people to move far away just to make ends meet.
Donating to our campaign is simple and quick. Pasting indiegogo.com/callofthecity into your address bar will take you to our project's main page, which includes more info about the film and project team. We even made a pitch video! From there, you will find a big button labeled "FUND THIS CAMPAIGN" on the right side of the page. Clicking on the button will take you to a list of preset donation amounts, each with an associated perk (For example, everyone who donates at least $100 will receive an autographed copy of the DVD, poster, and promotional stills; be eligible to be an extra in the film if they will be in Toronto during the filming period; have their name listed in the credits; receive a personal thanks; and be kept updated on the movie's progress). You can select a perk or skip the perks and scroll down to donate any amount you prefer. If you are unable to make a donation, you can still support the project by grabbing a widget and forwarding it over email to people you think may be interested in making a donation; or posting it on your blog, Twitter, MySpace, or Facebook pages. Every page visit resulting from a referral increases our chances of being featured on the site's home page, which may lead to even more donations! After making a donation and referring others, you're welcome to follow our progress as we reveal new production team members and cast.
With a little contribution, we can make it happen!
Thanks for your support.
Adam Bentley,
Writer/Director
"Call of the City"
Food Film Director
I am proud to announce the official launch of pre-production for my third short film, Call of the City, my most ambitious film yet! My first big step is organizing a fundraising campaign at indiegogo.com/callofthecity. Please help me and my producer take this project from a small script to the big screen! Remember to check out our VIP perks because charity has its rewards too! Could you also send this to anyone else you think may be interested in the project or subject?
While the movie is not as food-centric as Luke's Kitchen, there will be a dinner scene and I will be looking for a caterer for cast and crew during production (which will be in Toronto).
FFD.