It's been a long ride to get this point. We've had nearly a year of pre-production. A successful three month Kickstarter campaign that ended last December. We've cast our actors. We've (well, Bandersnatch) has molded heads. Locations have been secured. A teaser trailer was shot and released. And the script fought me every step of the way through the final re-write but finally succumbed to a beheading that left it twenty pages lighter and a whole lot tighter.
And now, with less than three weeks to go before we begin the shoot in earnest (one scene was shot on June 27th), we need your help to make Reunion be the best little horror movie it can be.
While our Kickstarter campaign gave us a great start, that money has been spent. Special FX and makeup costs (a must for the kind of blood bath we're aiming for) have ended up being a little more than we anticipated (and worth every penny!). And, we're proud to say, every one of those pennies has stayed in the Seattle area, going to the talented folks at Bandersnatch Studios (they are nicer than anyone you've ever met who spends their days up to their elbows in gore). We've supported schools by shooting (and paying, happily, for the privilege) a scene at Centralia High School (my alma mater!). We've hired the gifted Seattle Central Community College graduate (soon to be no more - check out The Stranger's article about the travesty by clicking on this link) Christian Sorensen Hansen to serve as the Director of Photography, ensuring the film will look amazing. And the biggest chunk of our money went to a local Normandy Park family. For the month of August we'll be renting the house (for our principal interiors, where 90% of the film takes place) they've been trying to sell, putting some money in their pocket while they try to find long term tenants. The rest of the Kickstarter cash has gone to props, insurance, rental space for auditions, and gear rental.
So, as we near the start of production, we still need to scrounge up some more scratch, if you know what I mean. That will go to cover food costs (we have a cast of eight and about that many crew to feed for most of August and a couple of days in July, no small expense). We also need extra money to cover set dressing, additional props, possibly more makeup stuff (the blood never stops flowing!), and even a little bit for our actors, who we will work to the bone.
This is a micro-budget production (by most standards we'd be considered no-budget) so we're stretching our dollars as much as we can. But every little bit extra helps (and we really need to feed people, or, you know, they'll die for real).
We are currently running our second crowd-sourced funding campaign, this time through Indiegogo. As I write this post there is just under three weeks left in our campaign.
If you would like to help get an independently produced horror film made, please consider donating as little as $5. Every donation gets a reward. Even if you can't donate, or have donated but want to do more, you can still help us by getting the word out to anyone you think might want to see their name in the credits of a horror movie.
We have brand new rewards this time around. If you donate $100 you will get a THUMB DRIVE. "Big whoop" I hear you sayin'. Big whoop indeed. This is a THUMB drive. As in, a USB flash drive, in a THUMB! Our killer's thumb, to be precise. Believe me, you want this thing sticking out of your Macbook Pro when you're writing your novel at the fair trade coffee house. Check it:
And, to top it all off, I'm personally adding a new reward right now. Only one of these will be offered. The first (and only) person (or persons, if you work in an office and want to pool your dough) to donate $2500 will get one of the original pig masks designed and constructed by the amazing Peter Orr just for Reunion. See a little of the masks in action in our teaser trailer:
I'm offering my personal mask, the one prop I most want to take home myself. I will sign it. I will force Jesse Lee Keeter, our bad guy, to sign it. The rest of the cast will sign it. And you can display it on your mantle, in your office, over your toilet, wherever you see fit.
So check out our Indiegogo, donate as little as $5, and help us get the word out. There's still twenty days (as I write this) to make Reunion as disgusting as it ought to be. Help us make it happen.
Be seeing you...
