Abortifacient: An “operatic” psychological horror film

Part I: The Dream

The story behind this idea is an artist’s dream: a series of serendipitous events flowed together and gave birth to an original vision – an “operatic” psychological horror film.

The idea for the story hit me unexpectedly. I was watching an old cult classic called “Black Christmas”, when a situation in that movie inspired a conversation in my head: a man and a woman arguing about who has what say in the event of an unplanned pregnancy. I built the story around that conversation. It was a complete coincidence that recently, there has also been a debate going on about federal funds going to Planned Parenthood. Although this isn’t a political film, the issues that are explored (gender and family roles in our time) are more relevant than ever. But remember, it’s ultimately just a creepy story about obsession and control that will be rich in music and art.

Then, while writing the script, I was listening to a lot of classical music (since I was set on a classical score). As I was writing, a lot of the words just seemed to flow naturally with the music. I figured, why not just use these standard classics that we all know and love, to give the scenes dramatic tension? And furthermore, let’s have the actors’ words (spoken, not sung) ebb and flow along with the music in a semi-choreographed fashion! Arranging a track list and securing the rights to the music was one of the first things I ended up doing.

Next, I got together key cast and crew. I’m not really an online person (I prefer real life and real accomplishments), but I do see the value of using some online sources to team up with like-minded individuals. In that sense, I’ve been very lucky. I’ve never had a problem attracting people to a project, starting with my classmates and extending outward to professional cast and crew as I finished school. People are dying to work on stuff that excites and inspires them!

Part II: The Reality

Of course, once the idea was born, I then had to embark upon an artist’s nightmare: getting the funds to make it happen. My previous works were shorter and less ambitious, and I was able to manage things myself. But the time has come for me to cross that bridge as I begin to establish myself as a serious filmmaker. My first attempt at crowdfunding (through Kickstarter) did not go well. I had done my research and knew that to be successul, you must first line up support before your campaign begins, in order to build up momentum and attract the attention and excitement that is required. However, I found that the OFFLINE attention, support, and enthusiasm I get (from a good sized circle of family, friends, and peers) was very difficult for me to translate into online results. I heard about Seed n Spark later from someone I work with, and decided to try this, since it is more focused on film.

I’ve learned a bit more about the way things work now (S&S team is awesome), and all I can say is that I’m a very resourceful person. Once I set my mind on something, I’ll find a way to make it happen. And if you find the ideas behind this film intriguing, I’d love for you to be a part of it. Orson Wells said he spent 10% of his time making his films, and 90% of the time raising the funds to make those films. So that’s where I’m at now.

* A note about the funds: with your help, we’ll be set to shoot within a few months, as much of our pre-production and securing of funds is already complete. In addition, I don’t want you to have to pay for your own incentives, so we tried to offer things that would appeal to people who would like this film (mostly artsy, obsessive types). But no matter what level you contribute at, we’d like to give you credit in the film (unless you prefer to remain anonymous). Finally, thank you to the Seed n Spark community for this wonderful opportunity!

Source: icnw