GETTING BEHIND SOMETHING GOOD

To me campaigns in crowdfunding sites are a clear example of people going after their dreams, and being the kind of person that chases his dreams I like to get behind people whenever I can. While perusing my social media platform of choice (Facebook) I came across a bit of interesting news. Daresha Kyi, a friend, co worker, and mentor of mine started a campaign on indiegogo.com. Daresha is someone that I hold in high esteem because she really taught me a lot when we worked together on a major television show where she served as Story Producer. 

Curious and eager to help in any way I immediately went to the indiegogo site in order to learn more 

about her campaign. The campaign's purpose is to raise funds for her and her partner Kedar's baby known as TRU IMIJ ARTWORK. It was refreshing to see a campaign about something other than the next great flick. As I read on about the purpose of the campaign I began to realize that this was about more than just raising funds to create a viable business, it is about raising funds to help make the world better through the universal language of art. 

Rather than talk about it in my words I'd rather quote some of the words of Kedar, Daresha's partner and the talented artist whose work is the powerful engine behind this project. Kedar states that "As someone with a speech impediment who was unable to read until I was an adult (because no one knew what dyslexia was or how to treat it when I was a child), art has always helped me express my thoughts and dreams. Whenever words failed me, art saved me." Seeing that completely changed my outlook and took me from wanting to help a friend to wanting to help a far greater cause. I read on and noticed the following statement: "Once we're up and running, we intend to donate 15% of our profits to an established charity, such as charitywater.org which provides sustainable clean water and sanitation to people in developing countries. As our sales increase our goal is to eventually donate as much as 40% of our profits to various charities."

I knew this project was special and I knew that it was about more than just making money, but the making a difference part was cemented with the above statement about donating to various charities. We live in a society where we rarely think about benefitting others through our gifts, so this was something that I saw as both touching and admirable. I'm writing this entry in order to solicit support for this campaign.

I want to urge everyone that reads this to go to the indiegogo.com site and read the story behind TRU IMIJ ARTWORK. Support is anything from helping out with a small donation to sharing the campaign link on your social media. I want close by saying that it's campaigns like this, with the goal of helping others far more than ourselves, that ultimately give the greatest amount of satisfaction. 

HELP OUT THESE GUYS

Rarely do you ever have an opportunity to help make something great happen. I can get on a crowd funding site and tell you to please give me money for my film but really, is a VHS tape of an old man farting a film? I want to tell you about a great film 28 Minute Epic.  Go check out its kickstarter at: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/827894937/28-minute-epic. Check out what these guys are about and donate something, even if it's just a few dollars, make something great happen for some great and highly talented guys!

A TALK WITH THE MAKERS OF 28 MINUTE EPIC

When it comes to film I like to look around me instead of in front of me. It's this way that I find the best stories to listen to. A good example is my interview with GianCarlo Fernandez and Rocco Petrullo, the makers of the upcoming film 28 Minute Epic. Here's what they had to say:

Can you give us a brief synopsis of your film? 

28 Minute Epic: The story about Jim and Dave, aimless Jersey boy best friends, who are recently fired from their cushy porn-shop jobs, and decide to become superheroes for hire in order to at attain financial stability after accidentally saving someones life. With help from a "professional" crime fighter, they find that being a hero isn't always super.

Rocco Petrullo (Writer/Actor/ Producer)

Rocco tell us a little bit about yourself

1. I was born and raised in Garfield , New Jersey. Never has the thought of being anything other than a film maker crossed my mind. After getting  a BFA in film making from Montclair State University, I became a free lance videographer and editor, all while doing stand up comedy and writing many short films.

2. I am interested in writing, acting, and directing films. I’m a big cinema fan and study movies constantly. I  examine what the conventions of films are, then I see if there is a way to subvert them.

3. When I was young, I always loved movies and that translated into writing short stories. In High School and College I furthered developed it into short films.

You're up GianCarlo tell us about your background, interests, love of film

GianCarlo Fernandez (Writer/Director/Producer) 

1. I was born in Los Angeles, California and raised in Edison, New Jersey. I honed my creative energies at Montclair State University, where I studied fine arts with a concentration in filmmaking and film production. My ambition and skill-set, evidenced by my overachieving student films, quickly earned me a rare internship with Michael Uslan, the famed Batman producer and CEO of BatFilm Production, INC. Under the mentorship of Michael Uslan and fellow producer F.J. Desanto, I contributed ideas and got first-hand experience in film development on over a dozen major studio films while still in college.

2. I am interested in all things film, art, photography, technology and literature. I am also a health nut and receational soccer player. 

3. My fervor for film and filmmaking started at a young age with acting out Rocky movies and watching Psycho on a weekly basis with my little sister. I got curious about the process and eventually started using my mothers video camera to film my sister and myself doing silly things and pretend we were making a movies. I remember thinking I could actually make a film after watching Chasing Amy for the first time. 

Can you give us a little bit of information on the cast/crew? 

We have a great group of people that are just as passionate about the film as we are. So far we have all worked for free because we all believe in the project and know that we can get it funded through a crowd funding site like kickstarter.com. Everyone involved has a specific job to do but we all wear multiple hats during production. This film is true collaboration of talents. 

GianCarlo Fernandez is the co-writer/director/producer/editor 

Rocco Petrullo is the co-writer/actor/producer

Main Cast:

Rocco Petrullo as Jim/The Masked Avenger, is a trained actor that has experience in stand up comedy and has been in multiple short films. This is his first feature film. 

Patrick Lithgow as Dave/Spanky, is a trained theater actor that has been in many plays. This is his first feature film. 

Steve Boghossian is a trained actor that has been in short films and an extra on feature films. This is his first feature film. 

Cinematographer/Colorist: Danny O’Halloran is an NYU trained DP with tons of experience in short films, music videos, marketing videos and more. He is also a a frequent collaborator with GianCarlo Fernandez. 

Assistant Cameraman: Alain Nonguierma, Johnny George 

Executive Producers: Alain Nonguierma, Johnny George 

What are the goals for the film?

We want to show that a bunch of local guys who have training and ambition can produce a great film that will make people laugh. We hope to take our finished film to many festivals this upcoming year and find a distributor to get the film out there to the masses. 

Do you think it’s easier to be in film now? 

The only easy thing about being in film now is finding good equipment to shoot with. The competition is greater, and it’s easier to get lost in the shuffle, but we have learned that creativity, talent and drive can make a project shine through. 

Got any advice for people trying to break in:

Always over prepare so you’re not underprepared. Following your dreams is great but you need to know what to do when your faced with the reality of making that dream come true. 

Closing thoughts:

Making a film is a crazy endeavor, but that’s what this movie is about. Following your dreams on the off chance that it will pay off because you’ve worked so hard to make it come to fruition. We appreciate you taking the time to find out more about the film. Thank you for your time. Below we have attached links to our clips and social media. Our kickstarter campaign will be launching this month so we’ll keep you posted when it does. We leave you with this thought: what’s better than 15 minutes of fame? 28! 

Thank you for the time gentlemen and best of luck with your film. Please make sure you follow the film , bellow are links to the trailers and social media: 

https://www.facebook.com/28MINUTEEPIC?ref=hl

Teaser Intro

http://nerdjerseypodcast.com/exclusive-clip-from-28-minute-epic/

Teaser 1. 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QpO2xxk_0cQ

Teaser 2.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=35md_a7GL7A

Teaser 3. 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kNKb8kitC1s 

Teaser 4. 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0wCk0cxLQMI

2. YouTube Channel http://www.youtube.com/channel/UC3uR8ixcyYj30HR7vCJLjcA

3. Tumblr http://28-minute-epic.tumblr.com

4. Twitter @28MinuteEpic

5.Instagram @28MinuteEpic

FUCK STALLONE, BRAFF, AND SPIKE LEE..................FUCK HOLLYWOOD HARD

I have said this before but I think I am going to say it again, FUCK HOLLYWOOD and fuck it hard. The latest piece of shit to jump on the kickstarter bandwagon is Sylvester Stallone, he is seeking an additional $250,000 because an investor in a project of his fell out. Unless this fucking asshole spent all his money on botox and steroids there's no reason why he can't put the money up himself. Im sick and tired of stars with means and connections jumping on kickstarter, taking the playing field and fucking destroying it.

Zach Braff, a millionaire, did not want to put up his money to make another film, apparently neither does that little bitch Spike Lee, or the world's favorite mass of old man muscle Stallone. When are upstarts like myself and others going to have a chance? Apparently never. It's hard enough to raise money without celebrities taking center stage. The very ignorant providing these celebrities with money don't seem to understand that their contribution means nothing to these guys. These assholes won't give you a shout out any time soon. These guys are fucking bullies that could give a shit about anyone but themselves.

Someone needs to create a fucking movement to boycott kickstarter until a rule is put in place to ban celebrities from seeking funding for projects that they can fund through other means. Oh wait, I guess a lot of the simple minded idiots giving money to these fuckers don't understand the unspoken Hollywood rule, the " you never use your own bread" rule. Wake the fuck up people, these assholes are all about taking without giving back. Charity to these fuckers is a massive tax write off. Fuck them, their projects, and the idiots helping fund them. I hope they will take a page from Kevin Smith's book, he won't go through kickstarter because he has his own money. This is the kind of thing that makes me think the world is worst off than we thought.

THE REVOLUTION

I love the idea of there being a site like kickstarter.com around to help aspiring filmmakers make their dreams come true. The purpose of the site is to help everyone that has some sort of entertainment related dream make that dream come true without having to go through 20,000 middlemen. It really irritates me when well established celebrities with means decide that they want to be a "part" of the revolution. The fact is that when people like Zach Braff decide to use their star power and name to get a project funded they are taking the playing field and turning it into their own personal playground. If I had to compare it to anything it would be to the US men's basketball team being comprised of all pro players and wining the gold by destroying the opposition which is comprised of less experienced players. It's true that not every kickstarter project reaches its goal but a lot of the ones that do go on to launch very successful careers.

Why does this bother me? I read an article about Kevin Smith stating that he would fund Clerks 3 with his own money because he did not want to take away from indy filmmakers that used kickstarter as a way to realize their ambitions. Why do stars that have access to funding or that have the money themselves fail to follow the Kevin Smith example? Many of the kickstarter projects that don't get financed actually have a lot of potential based on their descriptions alone. It's easy to have your project financed if you are a celebrity because everyone that gives a dollar is going to thump their chest saying "I helped Zach Braff" or " I helped the Veronica Mars people." My question to the people funding the celebrity project is: Do you honestly think you will get a heartfelt thank you" Do you think that these celebrities will give you a second thought in the future?

I will say Garden State was a pretty good film and I did enjoy Scrubs but I don't agree with someone using his name to fund a damn vanity project. There are a lot of legit talents whose only chance comes from sites like kickstarter and now they have to step back because the Scrubs guy wants to fund a project that will likely earn over 20 million and net him probably 2 or 3 million of that to say the least. I say if you are going to donate, donate to projects that really need it. Let established celebrities use their name, connections, and own dime for their projects. It's bullshit that celebrities want to take mediums like this instead of using their own means. Zach Braff has already raised a cool million and chances are he will raise what he needs in the allotted time. Does anyone know about Dov Simens' movie cloud project?

Chances are high no one knows about the Dov Simens project and how it attempts to give the indy people their shot.

Seriously if you want to give someone a chance give it to someone that wants to help the process and not step in the fucking way. Also look to projects that try to educate people on how to improve their chances of making it in the industry. Look at people like Gary W. Goldstein, trying to help people either establish their career or further enhance it. Here is an idea for a serious revolution "SAY NO TO CELEBRITIES" Share this blog on your facebook, twitter, anywhere and fucking say no to celebrities. You have the power so use it to protect your own territory, the globe is wide open because of social media the territory is getting easier to navigate so SAY NO TO CELEBRITIES!