Kickstarter

About this Project: 

Render is an absurdist, existential short film that depicts a typical day at work for an intern architect named Jeff. His job is to mock up images of his company's proposed designs so that clients can get an idea of what they will look like in real life. What Jeff doesn't realize is that one mocked up image he creates on his computer is actually an alternate reality! Two of the stock people he inserted into the mock-up to provide scale and context are named Sam and Karen, and they are in fact alive and aware. Karen is a little weirded out by how perfect her surroundings seem to be, while Sam is happy to accept things as they are.

Before venturing into film, writer/director Surita Parmar and producer Raj Patel were both educated at design schools (in Raj's case an ivy league one!) and worked in architecture, construction, and interior design. Render marries their love of design with film. If you want to get really academic, Render's discordant, metafictional tone is comparable to postmodern deconstructivist architecture. You could think of it as a short film version of a Bernard Tschumi building or Lebbeus Woods concept. Or, just an interesting and eye-catching story! Either way, Render presents something fresh and different for your viewing pleasure! 

Render's screenplay has been described as "The Truman Show meets Office Space". It's won several awards, including a semifinalist ranking in the Canadian Short Screenplay Competition, and a Remi Award.

Who's Involved?

Writer and Director: Surita Parmar (alumni of the Canadian Film Centre, wrote award winning short film Minus Lara- screened at Yorkton Film Festival, Edmonton International Film Festival, and Reel Rave International Film Festival, wrote and directed short films Life Debt and Never Mind the Bolsheviks, presently screenwriting a Canadian Film Centre short dramatic film as well as two feature films)

Producer: Rajan Patel (his short films have screened at Worldkids International Film Festival and Short and Sweet Festival, photographer, marketing and social media guru, gaming and technology blogger, award winning intern architect and designer)

Picture Editor: Mike Reisacher (graduate of the Canadian Film Centre: his work has been screened at Clermont Ferrand Film Festival and Vancouver Film Festival, additional credits include award winning web series Ruby Skye and feature film Passionflower.)

Director of Photography: Barry Cheong (a true rockstar, Barry is the Cadillac of cinematographers- credits include commercials for Mazda and Nike, too many music videos to count, and TV show Team Epic. He blew our production team away when we were shooting green screen footage for Render!)

Special Effects Consultant: Peter O'Neill (animation and graphic expert from Chopper Pictures Inc.)

Music/Sound Editor/Foley Artist: Joshua Hemming (local experimental composer, musician and sound editor.)

Actors:

Karen: Eve Wylden (renowned veteran theatre actress who recently dazzled in Toronto's Fringe Festival play Love Virtually.)

Sam: Neil Bennett (another Toronto theatre veteran who recently won Best Actor at the 2011 24 Hour Film Race competition)

Why Are We Raising Money?

Render is a work in progress that needs three stages of filming and post production services. Stages one and two have already been filmed. If we reach our Kickstarter funding goal, stage three of production will be filmed, after which the project will be picture and sound edited.

Because of the extent of special effects the script calls for, we can't exactly get away with having our friend shoot it in someone's basement with a homemade steadicam! In addition to our amazing team of professionals, many generous people have donated services on the basis of their confidence in Render's unusual, eye catching concept. Hopefully their participation and contribution is enough encouragement for you to lend your support as well :).

What Can You Do? 

Every little bit helps. Whether it's one dollar or one hundred, all contributions to our project are greatly appreciated! Amazing incentives have been provided depending on the amount you'd like to donate. In the event we raise more money than requested, it will go towards paying the wonderful professionals involved with this project who have deferred their fees to make this project happen, as well as marketing costs for festival distribution.

If you happen to be short on cash, you can most definitely still help by spreading the word about this project to friends and posting our Kickstarter page on social networking sites. 

In Closing:

Thank you for taking the time to visit our page and check out our project! Feel free to follow the filmmakers on Twitter: 

https://twitter.com/skratula

http://twitter.com/Rajio