About this project

**WE RAISED THE MONEY! HOORAY!!** 

**NEW GOAL: $11,000 BY 4:00pm FRIDAY DEC. 23rd**

So what's all this?

Why it's only an ambitious, dark, comical, action-packed, dramatic short film about a spy who realizes nobody likes him. 

Who are you people and why should I give you my hard-earned green?

(videography for teaser and promotional video by Matt Mead)

I see what you did there. Cute. Where did this idea come from? 

Just think about spies and action heroes in general: nobody would want to be friends those guys. 

Are you crazy?! I would. Action heroes are the idealized male fantasy. Women want them. Men want to be them. 

Sure, they're cool and fearless and sexy. But they're also textbook douches: invulnerable, unfriendly, and impatient. Sure, you'd want Jack Bauer next to you in a terrorist attack but imagine taking him to your favorite concert. He'd be a big grump and whine about how loud it is and probably want to leave early! He'd be the worst!

Wait... that's true... He would be no fun at all! Action heroes are such lame dudes but... I'm so ENTERTAINED by them.

Of course! We all are! So this short film gives you all the cool macho fun stuff but then explores whats under that.

Here's an illustration:

Ok. I'm getting there! But $10,000 seems like a lot of money for a short film. My kid can shoot pristine HD video on his phone. Aren't people these days making awesome stuff with like no money?

Yes, There are loads of great zero budget films out there, but different projects have different needs. This is not a some drama about two friends in their mid-30's going on some road trip to find themselves. This is a spy movie. We want to pull off a very cinematic look. We need professional actors. We need a professional crew. And those people need the proper tools to do their jobs. They also deserve to be paid and fed for their hard work. There are already too many productions out there that take advantage of people. 

To put it in perspective, the average film grad student and even undergrad student usually raises at least $10,000 for their final thesis. And that final thesis tends to be a 10-15 short film.  

What type of longevity are we talking about here?  Is this just going to get crapped out on Youtube? What the plan?

Of course not! We believe very strongly in this project and hope to take it film to major festivals such as Sundance, Slamdance, SXSW, and - hey why not - the Academy Awards. The money raised here will also help with that. Our hope is that it stands very well on its own but this concept could easily be turned into a feature film. 

And.. so sorry... remind me who you are again and shower me with links:

• Matt Wells - (writer/director) - is a filmmaker turning out some seriously deranged short films and music videos that have premiered on Pitchfork and Stereogum. All of his recent work can be found here.
• Toby Meuli - (actor/producer) - is a very busy actor who appeared in the Oscar-winning film, The Social Network; "Bones"; and can currently be found on MTV's "Death Valley." He's a good-hearted guy with charm and abs to spare. Click here for his official site.
• Michael Gray - (producer) - has been working himself to the bone producing short films and music videos. Like all Emerson College graduates - he's very kind, patient, organized, and... rather handy.