About this project

BASIC GOAL
Raise $3000 for our transmedia campaign. Transmedia typically refers to alternate content produced in support of a film. LOST has Dharma videos on their site. THE WATCHMEN produced a number of 70s-looking cartoons, and newscasts for the web, all set in the alternate reality of story. Joss Whedon produced Buffy comics.

We're looking to take this concept a bit further though, and tailor the alternate content to the devices it will be shown on. For instance, our first iPhone application not only gives you secret messages from certain characters, but also makes phone calls to those characters. It also might give you information you can use to access secret web content on our site.

Check out some videos about our Transmedia Effort! http://www.youtube.com/view_play_list...

STORY SUMMARY
THE LOST CHILDREN is a 90 minute docu-drama about Evelyn Hamilton and the cult she joins, led by a mysterious guru. They believe that they are not human, but are instead aliens from another world, stranded here on Earth for thousands of years.

This guru is a boogieman, a myth. No one knows if he is real or not. He's only known through some rumors of his possible past.

Evelyn Hamilton was a trust-fund kid who joined the cult in 2008, and rapidly became known as "The Alpha". The Alpha is recognized as having abilities beyond those of the ordinary members. The Alpha may forego the usual training that other members must endure. There is only one Alpha, and she sits just below "The Father", the guru himself. There is a rumored sexual relationship between The Father and The Alpha as well, with some possible evidence of such a relationship here: http://www.youtube.com/watch....

The cult awaits the arrival of their mother ship, hiding within the Tioga comet. But time is running out. Because there are others approaching; The K'Taan, a primitive race known also as "The Elder Ones", or "The First Ones". The K’Taan travel through space on an asteroid in a dormant state. When they find a world with life, they awaken and feed until that world is dead.

Now, the K'Taan approach Earth. And Evelyn Hamilton believes she is the only one who can stop them.

Evelyn's family has hired professional cult deprogrammer JARED ALLEN TYLER to rescue her from cult. But as the story progresses, Jared finds it harder and harder to see what's real and what's not.

THEMES
The film straddles the line between fantasy and reality. Using a combination of documentary style camera work and found footage, The film uses low-resolution video to encourage the audience to see what it wants to see. Did you really just see a SHADOWMAN(A servant of the K'Taan), or was it a trick of the light and grainy footage?

The film explores the topics of UFOs, cults and extreme religious groups, controlling and abusive relationships and martyrdom. And it does this in a setting that challenges the audience to decide: Is it all real?

TRANSMEDIA
But the storyworld will extend far beyond the film itself, into content on our websites, live events around the story of the film, and mobile applications that interact with the storyworld.

In addition to the film shoot itself, we are currently launching a six month transmedia campaign, rolling out new content every month, in the hopes of building interest in the project. This campaign will include videos of "found footage" related to the cult, newspaper articles about the guru, staged photographs of the characters, all designed to support the documentary aspect, and build up the reality of the storyworld.

We believe interactive storytelling through transmedia will be an increasingly vital aspect of independent filmmaking. Not only because of the ever increasing popularity of the web on more and more devices, but because there is absolutely no way for an independent to afford to compete through traditional advertising. We have to come up with creative ways to get people interested.

But we see it as so much more than just a way to attract customers for our DVDs or screenings. We see it as a way to really extend and deepen the world of the story in meaningful ways. For instance, we removed two subplots from the film itself, and now they will live almost exclusively in transmedia. These subplots will be hinted at in the film, but we will not explore them there. The people who want to know more about them, can explore them through our other properties

So this Kickstarter goal is for bootstrapping our transmedia campaign. The money raised by this campaign will be focused on the following:

* At least 1 transmedia video per month of the 6 month campaign. These videos include messages from Chance Sturges, "found footage" videos of Evelyn Hamilton's past, and videos of the secret rituals of the SHADOWMEN, the human servants of the Almighty K'Taan. These videos might be part of the website, or part of one of our mobile applications.

* 2 transmedia artifacts per month, including newspaper clippings, staged photos, props such as amulets worn by the members of the cult, staged photographs of SHADOWMEN sightings, etc.

If you believe in the storytelling possibilities of the web and mobile devices, in the possibilities of getting up and taking an active part in the story, we think you'd be proud of being a part of this unique cross-platform project.

If you've ever wondered how one man, a Jim Jones, a David Koresh can control so many people with little more than the force of their will, or what might lead many people to commit a mass suicide like the members of Heaven's Gate, or if you've ever experienced the results of a controlling relationship, a cult or extreme religious movement, we think this project will speak to you.

BUT THERE'S MORE!
As a further bonus to other filmmakers, we will be freely sharing everything we learn about this process on the NEW BREED site. So if you are an independent filmmaker looking to start a transmedia campaign of your own, a contribution here will return to you in the knowledge you get from both our successes and our mistakes.

Finally, if this project looks like something you want to support, please share it with your friends, and sign up for our mailing list: http://www.thelostchildrenmovie.com