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In the beginning - well a few million years after that - God created Dick Derby. Who is Dick Derby you ask? Well, picture a young, irresistibly attractive, frighteningly intelligent, and devilishly charming man.  He is your typical college student --- if your typical college student was someone who believes terrorizing small children to be a sport. Or someone who considers Charlie Sheen his hero.  Or someone who viewed  the holocaust not as one of the most horrifying cultural genocides in human history, but as their own personal olympics. Okay, so I lied, he’s nothing like your typical college student. Which brings me to my next point: no matter how beautiful you may be on the outside, you can still be ugly as sin on the inside, and God doesn’t like ugly. “Saving Dick Derby” is an original series narrated by the big guy himself. God, your typical all-powerful, iPad-loving tech fanatic, wants to take Dick for the disgusting piece of filth that he is and turn him into a good person. How does he do this you may ask? By using the most powerful creature known to the male specimen -- a female. God sends the beautiful angel, Nikita, to earth on a mission to redeem Dick Derby. But don’t get too hopeful for our filthy protagonist’s future; Nikita is not like the guardian angels you saw at the fourth grade nativity play  (you know, the one your neighbor dragged you to see last Christmas),  she is the worst angel in heaven.  Sure, she may have morals and all that fluffy good stuff, but Nikita has a lot to learn when it comes to selflessness and love.  God presents Nikita with an ultimatum: she must save Dick Derby’s soul and turn him into a good person, or lose her wings. To save him, she must first befriend Dick, but because Dick is, well... Dick, and Nikita is her impatient self, the meeting doesn’t go according to her plan. Nikita finds that she must confront her stubborn mentality and overcome it in order to get repulsive Dick to open up to her.

What is Saving Dick Derby?

Since the birth of civilization, human beings have been fascinated with the afterlife.  Almost every cultural ideology recognizes some concept of heaven and hell.  One of the most frequently asked questions in this debate of life after death is “how does one get to Heaven?” We wonder whether we are predestined at birth, or if our behavior determines our fate. No matter the ideology, the root of our fascination to this topic is the ancient struggle between good and evil. This concept is often extended to the cinematic medium. Whether explicitly or implicitly, the battle of good versus evil lies at the core of some of our favorite characters in cinema history. “Saving Dick Derby” is a series that aims to confront the fears and speculations of society and our belief of what one must do in order to reach Heaven. It will break the mold of what it means to live a “good” life. Although religious concepts  are central to the program, it is not a Sunday School session. In fact, you will hear things that were probably never taught in evening mass or temple. Angels will not be as holy as you would imagine and God will not be the dogmatic disciplinarian he is usually portrayed as. However, “Saving Dick Derby” is not here to overrule sacred doctrine and tradition. It will be as respectful as it is provocative. The goal is to attract a modern demographic while sustaining and yet reviving a timeless issue. In light of this understanding, it is with my full confidence that I support Hari Ziyad, who’s creative vision, evolutionary, and incredibly witty storytelling I believe to be among the finest of the young filmmakers of this generation in their movement to continue bringing entertaining characters and alluring stories to the screen.

Distribution

Given that we hope to turn “Saving Dick Derby” into a series, our plan for distribution and marketing is somewhat different than the regular student film. Naturally, the biggest problem with any pilot is sustaining a community of viewers. Our solution to this challenge is web distribution. We are prepared to launch a separate site or work with an established network to ensure “Saving Dick Derby’s” survival. We hope to explore all avenues of distribution including: a variety of film festivals, web distribution, and network television.

Our producing team has put together a hypothetical, projected budget to represent the cost of shooting “Saving Dick Derby” in a professional setting. Given that we are student filmmakers, there are certain benefits and resources that we can gather for free, as well as the fact that we have eliminated unnecessary costs from the production, we have effectively reduced the budget to 2,500, a small percentage that could be used  if we were to shoot in a professional setting. Recognizing the present economic crisis and pressures of university tuition, 2,500 remains to be an overwhelming number for any independent student film. 

We thank you in advance for your generosity, but most importantly we thank you for taking the time to consider our proposal. Even if you chose not to donate, you can still help us accomplish our goal by spreading the word about “Saving Dick Derby” to family, friends, and colleagues who might be interested. Thanks again, we are eternally grateful for your support! Sincerely,

Kids You Always Picked On Productions