3 very different short stories about life and death, dreams and decay, in the rural american west, all starring the same burning truck.
3 short narrative films. 3 very different styles and stories. All set somewhere close to today. Stories about people, stirring within a landscape that always has the last word.
Death Of The Bar T: An old man, the death of identity, the nature of place. Mountains, graveyards, tea, solitude, and a burning truck. Shooting in the Colorado Mountains Oct 1-5.
The Bride: A new bride, on the run. Decaying artifacts of men in a timeless desert. Guns, guardian angels, the power of the feminine, and a burning truck. Shooting in the Utah desert Oct. 20-25.
The Right: 2 old friends hold between them a deep conundrum, questions unanswerable. Winter, endings, questions, and a burning truck. Shooting in The Colorado Mountains in December.
Who Are You? I am a commercial and documentary filmmaker by trade, and I love what I do. You can check out my work at http://www.forgemotionpictures.com.
What the heck are you doing? Earlier this year, I made a personal commitment to make 3 short films in the fall/winter, for myself, for the challenge, for the process, and to scratch a very loud itch that I can't seem to get to any other way. I should take a vacation, alas, the itch needs scratched. I am lucky enough to have a lot of friends in the film business, and fancy equipment, so I assumed, well, it won't cost all that much to make a few shorts. I wrote scripts that were intentionally cheaper to shoot. That was all kinda naive.
THE ACTORS!!! I had 42 actors show up for the first casting call, thanks to Sylvia Gregory Casting in Denver. I was lucky enough to find Paul McLean - a deeply experienced actor who "got" the role of The Rancher in the first film, and taught me new things about this character immediately. Check out his IMDB page - from Clint Eastwood Movies to mainstream TV, he's been at it a long time: http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0572629/
I also have the honor of working with the beautiful, badass Taylor Reese for the role of The Bride. Taylor was the inspiration for the role from the beginning - she's in Grad School at Yale right now, but we are all in for a treat when she joins us in Utah to shoot Oct 20-25. She's going to be amazing in a wedding dress firing high power rifles, wandering among the decay. Getting Western.
What are we paying for? These films are going to cost about 40 grand all told. I make decent money, but I don't have 40 grand. If I can raise half that, I can fill in the rest. The money is needed for 3 primary things - actors (the most expensive part in 2 of the 3 films, $6K ea), props and permits/government fees. Our crew and equipment are largely free, luckily - but good actors are expensive, and the props are also quite expensive - trucks to burn, walls to fill with bullet holes, carved gravestones, and so forth. Finally, for 2 of the 3 films, we have to pay for permits and for the fire and sheriffs dept to close roads and oversee burning things. These things are rather expensive.
What are we investing in? New stories about the west. Film. Ultimately, though, as Travis from Felt Soul pointed out when he interviewed me for this video above, you are investing in me. As cliched and pretentious as it may be, you are investing in art. Not a gizmo for your iPhone, not for a tangible single thing. You'll get cool stuff for investing, but mainly, you are investing in the risk of creating something new, fresh, maybe a little insane. You are along for this crazy ride, and I'm really honored to have you.
What happens with these films? If they are good - never assured in film - then we enter them in mainstream film festivals such as Sundance, SXSW, Tribeca, and short festivals - and eventually post them on the web for the world to share. As we finish them, we will share them online privately with everyone who donates here.
Why should I give you anything? If you believe in the power of film, if you believe in me, if you want to see something new, fresh, see the west in new ways, donate. If you believe in creativity, donate. If you believe in risk and putting yourself out there, donate.
Thanks everyone, for taking the time.
Risks and challenges Learn about accountability on Kickstarter
Narrative filmmaking is risky. Even the masters - Scorsese, Hannecke, Kieslowski, Cohen, Spielberg - they fail. A lot. At best, maybe half of their work is great, some is ok, and some just plain fails. And we're talking about the greatest directors of all time here. Why? Its insanely difficult, with elements of chance and a lot of magic involved. Skill is huge, but its not everything.
There is little risk that they will get made - I'll make the films, I'll finish them. I am very tenacious, very dedicated to the process. So don't worry - I'll get them made, and show them to my supporters here.
But there is a risk that one or more of the 3 films will not be good enough to put out to the public. By making 3 of them, all quite different, there is a much better chance that 1 or 2 of them will be good. Maybe even great. But maybe not.
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Funding period
Oct 2, 2012 -
Nov 1, 2012
(30 days)
- 2 created · 5 backed
- Anson Fogel 1237 friends
- Website: forgemotionpictures.com
Pledge $1 or more
13 backers
Overwhelming and massive LOVE. We'll give you hugs when we see you. Oh, and we'll put your NAME IN LIGHTS. In other words, we'll say thank you on our website and in the film credits (all 3 films). We'll also give you a PRIVATE LINK TO WATCH THE FILM before anyone else.
Estimated delivery: Mar 2013Pledge $20 or more
31 backers
All the above - LOVE, NAME IN LIGHTS and PRE-SCREENING OF THE FILM online before it releases. Plus, we'll send you a set of exclusive BEHIND THE SCENES PHOTOS and SCREENSHOTS as production completes, with access to some that are high res so that you can print them out all purty like for your wall in the bathroom. Or something like that.
Estimated delivery: Mar 2013Pledge $50 or more
27 backers
All the above - LOVE, NAME IN LIGHTS and PRE-SCREENING OF THE FILM online before it releases. Plus, we'll send you a SIGNED LIMITED EDITION POSTER we'll print only 100 or less of these. When we're all famous, these poster will be worth lots of cash probably.
Estimated delivery: Mar 2013Pledge $100 or more
24 backers
The above - LOVE, NAME IN LIGHTS, SIGNED LIMITED EDITION POSTER, PRE-SCREENING, but we add...wait for it...PROPS USED IN FILMS. We'll give you something rad used in one of the films - old phones, hats, clothes, bullets - we'll UPS ground you some cool artifact from the old American West.
Estimated delivery: Mar 2013Pledge $500 or more
4 backers
You got yourself a PRIVATE SCREENING and a LARGE BLACK AND WHITE PHOTO PRINT of one of Anson's western series, you choose which one to be printed. Come find Anson wherever he may be (usually in the West) and he'll have you over for a drink of your choice and you can watch the films on a 7' wide projection screen in his house. Its nice. He smells kinda odd, but he has a really nice home theater. We'll throw in, of course, the LOVE, the NAME IN LIGHTS as well.
Estimated delivery: Mar 2013Pledge $600 or more
0 backers Limited (3 of 3 left)
A COFFIN. Beautiful, handmade hardwood coffin, simple box, 6'2" interior clear. Heavily aged outside. Must pick up in Carbondale, CO. Yes, its an odd reward. But hey, why no plan for the future? Trust us, these things beat the heck out of any modern casket.
Estimated delivery: Mar 2013Pledge $700 or more
0 backers Limited (3 of 3 left)
All of the above amazing things, plus A GRAVE MARKER. An incredible wood carver created 3 hand made, aged grave markers for the first film. This is what they cost us, so we'll ship you one UPS ground in the US of A. They are amazing. Really.
Estimated delivery: Feb 2013Pledge $1,000 or more
0 backers
You are now an ASSOCIATE PRODUCER. You should be on set with us from one or more of the films to check out the scene and eat free food, watch things explode, and do little else (you have to, its part of your job). Your name will be in the end credits along with other above the line peoples. You're famous! And rad. We'll throw in exclusive online viewing rights and a private screening as well, of course.
Estimated delivery: Dec 2012Pledge $2,500 or more
1 backer All gone!
THE TRUCK. 1994 Ford F350 crew cab 1 ton work truck. Custom welded flatbed with headache racks, storage bins and gooseneck inset. 7.0 Liter gas engine, dual tanks. Runs great. White. Manual xmission. 4WD. In good shape. Likely to have some burn marks on the exterior when we're done, but sitll a great ranch truck and a good value. Must pick up in Carbondale, CO.
Estimated delivery: Mar 2013Pledge $3,000 or more
0 backers
You basically own us, at least as an EXECUTIVE PRODUCER. Your name will appears in the primary credits along with ours. You can come join us on set and be important. We'll send you the scripts. We'll take you out to dinner. And you get ALL the above perks including a signed poster.
Estimated delivery: Dec 2012Pledge $5,000 or more
1 backer
You are a PRODUCER. Full-on. No BS. The real deal. We'll keep you posted on all production details, send you scripts, the production books, scouting shots, schedules, everything. We'll show you rough cuts if you like before the films are done. And of course, you get the above perks LOVE, PRE SCREENING, PRIVATE SCREENING, and POSTER. You are a full part of our team at this level. We need you.
Estimated delivery: Dec 2012
