Dear Friends and Family,

Thank you so much for coming to our Kickstarter! We hope that you'll be part of our project. We're very passionate about it and hope you'll soon be, too. There are cool exclusive rewards and incentives for you to hop on board!

WHAT IS KICKSTARTER?

All-or-nothing crowd funding. Every Kickstarter project must be fully funded before its time expires or no money changes hands.

WHAT IS HALLOWEEN AVENUE?

Halloween Avenue is the story of 8 friends who, on Halloween, find themselves trapped on a street where all of the haunted mazes come to life. They're then forced into trick-or-treating through variously themed haunted mazes as a life-or-death test of friendship. (The Insane, Monsters, Werewolves, Ghosts, Vampires, Mummies, Zombies, Witches, etc).

Halloween Avenue is a character driven horror-thriller, and an homage to the low budget horror films of the 80s, the early films of Quentin Tarantino, horror films of the 30s and 40s, and The Twilight Zone.

• LIKE US ON FACEBOOK (Behind The Scenes photos) 
  

WHY ARE WE ON KICKSTARTER?

Simply put, we ran out of money. 

The project started off as an easy / fun weekend shoot with friends...after recommendations by industry professionals to put more time into it; with 50 script revisions, and a dozen rehearsals later, it has evolved into something more promising than anticipated, and is still within arms reach. So we went for it! Pushed on as far as possible, seeing the massive potential of the project in rehearsals and through the dailies. Now we're basically at a stand still and we need YOUR help to give this project the love it deserves; the life it needs to prosper toward success. 

We want to do it right.

We want to have a product that is up to a high enough standard so that we can win film festivals and get enough attention so that we can widely release the project in theaters and potentially begin a new franchise. Not to mention jumpstart a lot of careers for our talented cast.

You would love to help us? THANK YOU, we sincerely appreciate it :) It's simple. Go to the bottom of the pledge sidebar over to the right and select your pledge. If an EXECUTIVE PRODUCER credit isn't for you, then just move up until you're comfortable. We have some very cool, exclusive Kickstarter rewards available ONLY for you.

WHAT WILL THE MONEY BE USED FOR?

1) Makeup - There are still lots of prosthetics and supplies we'll need for upcoming scenes. Still have a ton of Zombies, a few Mummies, a Werewolf, a couple Vampires, several Ghosts, a group of Insane People, and a bunch of elaborate deaths to cover.

2) Wardrobe - All of the above supernatural creatures need to be clothed (hair for werewolf); there are still some pieces for the principals that need to be paid for as well, in various scenes and flashbacks. 

3) Set decorations - We need to decorate the sets to make them look as realistic as possible. Since we have a neighbor who will be loaning us the majority of our props and set pieces, costs are cut significantly. However, we need to pay to move these large pieces to our locations (trucks, etc). We also need to rent or purchase the decorations that she does not have. This is where a huge chunk of the budget goes to and honestly the sky is the limit on this one. The more funding we have the better we can make things look. 

4) Locations - We need to pay to secure certain locations to shoot. There are some very interesting locations that we need. Don't want to give too much away, but just as how when you're inside of a haunted maze the environment shifts... ours do too...but for real. We have some very interesting set transformations and we're going to need to get access to some pretty creepy (and possibly abandoned) locations.

5) Practical FX - This goes hand in hand with makeup. Various effects performed in the style of 80s low budget horror films in which we avoid the use of Visual FX and try to do everything on set. Again, don't want to give too much away...but we feel that doing things this way will add more realism and excitement (when heads start flying and monsters get annihilated).

6) Production equipment - We have some pretty complex scenes that we want to accomplish in terms of lighting and camera equipment. Special lenses that we want to use, sound equipment, etc. Thus far we've gotten along by borrowing various equipment but we're not going to be able to, going forward since they'll be in use. So we want to be able to rent/purchase basic equipment to move the film along. On another note, that may not be necessary if we raise up to twice our initial pledge (around $25,000 - $40,000). In that case, we we can go big and hire award-winning Cinematographer friends of ours who have excellent equipment to bring to the table on top of their proficient skill. Mainly, the RED Camera (Social Network, District 9) which I've been wanting to shoot on for years. This will be huge for the project. See their work:

Trailer for the upcoming web series "Fight Night Legacy." A series by Hisonni Johnson and Michael Sarnoski.

6) Feeding the cast and crew - We all need to eat. The only dying that should be done is when the cameras are rolling and when the person walks away from it laughing. Seriously, this is vital. We're not looking at Filet Mignon, just food to survive the rigorously fun days on set. 

7) Minimally paying SAG actors - Since our film is character driven we spend a lot of time with the actors; they are the most important element of our film. So naturally some of our cast are members of SAG. We wanted the best. By contract, if we want to make the film over 35 minutes in length using SAG actors we'll have to be pay a very basic fee to use them. Union rules. Also I want to pay gas money for the non-union actors who are having trouble paying to drive all over the city. I want them to be able to survive the project. Live to die another day.

8) Post Production - I've got most of this covered myself as I've done all the post production aspects for my other projects (from sound and picture editing, to visual FX, etc). However, to get the best product (especially if we're going to be upgrading our equipment to the RED Camera) I'm going to need access to much faster computers, better programs and help from specialized professionals in this area.

9) Promotion (submission to film festivals) - Every film festival submission has a fee...around $30 - $60 or so. We want to do as many as possible.

10) Expanding / additional scenes - the more funding we get, the larger and more epic specific sequences can become. There is a sequence where I want a house / field full of 50+ zombies. Also, the more funding we have (when we get to the $25,000 - $40,000 range) we can afford to shoot all of the scenes in the  script as intended and have a full feature length production.

WHAT IS OUR GOAL?

Our goal is to create the best film that we possibly can. A film that utterly entertains but also one that means something; that says something about the human condition (maybe makes people want to help and reunite with old friends), that possibly even changes the way people look at the horror genre. 

We hope to win as many film festivals as possible and launch as many careers as possible. We think that this project has the potential to be a new, successful franchise; we're just scratching the surface with what we can do with this concept. With you being part of this film you can help start something new, something different to the genre (we hope). You will help get this new concept off the ground so maybe we can be a big low-budget hit like Paranormal Activity.

PREVIOUS PROJECTS & CREDENTIALS

In 2008 I wrote and directed my first feature length project, A Demon's Destiny: The Lone Warrior. I then converted into a web series that can be seen online. It was a sort of a test of my filmmaking ability, to see if I could take a 100 million dollar concept and produce it for no money, on my own:

You can find the rest of the show at: http://www.youtube.com/lonewarriorshow. 

This project was created out-of-pocket for around $3,000. It seemed like an impossible task but it was done and completed in a timely manner. It even screened at the 1st Los Angeles Web Festival. I see this as a testament that I can take a project from inception to completion. I learned a great deal through practical experience on this first feature project and I'm excited to bring it all to the table for Halloween Avenue. 

This time having an actual budget.

THANKS! WE REALLY APPRECIATE YOU

Again, thank you for becoming part of our project. I hope that this is a breakthrough for us all, a real stepping stone toward a career in doing what we love. 

You, becoming a part of this dream, I give you my greatest thanks.

Devin Rice