Kickstarter

Horror films have been a lifelong obsession of mine and I'm only just getting to a point in my life, financially and artistically, where I feel I'm capable of frightening people in my work. This project is going to be a challenge in more than one way, and to more than just me. If we raise all of the money asked, me and my crew will have enough resources for a three-camera-shoot, my first. The action and dialogue will be almost entirely improvised by the actors. And it's a horror film. And the actors don't know what's going to happen.

The set-up is simple. Some counselors stayed late at the Quaker summer camp they work most summers, after all their kids and supervisors have gone home. They were all set to come home at the end of their free week but when they called home, their friends and parents told them to stay put. Everyone they know is sick and dying and if they come home, they'd surely get it too. So despite their protests and doubts, they stayed. Three weeks later no one was answering the phone. Now it's months later, the dead of winter, and as far as they know the kids are the only people still alive in the country, maybe the earth. If they leave, they risk disease and death, if they stay they remain in the dark. The kids have become accustomed to their isolation and their relationships to each other in such extreme circumstances And if someone or something puts pressure on their situation, what might happen? And with no one looking over their shoulder, can they remember to act according to Quaker ideals? They would even be there were it not for being Quakers, at least nominally, so what importance does it have for them now, in such strange, dire times?

And that's all anyone, but me, knows, at this point in time. I know exactly the twists and turns the story is going to take, what elements are going to be introduced and everyone's fate, for now. But what is the single most exciting aspect of this is that it could all change in a heartbeat if the dynamics that the actors create changes the feeling or focus of the story. I am beyond excited to see the ways that my cast adapts to new circumstances once they've settled into their routines, cooking for each other, getting wood for fires, taking care of each other, depending on one another to survive. It's going to be the first film of its kind and I really hope you take this step with us. Anything we don't spend on the production will be put toward sending it to film festivals and hopefully getting it a proper release.