About this project

WHERE WILL MY PLEDGE GO?
To help fund the distribution of Tze Chun's CHILDREN OF INVENTION, a selection of the 2009 Sundance Film Festival and winner of 15 festival awards. Your generous pledge, which can be as little as $1, will go toward defraying "P and A" ("prints and advertising") costs such as posters, postcards, publicists, exhibition screeners, trailer screeners, press screeners, shipping, office supplies, travel to Q&As, etc. We are trying to raise at least $5,000 by Feb 25 (the day before our Boston premiere).

WHY?
We will be releasing the film theatrically in Boston (2/26), New York (in conjunction with WHITE ON RICE on 3/12 in true DIWO-style!), and Los Angeles (3/12). In order to fill seats and have a successful release, we need funds to promote the screenings. Please help us forge a new path for future indie filmmakers by making DIWO distribution a viable option. (DIWO = a phrase coined by IndieGoGo meaning "Do-It-With-Others," and YOU are the "others"!)

ARE YOU CRAZY? THEATRICAL IS SO COSTLY & SUCH HARD WORK!
Yes, we might be crazy. Perhaps all of those traditional distributors who passed on our film were right--perhaps we are indeed a "tough sell" in this horrible climate for indie film (read more about this in our DIY Manifesto). And yet, why did we sell out our festival screenings in Boston, Manhattan, Brooklyn, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Honolulu, DC, Cleveland, Denver, Sarasota, Vancouver, Woodstock, and Sundance? And why do people come up to us after our Q&As to buy DVDs of the film they just saw? Sure, festival audiences are different, but we're being "brave" (as Ted Hope recently called us), and betting that "regular" audiences will want to see our film on the big screen too.

And yes, a theatrical release is very hard work, but the major critics and press will not review your film unless you have a commercial theatrical release. And without this important coverage, our little film will fade away into oblivion. Theatrical is indeed costly, but with the help of Variance Films, we're able to keep costs as low as can be. Ours was a microbudget production where we stretched every penny to make a good film, and our distribution approach will be no different. So take heart that your pledge will be wisely spent! (If you've seen the film, please know that Tze and producer Mynette Louie grew up just like the kids in the film did, so our frugality is practically innate--we're "children of invention"!)

SO...WHAT'S THE FILM ABOUT?
LOGLINE: Two young children living outside Boston are left to fend for themselves when their mother gets embroiled in a pyramid scheme and disappears.

One of Filmmaker Magazine’s "25 New Faces of Independent Film," writer-director Tze Chun makes his feature film debut with one of the most-awarded and best-reviewed films of the year. CHILDREN OF INVENTION is by turns humorous and heartbreaking, an "edge-of-your-seat family drama" (Spout) that’s both “powerfully moving and rigorously intelligent" (Boston Phoenix).

After being evicted, hardworking single mom Elaine Cheng tries to maintain a normal life for her children, Raymond and Tina. Elaine juggles a number of jobs, including working for a questionable pyramid scheme. When Elaine doesn’t return home one night, nobody knows the kids are home alone, and they are left to fend for themselves. As the days pass, Raymond, a budding inventor, realizes he needs to come up with a plan to take care of his little sister.

Referencing both the mortgage meltdown and suburban Ponzi schemes, “the film finds delicate moments of beauty and grace as its child heroes are forced to make their way” (Filmmaker Magazine). Featuring “gifted child actors--off-the-charts cute, refreshingly free of Hollywood precociousness” (LA Weekly), CHILDREN OF INVENTION is "as close to cinematic purity as one is likely to see this year" (Film Society of Lincoln Center), a timely drama about the influence of the adult world on children and resilience in hard times.

AND WHY SHOULD I CARE?
CHILDREN OF INVENTION made its world premiere at the 2009 Sundance Film Festival, played over 40 festivals, and won 15 festival awards including Grand Jury or Best Narrative Feature prizes at Independent Film Festival Boston, Newport International, Los Angeles Asian Pacific, San Diego Asian, and Ojai-Ventura. It was named one of the "Top 13 Films of 2009" by Hammer to Nail and made several "Best Undistributed Films of 2009" lists.

The film features breakthrough performances by Cindy Cheung (LADY IN THE WATER) and newcomers Michael Chen, age 10, and Crystal Chiu, age 8. It was produced by Mynette Louie (MUTUAL APPRECIATION), shot by Chris Teague (MAN, THE SECOND LINE, SALT KISS), edited by Anna Boden (HALF NELSON, SUGAR); scored by T. Griffin (A WALK INTO THE SEA), cast by Susan Shopmaker (AFTERSCHOOL, GREAT WORLD OF SOUND, SHORTBUS), co-produced by Trevor Sagan, Dave Saltzman, and Sheila Dvorak, and executive produced by Dan Cogan of Impact Partners (BORN INTO BROTHELS, GHOSTS OF ABU GHRAIB, NO IMPACT MAN, THE GARDEN).

AWESOME! WHERE DO I SIGN UP?
Simply click the green "Back This Project" button above--you can contribute as little as $1. But if you contribute more, you will get some great tangible rewards (described on the right).

Need more info? Visit www.childrenofinvention.com.

And please join our Facebook group!

Thank you very much--your generosity is deeply appreciated. Here's to a revolutionary 2010 for indie film!