THANK YOU for LANDING HERE

This is a lean, ambitious, campaign...

So you should know more about us, our project, and how you can get on board.

We're an intrepid, rag-tag group of artist-creators from 'round the globe who are embarking on the monumental undertaking to make the short film Never Gladly Beyond. We are an ensemble building this project from the ground up through focused intensity and immersion. By starting this Kickstarter campaign, we invite you to join us on this journey from script to screen.

Never Gladly Beyond is a genre-bending masterwork written by Alex Monti Fox and co-directed by seasoned director Adrian Rolf Tauss and newcomer Jessica Perchard. Never Gladly Beyond fuses romance and nuanced sci-fi to tell a timeless story.

Your contribution will support the ENTIRE production from filming through post.

The Synopsis

There would have been a time for such a word: To-morrow…  In the first moment Os saw Clove, he knew he could love her, if she could love him. The first moment she saw him, there was a spark. When they met, it was as if they had known each other all their lives. It was as if they were made for each other. Despite the danger, and despite the risks tied to matters of the heart, they fell in love. How long could such a thing last, in such an immediate and cruel world? As forces beyond their control, both known and unknown to them, conspire to tear them apart, they laugh, love, and live, with every second, every kiss, and every breath. Never Gladly Beyond is a film about love, and what it means to be alive, even if only for a moment.

The Inspiration

When we, the production team, were sussing out what we wanted to create, we threw around lots of names of films, directors, stories, paintings, artworks, quotes, and even fairy tales that drew us. We then realized that there was a common thread to what we brought to each other at the table.

We wanted to smash different concepts and genres together like Rothko would smash together bold paints, like a physicist collides particles. We were drawn to films like Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, Stranger Than Fiction,  Children of Men and the series The Twilight Zone. We tossed our ideas around to Alex, and he generated our screenplay.

Check out our inspiration board for the group on tumblr here.

Your contribution in the form of money + connectivity + spreading the word feeds into 100% of our production costs. Alex Monti Fox's script is lean and beautiful and we want to do it justice by delivering high production value. We're not shy about it: we LOVE this script and will enthusiastically shout it out on the mountaintop (sans spoilers, of course!).

Adrian Rolf Tauss, one of our co-directors, is our technical leader in this process. He's assembling a team of professionals that he has worked with before and trusts. So part of the funding is to honor and take care of this crew coming from London and other parts of Europe. 

We are shooting in London, and a large portion of the costs will go to permits, rentals, transportation, and other fees related to filming and pre-production. 

Because the film is set in the near future, we have designs that will best be conveyed through practical prop and set building and the support of post-production and CGI technology.

We are GRATEFUL for your interest and your support in our project.

We are STOKED to be part of the Kickstarter community and are big believers in the making of art through the combined efforts of many.

*****PLEASE NOTE that the FIRESTARTER level of $35 is OPEN til the end of the campaign. It's a great level to give at!

ABSOLUTELY! If you have a major credit card, you can pledge to our project, and thanks!

For those international newbies to Kickstarter, it's important that you know that this is All-or-Nothing funding. So, you are charged only if we make 100% of our goal or MORE at the end of our campaign. We chose to go this route because if you're genuinely interested in us, you'll fund us and spread the word to your five or five-hundred best mates about us.

When you pledge you will be guided to Amazon's Flexible Payment Service. Check out Kickstarter's FAQ here to read more about it in detail. We thank you and appreciate your support.

Adrian Rolf Tauss (Co-Director)

Adrian studied directing and photography at the Lazi Academy in Germany. In 2006, at the age of 21, he won the Lazi Distinction Award and the Ulrich Schigg Award for his thesis film Slice of Life. He has since directed several short films. Whilst starting his acting career in various shorts and feature films, he has worked in many different capacities behind the camera for over five years. His latest film, Crew, is a comedy about filmmaking will be released soon. Adrian's most recent feature film Sin Reaper, in which he played one of the lead roles, is due to be released in 3D in several countries across the globe later this year.

Jessica Perchard (Co-Director)

Jessica Perchard is a London-based actress and director. Jess obtained a BA(Hons) at the University of Cambridge in English and Drama with Education, and an MA in Acting for Film from Central School of Speech and Drama. Whilst pursuing a life in the dramatic arts, Jess maintains her interest in academia and has written first-class papers in the philosophy of education, and, recently, has submitted a paper to the Journal of Black Studies. She is one of the youngest members of the PESGB (Philosophy of Education Society of Great Britain).

Sam Mannering (Co-Producer, "Os")

Sam Mannering is an actor currently based in London. Originally from New Zealand, he holds a BA in Acting and a BA (Hons) in English Literature from Victoria University in Wellington, a Licentiate in Speech and Drama from Trinity College in London, and an MA from Central School of Speech and Drama. Recent roles include the title role in Hamlet and Frazer in Michael Gow's 'Sweet Phoebe'. He is also an author. His first cookbook was published in September 2010 to wide critical acclaim, and he has a second due out at the end of this year.

Maythinee Washington (Co-Producer, "Clove")

Maythinee Washington is an actor, director, writer, and teacher originally from Las Vegas, living and working in London. She holds an MFA in Acting from the Professional Actor Training Program at University of Washington and a BA Independent in Social Art from Brown University. Maythinee is a lead in the forthcoming short film Occupy Your Heart, directed by Rebecca Gatward, known for her work on BBC’s Eastenders and Doctors. Maythinee has written and performed five solo shows produced in venues across the United States, and has made her mark in the emerging Vegas theatre scene in roles varying from Lady Macbeth to a quirky superhero. Her work has been called “regal,” “engaging,” and “revelatory.”

She is a member of the P3 Studio exploring physical approaches to acting with mentors Robyn Hunt and Steve Pearson. www.p3east.com

For her multiple pursuits, Maythinee was named in SEVEN Magazine’s “Intriguing People” issue in 2011. She is a 2012 Nevada Arts Council Artist Fellow.

We are so excited to welcome Chris Clarke to our team!

Chris Clarke, who has extensive credits in film including Quantum of Solace and X-Men First Class, is our Director of Photography.

Alex Monti Fox (screenplay)

Never Gladly Beyond will be Alex's first produced screenplay. His first full-length play Back To One received its world premiere in the summer of 2010, directed by Daniel Cohen, with Twenty-Two Troubles Ensemble at The Lex Theatre in Hollywood. Previously, Alex was a regularly contributing writer to the enduring live-stage comedy series Another Showcase Showdown (an official selection of the 2002 U.S. Comedy Arts Festival in Aspen, Colorado) which he co-created with writer/director David Fickas, and co-produced alongside Drama 3/4 Productions. Three of Alex's ten-minute plays, Noir-Crossed, An Audience, and From Now Do Us Part, were originally produced at the Lillian Theatre in Hollywood as part of that series. Alex's other plays and solo works include: In Spite of the Tennis, Once More Time, Right Speech/Right Action, The Tunnel of Love Epistrophy, Simple City and children's theatre adaptations of Peter Pan, La Belle et la Bête, and The Comedy of Errors. 

As an actor, Alex has recently appeared in the film Treading Water, an official selection of the Women's Independent and Manhattan Film Festivals, and winner of the Award of Merit at the Los Angeles Cinema Festival of Hollywood. Other screen credits include Suitemates, Mr. Robinson's Driving School, The Iceman Chronicles, The Pacellis, Debaser, Keller and Sullivan, Frank's Book, and VH1's I Hate My 30s. His stage credits include: Five Beauties (New American Theatre) The Elephant Man (El Centro), Back To One (The Lex), The West Coast Premiere of Eric Bogosian's Suburbia (Actors' Gang), The Illusion (Actors' Gang), Hypatia: The Divine Algebra (Orbitello Gallery), Faust is Dead (The Zephyr), Mother Courage and Her Children (Playhouse Seattle) and Soon My Work (International Wow Company). 

Alex has an MFA in acting from the University of Washington, and a BA from USC. He has directed a handful of plays, and is also a professional photographer (www.montifoxphoto.com). He currently teaches English at Kings College in Los Angeles.

Yes!

Check out just a sample of what we've been up to recently...

Behind the scenes of OCCUPY YOUR HEART by Natasha Langley, directed by Rebecca Gatward featuring Maythinee Washington

CREW is a quirky comedy about the goings-on behind the scenes of filmmaking.

After joining us and contributing to our Kickstarter, mention us on twitter @NGBeyond, find us and like us on facebook, or drop us a good ol' email at write(at)nevergladlybeyond.com. 

If you like us, write your friends through your favorite bits of social media... phone them... send them a card by carrier pigeon (or hawk! that'd be pretty cool!)...

However you do it, encourage them to join you in getting a hot, little short film with amazing production values and a whole lotta gritty, hard work behind it off the ground.

THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU FROM JESSICA, ADRIAN, SAM, & MAYTHINEE