About this project
THE CHAMPION: A FEATURE LENGTH ANIMATED FILM
William, a young publishing-house employee, risks losing love in a quest to fulfill his ambition.
For the last three years my mom Lesley Choy, the tireless crew at Silver Sound, an INCREDIBLE cast of voice actors and singers, several amazing musicians and composers, and I have been working together on THE CHAMPION. Lesley's been working on it in some way or another for the last decade.
SYNOPSIS
In a spacious and bustling transport terminal, reverberating P.A. announcements compete to herald the arrival of diverse characters from remote regions of space and time. Travelers are met, and in a short while the terminal clears until only one party remains, a group who, as evidenced by the sign held in their midst, await Prologue. Prologue arrives at last, disheveled and a bit disoriented. As he unsuccessfully attempts to answer his waiting-party’s myriad questions, the terminal transforms into the lobby of the Regency-Complacency, a medieval sort of affair, and Prologue and company change into staff or guests therein.
After a wearing day-long search, William, a young publishing-house employee on leave, miraculously finds accommodations at the Regency-Complacency. William is shown to his suite by the bell-captain, Maurice (formerly Prologue), wherein William encounters his chambermaid, Meg Musique, with whom he instantly falls in love. . .
For the full synposis, please go to http://www.silversound.us/synopsis
THE CHAMPION: WHAT WE'VE DONE ALREADY
We've finished tweaking the script, we've finished writing all the music, we've almost got all of the voices recorded, we've got scratch tracks of all of the songs, and we are preparing to record all of the singing.
Here is a clip of the draft version of the song "Sweet May." The orchestrator Sean Cooney has done all of the singing, and my dad is playing the guitar. On the final version, we're going to switch out Sean's voice with Beau Hauser's (who plays Maurice), add a string (and maybe horn) section, and replace the "Seanie Singers" with a full chorus.
Here's a rough version of the love duet "Will She Want Me?" It's unorchestrated and unmixed, but you can already hear the emotion coming through Meg (Lara Hirner) and William's (Ron DeStefano) voices.
THE CHAMPION: WHAT THE MONEY IS FOR
1) Hiring Tina Brunner, our character designer, to work for 1 year on character/background design and rigging.
2) Hiring a team of animators (we're already in talks with a studio) to complete the animation.
Because of the hard work, dedication, and belief that many people have in this movie, we have been able to get incredibly far towards the completion of the Champion on almost no budget. Because Silver Sound is co-producing the project and has been able to provide us with over $100,000 worth of services, we have been able to cast, record voices, orchestrate and record songs, begin sound design and foley, and get ready for SFX.
We have also been extremely lucky in finding Tina Brunner, our super talented young character designer and artist, who has been taking her nights and the parts of the weekends she has off from her full-time job to help with our concept art / character design.
But in order to finish the film, we're going to need Tina full time for design and rigging. We're also going to need talented professional animators to work with her.
Normally, a film like this would cost at least $2,000,000 just to animate. However, I've found a young animation studio that is willing to co-produce the film and work for less than one tenth of that.
We are so close, but we need your help. We need your donation to bring THE CHAMPION into theaters, where it belongs! Thank you for your time, and thank you for being a part of something truly beautiful!
Check out some of our early concept art / character design (click for larger versions):
WHY KICKSTARTER?
We've chosen to search for funds through KickStarter because we really like their philosophy: http://www.kickstarter.com/help/faq#WhatIsKick
As you'll read in their FAQ, unless THE CHAMPION reaches its goal, no money will change hands. We feel that this is the best way to do it-- if you pledge support to THE CHAMPION, you know we're going to have enough to actually finish! We hope that you'll be as excited as we are about this movie, help spread the word, and most importantly, help make THE CHAMPION one of the best animated musicals the world has ever seen! We've got some great rewards over there on the right side of the screen for people who contribute. Check it out!
If you'd like to ask any questions, please feel free to email me at cory@silversound.us
FAQ
Have a question? If the info above doesn't help, you can ask the project creator directly.
110
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$8,328
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Funding Unsuccessful
This project reached the deadline without achieving its funding goal on April 29, 2010.
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Get access to THE CHAMPION KickStarter updates!
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Your name in the "Special Thanks" section of the credits!
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The above, plus a personalized thank you poem penned by the director. Your choice of Limerick or Acrostic!
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All of the above, plus your very own beautiful LIMITED EDITION copy of THE CHAMPION, along with a special Extras section!
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All of the above, plus a copy of the script autographed by the author and a login and password to the THE CHAMPION website allowing you to see some of our more secret work-in-progress as the creation of the movie unfolds!
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All of the above, plus a limited edition CD release of THE CHAMPION soundtrack and a personal thank you song written and performed by the talented musicians working on THE CHAMPION!
Pledge $500 or more
All of the above, plus an autographed copy of "THE KLEZMER KATZ," the author's children's novel, an autographed copy of the storyboards to a song of your request from THE CHAMPION, and a limited DVD edition of "RUDE AWAKENING" the first animated short film from Cory Choy!
Pledge $1,000 or more
All of the above, plus an autographed piece of original artwork from the film!
Pledge $2,500 or more
All of the above, plus an invitation to our Opening Screening / Cast Party and the option for a person of your choice to provide the voice for a minor supporting character in the movie!
Pledge $5,000 or more
All of the above, plus an option for your likeness to appear in the movie as a minor supporting character! You also get everlasting gratitude.
Pledge $10,000 or more
All of the above, plus your name in the "Co-Producer" section of the credits and a private dinner screening of THE CHAMPION for you and three guests in Silver Sound's NYC studio!
Project By
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I was born in Silver Spring, Maryland.
My parents play a lot of music. One time I had a dream about a song. The next day I plunked it out on the piano in the living room. My mom asked me how I knew the love song my dad had written for her before they got married.
In high school I played in a band. We played a lot on the docks of Old Town Alexandria, Virginia.
In college I studied film at NYU. My focus was on sound and animation.
After college I apprenticed with sound mastercraftsman Bern Hayden.
Four years ago I opened up Silver Sound (www.silversound.us) with Robin Shore.
Now I'm sound engineering, and working on producing THE CHAMPION: an animated musical comedy that concerns William, a young publishing-house employee, who risks losing love in a quest to fulfill his ambition. My mom wrote it. It is a beautiful story. It has some of the most beautiful music I've ever heard in my life. It is my quest to complete this movie and share it with the world.
