Kickstarter

THE STORY

Ronald Ellis has a violent past that he’d like to forget. After almost thirty years behind bars, he is content with a simple life and the friendship of those who have stuck with him. But when he makes new friends who thrive on living life outside the lines, he is pulled back into a world of double crosses and violent retribution.

Beaten, shot, and left for dead, the story begins with Ron face down in a remote swamp. As he picks himself up and searches for a way back to civilization, he begins to recall the events leading up to his attempted murder. 

The film is told through a series of flashbacks that are interwoven with Ron's journey out of the wilderness. As characters are introduced and relationships developed, Ron gets closer and closer to the city. There's an anticipation that at some point, something unexpected is going to happen to Ron. This creates a tension that is heightened with each passing scene until we learn who Ron is going after and why.

OUR OBJECTIVE

We started this film by shooting around the work schedules of our cast and crew.  So far, we've managed to shoot for 9 days over a 3 week period. But, the entire film cannot be shot according to this schedule. We need time, time to allow our cast to dive deep into their characters and to stay in character, time for our crew to find their rhythm and to properly organize each department. Buying ourselves time to make a quality film is our objective with this Kickstarter campaign. 

We're seeking the funds required to shoot for 3 full weeks.  To accomplish this we're asking for a minimum of $25,000 to $50,000  This will allow us to pay for our cast and crew's time and for the equipment rentals required to make the film during that period. Everything else we need can be bartered, borrowed, or deferred. But time requires money. And the more support we receive, the more time we buy ourselves to make the high quality film we envision.  

HOW IS IT POSSIBLE

Over the last 16 years, I’ve worked exclusively in film production on movies with budgets ranging from less than $1M to nearly $100M. And in that time, the most important lesson I've learned is that each movie has its own unique challenges or sets of problems that force the production team to get creative with their solutions. You must assess the particular demands of the story with each movie and balance that with realities of the schedule and the funds you have to work with. No two movies are made in exactly the same way because there are many different ways to tell a story. 

We are able to keep the costs low on this production because it was designed to be a low cost endeavor from the beginning. I wrote Burn The Man Down with specific locations in mind that I knew we could get for free. I tried to set as many scenes in daylight exterior locations: swamps, lakes, rivers, etc. We borrowed our camera and other equipment. We've done everything we can to keep the costs low because our goal is to tell a story.

“There is no greater agony than bearing an untold story inside you.” - Maya Angelou

WHO WE ARE

We are dreamers. Most of us have many years of experience in film production. Others have only recently entered the film industry. All of us have a story to tell.  We’re a small and efficient film crew working together in the spirit of collaboration, sharing responsibilities in a way larger productions simply can’t. And we may not have much money, but we’re determined to create a high-quality movie by remaining small and by taking our time.