WOW
We made our goal in 7 hours, that never happens! Thank you so much to all of our backers. We are still raising funds! Each dollar over the goal will end up on the screen.
The Short Film
Thunder Road won the Grand Jury Prize at the 2016 Sundance Film Festival, as well as jury awards at South by Southwest, the Los Angeles Film Festival, and several others around the world. Sundance called it as "A mini-masterpiece of writing, directing, and acting", Indiewire named it one of the best short films ever made, and Google lists it first under "The Best Short Films of 2016" and in their Top 10 of "The Best Short Films Ever Made".
Watch it here:
Our short film, The Robbery, was accepted into the 2017 Sundance and South by Southwest Film Festivals and has since been seen all over the world on Vimeo.
We premiered three more wonderful films in June with TOPIC which are now available on Vimeo as well:
We're also in development at FX with our new tv show, "SPACE".
The short film is the opening scene of the feature. From there, we follow Jim into the field as an officer, we follow him home where he is a struggling single-dad enduring a custody battle, and we follow him making strides to better his relationship with his daughter as a love letter to his late Mom.
The feature is an equally dramatic comedy about the difficulties of being a parent. It will be a laugh-out-loud experience for young audiences, as well as a thoughtful drama you'll be happy to pass on to your children.
Production begins on November 5th in Austin, Texas, and we are producing the feature with our same production team (and you).
The Funding
This Kickstarter will raise the funds to finance the film's pre-production: location scouting, casting, production design, travel, et cetera. We hope to encourage the lovers of the short film to participate in this historic feature film production from the very beginning. We want to involve the audience, as well as give them opportunities to share in the success of the film. We want to inspire a new generation of filmmakers to create thoughtful, human stories in their neighborhoods.
For the past 6 years we have been very successful in short film production. My producers and I have also made award-winning feature films, but with this script we are very prepared to produce our greatest work yet.
We have such a cool opportunity to make a timeless comedy which also provides ammunition to audiences who will undergo these issues in their own lives. This is our chance to raise the cinematic bar. This is YOUR opportunity to prove that a film that you supported can become critically recognized around the world, that great comedies should actually make people laugh out loud, and that good dramas should actually make them cry.
The Rewards
$5 - Follow our private Instagram and engage with us during live streams.
$25 - Pre-Order the film now.
$50 - Partake in a filmmaking Class in Los Angeles or via Facebook Live.
$60 - Partake in the Class and get an official "Arnaud" name tag.
$100 - Join a Pre-Release Screening (LA/NY/AUS)
$500 - VIP Premiere tickets in LA + Collector's Item (Mustache cocktail-party)
$1,000 - Festival premiere tickets.
$3,000 & $10,000 - Associate Producer and Executive Producers join our team in production, post-production, and to any Festival's where we're lucky enough to screen. All access. Join our force.
Our love to everyone,
The Thunder Road team
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A Look Behind The Curtain:
Thunder Road will join the long tradition of short films being expanded into features. Napoleon Dynamite, Whiplash, SAW, The Babadook, District 9, and many others began as short films before becoming iconic features.
Risks and challenges
Q: Why long takes?
A: The feature is made up of many scenes which are covered in challenging single-takes. We tell the story this way to bring audiences closer to the experience of the characters, as well as to impress them with cinematic craftsmanship. Long takes require rehearsals as well as extensive camera preparations. Having just released our 10th one-take short film, and knowing how it affects audiences around the world, we are ready to make the feature film.
Q: When will it be completed?
A: We are scheduled for a speedy post-production to meet the deadlines of Spring and Summer film festivals (Sundance, SxSW, Cannes, etc). To do so, we have created a post-production hive-mind to meet the completion deadline of January, 2018.
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For inquiries about becoming a financier of the film, or about seeing more of our work, email us here: thunderroadkickstarter@gmail.com
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Funding period
- (30 days)