KICKSTARTER

***UPDATE The best update ever... WE (well, really, YOU) DID IT!  The goal has been reached!  We literally cannot thank you enough!  Your contributions will ensure that THIS IS OURS is finished and gets out into the world!  Now, of course, the question remains: can we exceed that goal?  Of course!  Additional live, world-class musicians can play on the score; the film can be submitted to additional festivals; we can start paying down the credit card debt from production (yay!); we can spend more time finessing the color and sound design.  Your money will be well spent, we promise.  But, above all - THANK YOU!  Words cannot express our gratitude for the success of this campaign.  Thus, we will invent a new one: Caflubar!  :-)  ***

Watch previews of Scenes 009 - 012 and Scene 099!  Backers get to see the first seven minutes!  Read our article in Film Courage, "Metaphorical Horses & Facts About Great White Sharks" (the "heartbreak and hope" leading up to this film)!  Check out our updates on A Year Without Rent (see behind the scenes)!  Watch the Beauty Reel!  Fan the film on Facebook!  Follow us on Twitter: @krisandlindy!

HOLD UP.  KICKSTARTER? IS THIS AN ENERGY DRINK?
Kickstarter is crowdfunding.  Simply put: many people ("backers") giving small amounts (or large!) adds up.  Kickstarter facilitates these donations, providing a simple interface and secure payment processing via Amazon.com.  

We set a goal and a time limit (in our case, $14,260 and 32 days).  You pick a reward level (see sidebar) and pledge an amount.  If we hit our target (or exceed it!), your credit card is charged, we collect the funds and you get your gift.  If we miss our goal, you're never charged and the money vanishes.  It's all or nothing.

COOL.  WHAT’S THIS IS OURS ABOUT?
Beaten by the American Dream, Will and Karen take a final trip to their once-beloved vacation home, which is now in foreclosure.  While there, they unexpectedly befriend a pair of iconoclastic vagabonds, embarking on a strange journey of discovery, heartbreak and hope. 



THIS IS OURS is an unconventional drama about Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness.  And the power to break free. 
tiofilm.com // facebook.com/thisisours

WHY DO YOU NEED MONEY?
Unlike a lot of other films in search of funding, THIS IS OURS has already been shot – it’s in the can.  We funded principal photography out of our own pockets (and, mostly, credit worthiness); we paid our amazing cast and crew; we shot on the RED M-X; we used beautiful Zeiss Mark 1 Super Speed lenses; we rented a gorgeous location in idyllic Central Washington; we shot for 20 days.

All in, we spent $27,000.  We decided to take that substantial risk because we believe in this project.  We believe in its message, its power and its ability to entertain audiences. But, getting a feature shot – while a significant accomplishment of which we’re incredibly proud – is only part of process.  We still have a lot left to do.  And that’s why we need to raise additional funds. 

WHERE WILL THE MONEY GO?
The post-production process, where we are, is both complex and vital.  Great films are made (and ruined) in this stage and to skimp now would be to undo all the hard work and investment that has already gone into this film.

• Editorial: this is where all the footage (the puzzle pieces of the movie, if you will) is constructed.  Don’t let the technical nature of editing fool you: this is the art of filmmaking, the final re-write, "pure cinematics" as Hitchcock once said.  We’re working with an award-winning, Emmy-nominated editor: the multi-talented Amy Enser. 
  
• Score: music is one the most immediate, efficient methods of evoking emotion.   And that is, after all, what films are for.  Prolific, award-winning composer Eric Goetz will be creating all of the original music for THIS IS OURS, which we’ll record with live musicians (instead of relying solely on digital loops).  It is our fourth collaboration with him; we're lucky ducks.
• Color grading: one of the more technologically esoteric aspects of the post-production process, color grading transforms a movie’s raw footage into the wonderfully rich cinematic images we see on the big screen.  As we’re sure you’ll agree from the Beauty Reel above, our cinematographer – the masterful polymath Jonathan Houser – shot a gorgeous film.  Our colorist will take that foundation and make it truly magical.
• Sound design and mixing: great sound often eludes independent films, and we won’t let that happen to ours. Dialogue editing, designing environment audio, creating custom sound effects, blending the score with the diegetic tracks, and mixing: this process will take about two weeks.  We will be working with Jon Goff at Self Adhesive Records.  With over 20 years experience, Jon will make THIS IS OURS sonically shine.
  
• Marketing: we’re all familiar with the riddle of the tree falling in the forest.   A similar one can be asked of film: if you make a phenomenal movie, but it never reaches its audience, will it make an impact?  The answer, of course, is no.  We need to push THIS IS OURS as hard as we can.
  

We are Kris and Lindy Boustedt, a married filmmaking duo.  We have written, directed, edited or produced eight films, including two features.  Our work has played at dozens of festivals, won numerous awards and been broadcast internationally.  We are educators: Kris teaches filmmaking at Shoreline Community College and Bellevue College and Lindy works at Seattle University. 

You can find us on Facebook, chat us up on Twitter, and email us.  We’d love to hear from you!  Seriously – we love talking.  facebook.com/lindy.boustedt, lindy@firstsightproductions.com, facebook.com/kris.boustedt, kris@firstsightproductions.com, twitter.com/krisandlindy

We were featured in A Year Without Rent, a global filmmaking project.  Creator Lucas McNelly has spent the last eight months traveling the globe, working on independent films for free and writing about the projects for publications like Filmmaker Magazine and Film Threat.  We had the great fortune of having him on two of our sets (actually, of the 32 projects he's worked to date, we're the only filmmakers to be featured twice): THE SUMMER HOME, a short we finished in June, and THIS IS OURS. 

Film Threat: THE SUMMER HOME: Day 1; Day 2; Day 3; Day 4

He also conducted a series of interviews with us, with topics ranging from working as a married couple to what it was like to have to cancel a feature film and the process of regrouping: Part 1; Part 2; Part 3; Part 4; Part 5

And we're vociferous crowdfunding supporters ourselves (selfishly, it’s a lot of fun); between Kickstarter and IndieGoGo (the other main crowdfunding site) we have backed nearly 30 projects.

First: Thank you, thank you, thank you!  Thank you to the power of infinity!  If we could hug you right now, we would.  

Second: it’s easy!  Click the “Back This Project” button, and you’re off to the races.  Kickstarter is powered by Amazon, so payments are simple and secure.  Here’s some additional information: Backing a Project

CAN YOU TELL ME MORE ABOUT THE FILM?
You betcha!  Our website is full of information!  Read about our vision for the film; find out more about our marvelous cast and crew; take a peak at film stills and behind the scenes photos; and more!