Our new film is a story of 3 boys, one night in New Orleans, and MUSIC. But without the music cleared, we can't release it! Read more
Our new film is a story of 3 boys, one night in New Orleans, and MUSIC. But without the music cleared, we can't release it!
About this project
You may have noticed that we hit our goal. The response so far has been tremendous, we're extremely grateful, and it's true that $38,000 will pay for the songs we absolutely need to clear! However, to clear all the songs we'd like to clear, pay our music supervisor, and deliver a finished, legal film to a distributor like the great ones we're in talks with, we need significantly more money. While it's possible to self-distribute a cleared film for less money, we want to pursue the opportunity to work with a distributor who can get it to as WIDE an audience as possible. A few theaters across the country are already itching to play it! Any contribution beyond our goal brings us closer to getting Tchoupitoulas to be seen far and wide.
The film has received some great press since its premiere at SXSW -- check some of it out: New York Times, Wall Street Journal, the Indiewire review, a full spread in the New Orleans Times-Picayune, and a Filmmaker Magazine article about the connection between "Beasts of the Southern Wild" & "Tchoupitoulas"
THE LONG AND THE SHORT OF IT: Our new film is about 3 kids, New Orleans at night, and MUSIC -- but we need to raise money to clear the music in order to release the film! Besides some other work by us, we've chosen rewards that commemorate New Orleans, music, and our personal commitment to you if you help us out (e.g., we'll make a movie for you!). If we don't raise at least $38,000, the music in Tchoupitoulas will remain uncleared, the film unreleaseable, and we'll never be able to show it to everyone. The bottom line: WE WANT TO BE ABLE TO SHOW YOU THIS MOVIE!
WHO WE ARE: BILL and TURNER ROSS (directors/editors) - We made a documentary called 45365 about our hometown of Sidney, Ohio, that had a successful festival run in 2009 -- it won the Best Documentary Prize at South by Southwest, was one of Metacritic's best reviewed documentaries of 2010, and got shown on PBS' "Independent Lens." Roger Ebert said a lot of nice things about us. Three years later, we premiered again at South by Southwest with a film about our second hometown: New Orleans.
MICHAEL GOTTWALD, DAN JANVEY, JOSH PENN (producers) - Founding fathers of the New Orleans based Court 13 film collective, our film Beasts of the Southern Wild just won the Grand Jury Prize at Sundance in January and will be released by Fox Searchlight this summer.
JOE RUDGE is our music supervisor. Some films he's worked on: Margin Call, Blue Valentine, Brick, and more.
WHAT'S THIS FILM ABOUT: Tchoupitoulas (pronounced "chop-ih-TOOL-us") follows three young brothers from the West Bank of New Orleans as they cross the river on the ferry and spend one night in the shining, peculiar pleasure island that is the French Quarter. Music propels them down the streets as we witness the bewildering sights through their eyes, spending time with everyone from burlesque dancers to oyster shuckers to street musicians. Our hero, 11 year-old William, a budding novice at the flute, is particularly drawn to the sounds that emanate from the bars, the clubs, and the sidewalks -- all places we roam in Tchoupitoulas. In short, it's a movie about the feel and sound of New Orleans at night -- all night -- through the eyes and ears of a kid.
HOW YOU CAN HELP: Although our film is finished, we can't release it or show it beyond festivals, because the music rights must be cleared. Being able to pay for the songs in our film is crucial to Tchoupitoulas -- it simply would not be the movie that we envision without the music in it, just as life in New Orleans would not be the same without the music we hear here. We've determined that we could pay for the songs that are absolutely necessary to clear with $38,000. Though our last film 45365 received much praise at festivals and great press, ultimately it was very hard for people to see it -- largely because some of the music rights were never cleared. If we don't raise enough money to make it release-able, Tchoupitoulas will go the way of 45365: it will be near impossible to see. So, we have learned from our mistakes. Your generosity will enable us to show you and a wider audience our story in the way that it needs to be told. We'll be able to share accurately the musical culture of New Orleans as seen through the eyes of our young heroes, a perspective that we believe is important and that makes our film what it is.
GIFTS FOR YOUR GENEROSITY!: We've come up with some prizes that reflect the focus on music and New Orleans in our film, some that involve the other stuff we've made over the years, and some that are just plain goofy, but we hope you like them.
That's all. We've spent the last 2 and a half years completing this film. Please help us bring finally bring it to the world! We don't want to keep it for ourselves -- we want as many people to see it as possible. And this is the only way to make that happen!
FAQ
Have a question? If the info above doesn't help, you can ask the project creator directly.
Rewards
-
Pledge $6 or more
50 backers
a heartfelt thanks, and a cheers in your name
Estimated delivery: -
Pledge $19 or more
92 backers
a special thanks in the credits, & 1 of 4 unreleased "Tchoupitoulas" poster designs (digital)
Estimated delivery: -
Pledge $32 or more
190 backers
a DIGITAL DOWNLOAD of "Tchoupitoulas."
+ ALL OF THE ABOVEEstimated delivery: -
Pledge $54 or more
101 backers
a mix of music used in the film, a signed poster, and a DIGITAL DOWNLOAD of "Tchoupitoulas." + ALL OF THE ABOVE
Estimated delivery: -
Pledge $71 or more
47 backers
the Directors' Cut of our first film "45365" (Roger Ebert's favorite doc of 2009), a signed poster for "45365," and the definitive Ross Brothers 2011 music mix. + ALL OF THE ABOVE
Estimated delivery: -
Pledge $97 or more
100 backers
a special signed DVD set of the Ross Brothers' greatest hits: "45365" (Directors' Cut), "Tchoupitoulas," and all 8 episodes of the Mississippi River Boat Chronicles, and signed posters for each. + ALL OF THE ABOVE
Estimated delivery: -
Pledge $172 or more
14 backers Limited (1 left of 15)
a special signed DVD set of renowned docs by some of our favorite people: Jeff Malmberg's "Marwencol," John Maringouin's "Big River Man," and Jessica Oreck's "Beetle Queen Conquers Tokyo." + ALL OF THE ABOVE
Estimated delivery: -
Pledge $248 or more
11 backers
the definitive Ross Brothers' DVD set: in addition to "45365," "Tchoupitoulas," all 8 episodes of the Mississippi River Boat Chronicles... DVD's of totally unreleased Ross Brothers material including the short "Dinosaur Curtains," behind the scenes from the making of the first two features, clips from the Las Vegas movie that never happened, home videos from the 80's, 90's, and today, a sneak peek at a clip from the next feature "(Untitled Bordertown Project)," and a Skype serenade from Bill and Turner. + ALL OF THE ABOVE (excluding non-Ross Bros. items)
Estimated delivery: -
Pledge $483 or more
5 backers All gone!
(THE BIG EASY PRIZE) 2 tickets to the New Orleans premiere, and an all night New Orleans bar crawl hosted and provided for by Bill & Turner Ross (travel & lodging not included). + ALL OF THE ABOVE (excluding non-Ross Bros. items)
Estimated delivery: -
Pledge $483 or more
1 backer Limited (4 left of 5)
(THE SIDNEY SPECIAL) A date and/or workout session with Kyle "The Muscle" Rouse, and a personal tour of Sidney, Ohio, by Bill & Turner Ross that concludes with a special screening of "Tchoupitoulas" at their mom's house (travel & lodging not included). + ALL OF THE ABOVE (excluding non-Ross Bros. items)
Estimated delivery: -
Pledge $757 or more
2 backers Limited (3 left of 5)
(THE CAIRO CONNECTION) A combination of The Big Easy Prize and The Sidney Special, and then some: Membership in the New Orleans Film Society, and a rare silkscreen New Orleans Film Festival poster -- plus tickets to the Nola premiere, a New Orleans bar crawl, a date/session with The Muscle, and a personal hometown tour/screening (travel & lodging not included). + ALL OF THE ABOVE (excluding non-Ross Bros. items)
Estimated delivery: -
Pledge $1,250 or more
0 backers
Credit as Assistant Music Supervisor, and a 2 hour editing tutorial over Skype with Bill Ross. + ALL OF THE ABOVE (excluding non-Ross Bros. items)
Estimated delivery: -
Pledge $2,500 or more
1 backer
Credit as Associate Producer, and a painting by Turner Ross just for you. + ALL OF THE ABOVE (excluding non-Ross Bros. items)
Estimated delivery: -
Pledge $5,000 or more
2 backers
Credit as Executive Producer, and a short documentary on a subject of your choice photographed, directed, and edited by Bill and Turner Ross. + ALL OF THE ABOVE (excluding non-Ross Bros. items)
Estimated delivery: -
Pledge $10,000
0 backers
The Rosses adopt you as a second father or mother. The ceremony is completed at a special family & friends rooftop screening of "Tchoupitoulas" on the roof of real father Bill Ross III's high rise apartment building in Algiers Point, with a beautiful view of New Orleans & the French Quarter across the river. Daiquiris provided by us. You also get one of the 2 now dysfunctional Panasonic DVX cameras with which we filmed all our movies -- of EXTREME sentimental value to us. + ALL OF THE ABOVE (excluding non-Ross Bros. items!)
Estimated delivery:
Funding period
- (44 days)
