FEATURE: LORD OF TEARS - New Updates! Pre Orders & Kickstarter!

lawriejaffa

lawriejaffa

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See the trailer and back our project on Kickstarter!


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Producing Lord of Tears

So as many of you know I've been working away on the production and post of Lord of Tears, our slender/owl inspired supernatural thriller produced in the Highlands of Scotland! The experience has been a kind of epic emotional and physical journey (anyone that has made a feature will understand - or has experienced my feedback from the dvxfests hehe!) There has been highs and lows - highs include shooting in a genuine gothic mansion in the middle of no where, covered in mists and surrounded by pagan shrines and wild animals - the lows include dealing with paperwork and admin, struggling to get the best out of myself and everyone around me!

One of our biggest objectives and a very personal one for me was to create a very unique offbeat horror film, of the type I (and others I hope) would enjoy watching as they grew up. The strange often foreign (British for you Ameeericans) or European for us Brits - the kinda arty downbeat 60s/70s horror. I'm thinking movies like The Wicker Man, The Shining, The Haunting and The Innocents. Those are the films that inspired me to produce a weird and twisty supernatural thriller, with so many blooming twists and mind plays - that I could believe it would suitably disturb me (seeing it afresh!) Most of my er home videos would do that too... but thats another story! Yeah...

I'd always had an interest in the supernatural and metaphysical worlds. Subjects such as theology, mythology and ancient history was what I studied at university, and the dustier the tome the better! (I would horrify my lecturers with obscure essays with bibliographies of books no more recent than 1900. The complex world of psychology and metaphysics - were prime areas I wanted to explore - that is the delicate art of psychological horror through ancient means! Of finding legends from long gone civilisations about forgotten gods, and imagining them in the modern context, or weaving them into post-modern gothic frames like with Lord of Tears.

While those were the kinds of concepts I wanted to explore, I simply... wasn't quite good enough to write the script. Sarah Daly (whom you might know from dvxuser as well as the music artist Metaphorest) wrote the screenplay - as we developed the story together. She's a tremendous talent whose busily working on magical scripts (lost to non-disclosure agreements) for fancy actors (while I do the dishes etc)

The film gave me the opportunity to work with a brilliant actress and dancer, a beautiful and very talented woman called Lexy Hulme, she's currently in the tv series Smash (and you can find plenty pictures of her on google... bahaha) but she plays more than eye candy in our movie (that was served instead by my 2 second cameo - cut from the final edit boo.) We also have David Schofield - a regular Hollywood player whose performances have included corrupt senators in Gladiator, to evil henchmen in Pirates of the Carribean - (ah the list is endless the guy is a legend.) My favourite performance has to include one of his first, as the notorious darts player at the start of American Werewolf in London (fans remember?) "You... you made me miss..."

We've had some coverage over the course of the development of our film, from decent sites too like Bloody Disgusting and Film School Rejects, but truth be told, every film takes longer than a producer imagines (especially a director/producer - yikes!) It is only now that we're in a genuine position to get this film polished and ready to present to the world.

For that I would like to invite you guys to share my journey as I attempt to raise £6k (about what $10k) approximate to finance the final stage of our film's production. We're offering pre-orders for the film and other goodies (my special edition dvxuser thongs I hope, will prove most popular of all!)

Finally, I was thinking of where I could share this part of the story... what site or what community? Dvxuser is a site i've been a part of - mostly providing bizarre feedback on dvxfest and harassing Chris Keaton muhhahaa, but there is no other place quite like here for my online filmmaking home!

So I will update this with how I get on, and I hope you will consider sharing our page, contribute if you like what you see, and perhaps learn from my experiences wise and foolhardy from my production of Lord of Tears.

Feel free to ask questions and thanks guys for the messages of support you've already given me on Facebook :)


 
Hey thanks Zazaaaaaaa your always encouraging me and I thank you for that!

Update & Rambles

So I'm learning as I go - god knows how much you end up looking at other succesful Kickstarter campaigns - trying to learn how to make your own more effective etc! It's never about manipulation - ie. how to somehow trick someone into giving you money - its just about already having a film folks want to see and support - and somehow just getting them a chance to see it (the pitch video and or trailer.) I think with Zak's campaign for example - he really created a great project and a personal story along with it that made people want to see more than just the film - but [SIZE=3]what the artist behind the film had created too. [SIZE=3]Something else to take from Zak's campaign is his inbuilt [SIZE=3]community contacts/support[SIZE=3]ers which I can tell you, is vital in my opinion to the succes[SIZE=3]s of [SIZE=3]many a campai[SIZE=3]gn.

Take my own for example, [SIZE=3]without the generous support and interest of (Sar[SIZE=3]ah Daly's fan[SIZE=3]s) we would not be nearly so far towards our goal[SIZE=3]. [SIZE=3]Howe[SIZE=3]ver we've also recieved endorsements (from [SIZE=3]nota[SIZE=3]ble industry figures[SIZE=3]) and some generous contr[SIZE=3]ibutions based on the percieved value of our pro[SIZE=3]ject and [SIZE=3]the authenticity/sincerit[SIZE=3]y of its artistic effor[SIZE=3]t[SIZE=3] (as in the case of our film [SIZE=3]- a kind of intelligent horror film, its not as [SIZE=3]commercial say as teen slasher[SIZE=3]/expl[SIZE=3]oitation flicks.)

So we've recieved tweets from Jim Parrack from True Blood, endorsements from Director Elisabeth Fies (of [SIZE=3]the excellent 'The Commune') and Producer/ Award Winning Writer Signe Olyn[SIZE=3]yk[SIZE=3] of [SIZE=3](of the again... [SIZE=3]smart horror film Below Zer[SIZE=3]o.) We've also recieved generous [SIZE=3]pledges towards our producing credits from[SIZE=3] Kicks[SIZE=3]tarter support[SIZE=3]ers who obviously know their stuff!

So right now w[SIZE=3]e're at 5[SIZE=3]3% of our c[SIZE=3]ampaign total, and we're still rea[SIZE=3]ching out to news sources and blogs. There has been some great coverage [SIZE=3]especially among the smaller blogs - who are much more approachable than some of the bigger new[SIZE=3]s sites ([SIZE=3]e[SIZE=3]specially when your story concerns a Kickstarter!) As that can be more [SIZE=3]politica[SIZE=3]l shall we say for many news sites!

Oooh what else! We've had folks start to produce fan art inspired by our creature and film - including posters and illustrations! Part of the approach with my films is to inspire a sense [SIZE=3]o[SIZE=3]f collaboration and involvment with our stories which[SIZE=3] as hor[SIZE=3]ror/f[SIZE=3]antasies tend to [SIZE=3]be rich in myth[SIZE=3]os.

Anyway here is a[SIZE=3] picture by an artist called Michael Doig[SIZE=3] [SIZE=3]- and again for any dvxuser supporters - your help is appreciated.

[/SIZE][/SIZE][/SIZE][/SIZE][/SIZE][/SIZE][/SIZE][/SIZE][/SIZE][/SIZE][/SIZE][/SIZE][/SIZE][/SIZE][/SIZE][/SIZE][/SIZE][/SIZE][/SIZE][/SIZE][/SIZE][/SIZE][/SIZE][/SIZE][/SIZE][/SIZE][/SIZE][/SIZE][/SIZE][/SIZE][/SIZE][/SIZE][/SIZE][/SIZE][/SIZE][/SIZE][/SIZE][/SIZE][/SIZE][/SIZE][/SIZE][/SIZE][/SIZE][/SIZE][/SIZE][/SIZE][/SIZE][/SIZE][/SIZE][/SIZE][/SIZE][/SIZE][/SIZE][/SIZE][/SIZE][/SIZE]
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Corderouge! Thanks so much for your backing i'm glad your into what we're doing! I'm finding that through our campaign and some of the good stuff we're hearing from blogs that there is a genuine interest in intelligent horror films among the lower budget indie genre. Del Toro style horror/dramas on a modest budget - big on story and emotion etc. After being at a few horror festivals (where really the more fanboy orientated 'aawwwesome head shot' style horror flicks form such a majority - (especially in indie land) this whole experience is just well exciting.
 
Here you go guys! This is the third update I posted on our kickstarter campaign - including some of our blog coverage and endorsements we've gained along the way! Its a few days old but still relevant and interesting i think to fellow filmmakers. I'll be posting a new update soon!

Lawrie
https://twitter.com/LawrieBrewster

So - where to begin?! Me and our writer Sarah Daly have been working hard, emailing blogs and news sites covering the Horror genre. We've now begun to see countless more articles spreading about on the internet-o-sphere - including threads popping up in forums with passionate devotees of the genre asking one another what the heck this creepy Owlman is!

I even have one chap emailing me quite regularly (like some character trapped on The Mountains of Madness) desperate to know the arcane truth of our Owl-ish villain! (Oh he has a dark surprise coming to him - ahem)

Blogs

Right so lets take a look at some of the blogs featuring our film so far!
A Southern Life in Scandalous Times (and no it's not the Mills & Boon Romance novel) This blog features an in-depth interview on the inspirations behind our film.
"Scottish director Lawrie Brewster is a man driven by passion for exploring life’s inexplicable covariance through the camera lens and story telling."
Into the Dark "a unique antagonist you're not likely to forget" (and yes he does mean our Owl Man and not our Scottish National Delicacy... Haggis or is that Irn Bru? - Lawrie)
Horror Cult Films "the trailer is disturbing to say the least and will crawl under your skin with its iconic antagonist."
Kount Kreepy "It's been a while since I've seen anything that's got me this excited"
Doctor Carnage "Lord of Tears is definitely a movie to watch out for... Be sure to check this out, and give another rising talent your support!"
Dollar Theatre Massacre "the horror world has not yet taken full advantage of how terrifying owls can be." (wait until he sees the sequel starring possessed budgies! - Lawrie)
Mind of Matlock "I would rather not run into late at night in the Highlands of Scotland" (he means the Owl Man, not me! - Lawrie)
Everything of Horror "I expect this to be the best or one of the best independent films ever released."
And that isn't even all of the Blogs! I'll keep updating what coverage as I find it, plenty more can be found searching online!

Supporters

We have a new Associate Producer Lloyd Davies! (Note some pledgers like to remain a little more behind the scenes) but not Lloyd! He's a massive fan and regular Horror festival attendee and we're proud to have his support.
Our actress Lexy Hulme, was tweeting about our film - and guess who re-tweeted to help share the word? No less than Jim Parrack, one of the stars of True Blood!
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Jim Parrack, probably enjoying a bottle of mineral water or some type of friendly vitamin drink!
I was also blown away to find a pledge and public endorsement of our film by the noted Director of the Award Winning horror film 'The Commune,' the beautiful Elisabeth Fies (we share that in common - Lawrie)
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New Rewards!

Meanwhile in the rewards category we now have Executive Producer credits available! We had recieved some enquiry as to the availability of this level of pledge, and can now offer credits for both pledger names (in the role of Executive Producer) with mention of their companies also, in our films credits!

Meanwhile here is a little poster contributed by a fan of our film by an artist caaaalled - Brandon Seabear Eldrod
 
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Hey guys! So this is the fourth update I just posted on Kickstarter! To summarise we've reached our goal and have now set a new stretch goal - especially as we still 20 days to go in our campaign. http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/lawriebrewster/lord-of-tears

If you guys have any questions etc feel free to shoot! I do welcome a bit of discussion even if most of my chatting with dvxusers is on facebook nowadays!


First Goal Reach! The Second Begins!

How time flies between updates! With my mug of coffee in hand, I sit by the window which today, frames a view of crashing grey waves against a backdrop of dark haze (typical Scottish morning.) Yet despite the gloom of mother nature, I am delighted to say that we have reached our initial goal of £6k! We did it thanks to you - no more can be said than that! You have shown us that there is an audience keen on intelligent, story driven horror instead of screaming teenagers and cliche'd torture porn (because one night out in Glasgow is enough really!) So moving forward we have now set new stretch goal of £10k to further improve the film, the rewards we can provide and the effectiveness of our independent marketing campaign. So the campaign is on - full steam ahead!

New Producers!
I am honoured to announce, Sultan Saeed Darmaki is the Executive Producer for Lord of Tears, with American filmmaker Zeke Hanson as Producer. New Associate Producers include Richard Anderson Whyte and Kevin Paish. Of course we still have other roles available for those contributers wishing to involve themselves or their businesses with our production!

Awesome Endorsement
The legendary Lovecraftian Scream Queen of Stuart Gordon's awesome movies (Re-Animator and From Beyond) had this to say! How cool is that (and what teenage Horror Fan didn't have er the most inappropriate crushes on her?)
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Blogs Editorial
The Dead Centre - In depth Interview about the creative and artisticmotives behind the film.
Head in a Vice -Fun editorial on what top films and goodies I'd take on a desert island!

Blogs News
We have recieved brilliant coverage from a number of excellent blogs and news sites big and small. It is our strategy to reach out to those news-sites catering to those most obsessed about the genre too (people like me!)
Dread Central
Head in a Vice (some excellent comments here - Lawrie)
More Horror
Movies at Dog Farm "Strike A Blow Against Crappy Sequels And Lame Remakes"
Attention Earthlings "something Amicus Films or Hammer may have produced"
Celluloid Terror"The trailer alone is a triumph"
Candy Coated Razor Blades "it'll be a lot of spooky fun"
Cinemea "I’m painfully excited for this movie"
Cinema Terror "surprisingly good visuals for being an independent film."
Dread World "it takes something pretty damn special to get out attention."
The End of Summer
A Haunting on the Screen "exactly the kind of film I enjoy watching"
It Came from the Man Cave "This truly looks the way a ghost story should"
Horror Society "his evil seems as ethereal as the highland mist" - the owlman not me - Lawrie!)
Slashers, Starlets and Sleaze "will work its way under the viewers skin."
Strange with Fiction "Did you see the frigging Owl Man?"
Stuff Monsters Like "Ancient monsters meet modern legends and drive a man to madness"
Mandy's Morgue of Terror
I Like Horror Movies "conflict between the refined and the primal"
Super Duper Shock Cinema "I can't even begin to describe how good this film looks."
UMustbeBored "He has created a horror film that is about imagination"
E Splatter
Horror Fanzine "Lord of Tears derives its inspiration from classic mythologywill work its way under the viewers skin."
Twisted Central
Horror Movies and Stuff "hopefully get the right eyes on the film, and land it with a major distributor here in the states"
Brutal as Hell "Those afraid of owls, beware"
365 Horror "Now this looks damn creepy."
Fearcast
Splatter Shack "the Scottish chiller is a Hammer Horror stylized Slender Man homage."
 
Creepy stuff! If you want I can probably get you into another horror review site, just shoot me a Facebook message.
 
THIS... was loads of fun, instead of the boring old demon morph face scare trick I wanted to try something more subtle and creepy... this is what happened!

 
Hello there old chaps!

So great news we reached and surpassed our first kickstarter goal (now at approximately $10k) and are now on our way towards a new stretch goal of about oh $15k hopefully! We have 17 or so days left (We reached our campaign goal in about 10) and my god there is a lot of lessons I've taken from this so far! About the support network necessary to make a camapign work - especially if its a product in a competitive market and genre. I actually had (along with my partner Sarah Daly whom you might know from DVX) a pre-existing support network, and even then its required an enormous investment of time and effort! As it should of course...

So if you ARE EVER thinking of using kickstarter or indie-gogo and are thinking of grand campaign goals of over 20k without any pre-existing fan base of past buyers hehe - be warned!

In other great NEWS we actually have Lord of Tears accepted into its first Film Festival! The SAN DIEGO COMIC FEST http://www.sdcomicfest.org/lawrie-brewster/ - I will be there and so will Sarah (artist name - Metaphorest) who will be performing life there!

The coverage we've been recieving predominately from genre blogs has generated some interest, with sales agents and distributers getting in touch asking for screeners etc. (That's nice at least but as any of you know already - its never hard to get them excited to see a screener hehe!)

So what now?

Well there comes a point in the campaign where you've exhausted your initial sources of contribution/advertising and so the real challenge on our campaign is ahead of us!

In the meantime we are still campaigning away - check out the kickstarter page, and let me know your thoughts on the rewards! Feedback is appreciated especially if we can learn a bit together from this?


In the meantime! A new picture of the OWLMAN

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Just a wee update - we got into the Bram Stoker International Film Festival in Whitby! Hooray - its a big genre festival here in the UK! Meanwhile the campaign is still going well, and William Freidkin said I'm the man!!! Booya! Though it was more in relation to seagulls!
 
I really like the ancient Owlman of legend photo of him lurking in his ruinous lair!...

Can you share your color correction secrets on this... thanks...
 
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Well guys just two hours left (maybe just under in fact) to pre-order DVDs and other goodies with our unique supernatural thriller Lord of Tears. I really don't think there has been a horror antagonist quite like our Owlman for quite sometime!

I'll be giving some special thanks and extra surprise goodies to those DVXuser lads supporting us (you know who you are ;)

Kickstarter Link http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/lawriebrewster/lord-of-tears

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GaryinCalifornia // Grading was PS, shadows/Highlights, levels, and latest photolooks :)
 
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