mainstreetprod
Veteran
Check out this trailer, then consider that the film was produced by a family of former homeschoolers in their early twenties with, to my knowledge, no Hollywood involvement:
The most ambitious indy film project I've seen to date
- Thread starter mainstreetprod
- Start date
Patryk_Rebisz
Veteran
This project belong to a very popular latey genere of "nobodies doing something that looks legit" - the high school teacher taking photo of a lifetime, some 7 year old playing sonata like a pro musician, a teenage girl giving an uplifting woman's rights speech at the UN. The power of those projects comes not from the projects themselves - as any half decent pro studio could produce such trailer, any pro photographer could take the photograph, any legit pianist could pay the music and any humanitarian could deliver the speech but from the fact that it's done by the "inept outsider" and that in itself gives lots of hope to all those inept people who dream big (but don't have will power to do anything in the direction of the dream). Because of that "dream" - those projects are championed on social medias specifically because teh social medias are for the most part the bread&butter of the average (the ones who are the most uplifted by such stories because in their personal life there is very little chance of them doing such things for real).
Ryan Patrick O'Hara
Veteran
All it takes is a little bit of talent and a whole lot of $$$$$$$
Period pieces are expensive. The locations, costumes, props... etc.
Period pieces are expensive. The locations, costumes, props... etc.
mainstreetprod
Veteran
"This project belong to a very popular latey genere of "nobodies doing something that looks legit"
Any nobody that can turn out something on this level won't be a nobody for long...
All it takes is a little bit of talent and a whole lot of $$$$$$$
Period pieces are expensive. The locations, costumes, props... etc.
This may be a lot less expensive than you might think. Their web page describes it as the product of the efforts of "hundreds of volunteers". Much of what you see was probably donated. While I'm sure the actual production budget was much higher, their Kickstarter campaign raised only $24,000
Any nobody that can turn out something on this level won't be a nobody for long...
All it takes is a little bit of talent and a whole lot of $$$$$$$
Period pieces are expensive. The locations, costumes, props... etc.
This may be a lot less expensive than you might think. Their web page describes it as the product of the efforts of "hundreds of volunteers". Much of what you see was probably donated. While I'm sure the actual production budget was much higher, their Kickstarter campaign raised only $24,000
Spartacus
Veteran
I'm also sure you can raise a lot of private money, when catering to the Christian and "Patriot" market alike. No judgement by the way.
But even if this means they had it easier than other indies, this still looks extremely good.
I really would like to know more about this "Burns Family" and how they ended up making a movie together.
GaryinCalifornia
Veteran
lol Spartacus... its harder to raise money in the faith based market than it is in secular...
mainstreetprod
Veteran
"I really would like to know more about this "Burns Family" and how they ended up making a movie together."
This should give you an idea, a press release written after the release of their first film, "Pendragon".
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[TD]Action Movie Produced by Two Home-School Families Wins Awards
Contact: Michelle Delgado, 714-319-1552,mjwdelgado@sbcglobal.net; www.pendragonmovie.com
ST. LOUIS, Mo., June 22 /Christian Newswire/ -- Burns Family Studios won the "2009 Indie Best of Show Award" award at the Indie Film Festival (www.theindiefest.com) for its recent release, "Pendragon: Sword of His Father," an epic, inspirational movie. In giving the award, Indie officials said, "'Pendragon' is a tightly-crafted, action-filled epic set in Britain's dark ages. As the barbarian fleets descend on the coast, the people of Britain defend themselves and their faith. The film has stunning visuals and a powerful score."
National media such as "Dallas Morning News," American Family Radio, Family Net, "Atlanta Live" and others have been fascinated with the story of two home school families sacrificing time and finances to undertake such an ambitious project. The project took three years and required the lifetime savings of the principal partners, with an expense valuation of more than a quarter million dollars.
The two-hour motion picture, distributed through retail stores, has also been supported by Family Christian Stores, the nation's largest Christian bookstore chain, and Trinity Broadcasting Network (TBN), the world's largest Christian television network. TBN will broadcast the film this month.
Like the producers of the movie "Fireproof," whose production team is based in a small Georgia church, Burns Family Studios and their first project, "Pendragon," started as the faithful vision of two families – parents, aunts, uncles, young people and volunteers from their churches – with a big idea.
The motion picture has been awarded four "Doves" by the Dove Family Foundation. It also won "Best Family Picture" for 2009 and two other awards at the Bare Bones Film Festival. It won the "2009 Best Technical Achievement" award at the Attic Film Festival.
"'Pendragon' is a very impressive attempt at a historical epic ... very entertaining, inspiring and sometimes surprising Christian movie," said Dr. Ted Baehr of Movieguide, the family guide to movies and entertainment.
"Our family seeks to inspire Christians to embrace God's purpose for their lives -- to take up the world-changing task that God has for them," said director Chad Burns, 27. Aaron Burns, 21, Chad Burn's cousin, plays the lead role of Artos. He said, "As we saw 'Pendragon' through to completion, we watched God provide in amazing ways." Aaron Burn's father, Andy, plays British ruler Ambrosius, while he also tends to the everyday Burns Family Studio financial concerns. Aaron's mother, Tracy, managed the hundreds of extras that played in the movie.
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mainstreetprod
Veteran
" its harder to raise money in the faith based market than it is in secular..."
True, because the few interested investors have already been burned once. We finance our own.
True, because the few interested investors have already been burned once. We finance our own.
Ryan Patrick O'Hara
Veteran
What is with the fascination with being home schooled? It's in the description of their bio's like they accomplished a handicap or something.
Anyway, I know they only raised $24,000 on Kickstarter, but if you watch the kickstarter video, they state:
The Kickstarter money, ($24,000) was just proof of interest and additional funding.
Pendragon press release said:
They also said this production budget was 10x higher than Pendragon, with $38,000 for script and actor options. Not bad, imo.
I'm willing to also bet the quarter-million figure is inflated to increase bidding levels for interested distributors. That's pretty common practice.
Anyway... Film looks good, but it did cost a good chunk of money. Not studio money, but money none-the-less.
Anyway, I know they only raised $24,000 on Kickstarter, but if you watch the kickstarter video, they state:
The Kickstarter money, ($24,000) was just proof of interest and additional funding.
Pendragon press release said:
They also said this production budget was 10x higher than Pendragon, with $38,000 for script and actor options. Not bad, imo.
I'm willing to also bet the quarter-million figure is inflated to increase bidding levels for interested distributors. That's pretty common practice.
Anyway... Film looks good, but it did cost a good chunk of money. Not studio money, but money none-the-less.
ugafan
Looking for a woman
aside from the amateurish text, it's a very good trailer and should do well with its target audience.
the budget is definitely in the million dollar range. far less than a hollywood film, but much more money than most of us have access to.
if i ever do a press release i'm going to describe myself as "a man who graduated from the public school system".
the budget is definitely in the million dollar range. far less than a hollywood film, but much more money than most of us have access to.
if i ever do a press release i'm going to describe myself as "a man who graduated from the public school system".
Patryk_Rebisz
Veteran
My IndieGogo page reads that we've raised $5000 while the doc (we just finished) cost many, many, many times that.
And quite frankly as always it doesn't matter. What matters is the final product existing in the vacuum of a kind... You take away the spin and you got yourself an average costume film - definitely not something i would call "ambitious."
And quite frankly as always it doesn't matter. What matters is the final product existing in the vacuum of a kind... You take away the spin and you got yourself an average costume film - definitely not something i would call "ambitious."
Batutta
Major Contributor
LOL...I don't know what the point of their "home-schooling" is as relates to the film. I never went to go see a film because of how the filmmaker was educated. The movie does look impressive. As someone who has seen his fair share of Christian film, this blows the pants off almost all of them.
filmguy123
Veteran
What's with the negativity? I see where you are coming from, but I disagree with your assertion that it gives "inept" people a chance to compete with "pro studios" or pro-whatever.
While this film had much more budget than a little indie project... I see it as the REVERSE of what you are saying. Today, thanks to YouTube, Kickstarter, decreasing prices of technology/wide access to technology & tools we are seeing the ability for people without tons of money & resources to (1) create & accomplish otherwise impossible projects and feats -- something like this would have been borderline impossible even just 20 years ago -- and (2) be recognized for talent that stands independent of gross resource and financing.
I am not impressed by inept people accomplishing mediocre things. I am impressed by clearly talented people somehow accomplishing things on par with what hugely resourced and experienced professionals and organizations with a lifetime of experience & money can produce. A lot of what is out there is "better" not because the people working on it are more talented, more intelligent, or more resourceful.. but merely because they are better funded.
As for me, I welcome the democratization of talent at every level - from the small one man band, to the midsize studios, to the big players. They all have something to offer. This generation of Kickstarted video games & Indie game developers producing incredible content, either crowd-sourced or discovered and monetized after the fact via digital distribution... to artists being able to skip record labels and record high quality content @ home and direct publish to iTunes.. to Indie film-makers being able to produce increasingly impressive & competitive content at ALL budget levels... to the indie film revolution of late churning out more and more quality scripts and movies... It's an amazing time to be an artist.
Anyway... /tangent
I was impressed by the trailer. Makes sense that the funding is much higher than the initial 'made at home by kids!' post made it sound, but regardless, the fact that passionate people can pull something like this off with today's technology (both filmmaking and communication/internet/etc.) and have something they care about be translated and hold up in a marketplace dominated by multi-million dollar budgets... that's awesome. Keep it up.
Spartacus
Veteran
For non-Hollywood "Ambitious Filmmakers"?
(non-professionals or amateurs doesn't seem to fit, as said it looks really good, considering the low budget).
Being Christians is their "USP" compared to hundreds of other low budget productions from out of the middle of nowhere that might knock on potential investors doors.
Besides that, you can call in way more favors, if its not for you, but for the greater love of your choice of deity
KyleProhaska
Veteran
Know these folks well. They're ambitious to say the least, and have worked their butts off to get this thing finished. The results are pretty inspiring on the indie end, and my boy Ethan did a bang up job getting the VFX done. It's worth giving a look just as a little indie miracle if you ask me...even if it's not your cup of tea.
Very few folks have the nuts to try and do something that ambitious lol. I sure don't!
Very few folks have the nuts to try and do something that ambitious lol. I sure don't!
roxics
Veteran
There is a slightly more (and increasingly vocal) radical set of religious folks in the US that who take it as a point of pride to home school because they either don't trust our government to do anything right or they don't like the increasingly secular devaluation of their religious traditions in government run facilities like publc schools. So this is a marketing move to say "hey we're one of you (to other people that home school) and look what we've done."
Batutta
Major Contributor
And it would make sense if this was a documentary about home-schooling. It's not. The number of people who would go see this movie because of that is so small it's probably smaller then the number of people put off by it.
j1clark@ucsd.edu
Veteran
That may have a different meaning to UK readers than US readers...
Here's the first lines of the wiki article on the topic...
---
The term public school refers to a group of older, more expensive and exclusive fee-paying private independent schools in the United Kingdom, particularly in England, which cater primarily for children aged between 13 and 18.
....
Public schools have had a strong association with the ruling classes. Historically they educated the sons of the English upper and upper-middle classes. In particular, the sons of officers and senior administrators of the British Empire were educated in England while their parents were on overseas postings.
---
j1clark@ucsd.edu
Veteran
The use of 'home-school', is a valid marketing phrase to catch the attention of the market these filmmakers are tapping.
However, I'm old enough to remember when 'home-schooling' was a popular hippie project, because the schools were just training facilities for The Man... Then there's John Holt...
In any case, I applaud the filmmakers for their efforts, but probably won't wait on the edge of my chair with baited breath for the film release...
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