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Goals | Press | Inspiration
Yesterday on our way to Seattle’s Northwest Film Forum to pitch this project, we suddenly and unexpectedly hit our funding goal and screamed and yelled on the streets of Capitol Hill!
Thank you to our amazing supporters and backers who make this dream reality!
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Before we all get too comfy and while there are still 43 hours left, let’s talk about s t r e t c h goals.
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Magda gets a new name.
The Naming of Things
One of our limited edition perks is simple, intimate, and extremely important. “What’s in a name?” asked Juliet. “Be some other name!” she wished. Both names of our main characters are changing. Today, we introduce you to the new version of Magda.
When I wrote this script, I started with this name because I liked the way it sounded and I didn’t have any friends named Magda, so it was a safe choice when sending the script around for feedback. (The day I get a script with a character named Wonder is the day I get extremely self-conscious!)
It’s fitting that the person to name our central character, played by Lisa Coronado, is Lisa’s own mom, Elizabeth. The re-naming is in honor of her mother, Lisa’s grandmother, Virginia, or “Genna.”
Honoring our loved ones is an important part of this project, and this choice is just lovely. Welcome, Genna, to your story.
On that topic, if you haven’t yet, please email me with a photo of who *you* would like honored on the Memory Wall! This perk is available at $30 and up. At $150 and up, you are listed in the Special Thanks credits along with the name of the loved one you wish to honor.
Thank you to Elizabeth and Don Marsh for their generosity. It’s so lovely to have grandma Genna as an important part of our film!
Special Offer: Provide Feedback on the Rough Cut
If you pledge at support us with $15 or more today, we will enter your name and email into a special group of viewers who will be able to see the rough cut and provide feedback. This will be a delicate stage of the film, with incomplete visual effects, sound, etc. Normally this is something we don’t share with many people. But getting feedback is also an important step. We thought to combine the two to bring in our final wave of supporters in these last few days. Know a cinephile who would love to be in that group? Send this update their way!
“Get the first look at a new short film and provide valuable feedback that will help us in the final edit. Just $15 or more, for the next 24 hours only!”
This offer expires on Tuesday May 12 at 5pm PST.
Already supporting us and want to be part of this exclusive group? Email us before the deadline to be included! At 5pm PST on May 12th, we’ll close this offer permanently.
More fun coming soon!
Thank you all for reading, sharing, following, cheering us on, and being in the club. 😉
Love,
Wonder
Grieving out loud.
Grieving out loud.
I always used Twitter for fun chats and a quick way to share info, but suddenly it also became a way to capture a life changing experience in a few phrases.
See You On the Other Side: origin stories
See You on the Other Side
 New Beginnings
My Dad died unexpectedly almost three years ago. The tragedy completely rocked my world and forever altered my life. Digging myself out of a hole of grief, and watching my mom battle depression and heartbreak sparked the creation of this film. This painful experience is intensely personal, but also profoundly shared with everyone else who has survived similar tragedies. When your heart breaks, the world’s heart breaks. And when you heal, the world heals too.
Me and Dad
Nine Projects I Love
There are so many worthy film projects I’m backing right now, it’s difficult for me to RT them, post them, and rave about them as much as I want to do! So here for your curiosity, my handy guide to what I think is pretty spiffy right now in the crowdfunding world.
Before we dive in, a note on why I like crowdfunding: Being a part of something great. Making art happen. Making dreams happen. Spreading happiness and good karma.
I know many of us are crowdfunding our own film projects, but as John Paul Rice said, “Hoy por mi, manana por ti!” It’s a truism that good things happen when you spread good works. It only takes a few bucks to stand in solidarity with projects or filmmakers you admire.
The Sound of our Vision
People who’ve seen the first 8 minutes of Summer Home said…
“Wow. All I can say is, wow. It was reallllyy hard for me not to outright sob throughout. Can’t explain why either. Really excellent work you guys. So intimate.” – Lisa Coronado
“um. can i just say i love it? you are making me all gushy while i was taking a break from mixing a hard core rap rekkerd? i’ve now lost all my edge? i’m losing my composure and battle with fighting back weeping like a wee lass? it’s fucking beautifull?” – Jon Goff
“Looks FANTASTIC” – Todd Downing
“I just finished watching the sneak peak of The Summer Home.. I want more! Beautiful and haunting, I love the silent exchanges between actors Wonder Russell and Paul Vitulli.” – Bridget O’Neill
If you haven’t seen it yet, why not test us? Just pledge $1 and watch the backers-only video. We bet you’ll be glad you did, and up your pledge!
Our new goal: $292 by Tuesday.
Our original goal reflected what we thought we could potentially raise, but still won’t cover our costs to finish the film to the highest level of quality. Let us tell you in our own words how very important this is. Here’s a hint: Two lines of dialogue, and live musicians. Sound is so important to this project, in fact it’s absolutely vital to tell the story.
(and please forgive my first attempts on the Flip! 😉
We need your help.
We’ve got just 5 days to go and $292 to find! Please, pledge to the project now if you haven’t done so yet, and share the link with your friends. Thank you for EVERYTHING!
LOVE,
Wonder
PS Check out a new interview from Seattle film podcast, The MacGuffinCast!
The Crowdfunder’s Bible
UPDATED July 13!
Wouldn’t that be great if someone made that into an e-book? Right now, there are lots of articles online, but they’re spread out across many sites. And, everyone’s experience is going to differ slightly; are you raising $1,000 or $100,000? Are you using Indiegogo or Kickstarter? Or are you baking lemon bars?
A film student here in Seattle approached me last week to talk about crowdfunding. She’s writing a paper on traditional and new financial plans for films, and wanted to hear my take on things. Well, I’ve had some experience with Connect To and Summer Home, but it’s still limited to no-budget shorts. This hardly makes me an authority. But I do have a few great links I send to people every time and say, “Start here.” That’s what I did today – I sent her all my links and told her to read up before we talk in person, so we don’t have to reinvent the wheel.
I’m including them here, a comprehensive how-to of first hand experiences and tips from the crowdfunding world. Do you have a favorite article to share that I haven’t read? If so, please link it up below!
