The crowdfunding film projects have been increasing over the last few months, to the point where we need to expand our Certified Film Threat in Progress column to cover more than one film at a time. Under that theory, we bring you two new projects to consider: Continental (a documentary), the latest film project by former Film Threat magazine writer turned award-winning filmmaker Malcolm Ingram, and Favor, Paul Osborne’s return to narrative filmmaking after his adventures with the film festival documentary Official Rejection. Both films are crowdfunding on Kickstarter, and both films have campaigns that end within the next two weeks and could really use your help.
Continental (a documentary)
First up, let’s talk about the latest documentary from Malcolm Ingram. While Malcolm has made a few feature narrative films (and I still enjoy Tail Lights Fade, no matter what he believes), he really hit his stride with the documentaries small town gay bar (which you can see on Netflix Instant) and Bear Nation. Both documentaries focus on different aspects of homosexual culture, or as Malcolm likes to put it, are “really gay,” but his latest project is more of an expansion along historical lines, as it focuses on The Continental Baths, “a seminal gay New York City hotspot that existed from the late sixties to 1974.” But, hey, let Malcolm pitch it:
In my eyes, Malcolm is 2-for-2 on the documentary front, so seeing him turn that talent on for a third film has me anticipating something great. And something unpredictable. I mean, small town gay bar did entertaining, educational and dramatic so well, I was a little surprised when Bear Nation managed to strike a more humorous tone while staying just as educational and effective. What shape is Continental going take? I can’t wait to find out, honestly.
For those of you interested in helping Malcolm reach his crowdfunding goal to make Continental (a documentary), there are some incentives you’ve got (details of which can be found on the Kickstarter page), which include: special credits, t-shirts, an original poem (yeah, you got me too), signed DVDs, podcast shout-outs and even an associate producer credit. That said, more than what you can get out of this, though, this is about preserving and documenting a piece of history that, at worst, is already an unknown to most and, at best, is currently being forgotten. Step up and make Continental (a documentary) happen!
You can keep track of Continental (a documentary) through the Kickstarter page, friend the project on Facebook and follow the latest news via Twitter.
Favor
We’ve been a fan of filmmaker Paul Osborne’s work for a while, starting with his writing duties on Ten ‘Til Noon and continuing through his documentary about the film festival circuit, Official Rejection (which I enjoy as a film, and also enjoy debating certain aspects of, given the right company). Hell, we even asked him if he would cover the 2011 Phoenix Film Festival for us. Now Paul is back in the narrative feature filmmaking world with his latest, Favor, a film that… here, just read the synopsis from Kickstarter: “Kip Desmond has gotten everything he’s ever wanted: a thriving career, beautiful wife, and an affluent lifestyle, all of which is put in jeopardy when Abby, the woman with whom he’s having a casual fling, is accidentally killed. Desperate, he ends up on the doorstep of childhood friend Marvin Croat and asks him for a huge favor: help get rid of the body. This gruesome situation begins a series of events which unravel Kip and Marvin’s lifelong friendship, leading both men to murderous acts neither had ever suspected themselves capable of.”
The makings of a great thriller are all right there: good people doing bad things, friendships under stress, some major life stakes to be dealt with and, you know, murder. If Paul hadn’t been so spot-on with Ten ‘Til Noon, we might be less engaged with the thought of this film, but since he’s proven he can write a tight, smart film already, we really want to see this one get made. Here’s Paul’s pitch:
I got to give Paul credit, that was one polished pitch video, and damn was it concise. Plus, if you become a film backer today, there’s already outtakes from the promo shoot that you can watch and laugh over. While I haven’t seen it, my guess is Paul does or says something embarrassing. You don’t get that polished and concise without some hardcore editing.
Now, I almost feel like it’s a waste of time for me to repeat what he just said in the video, but I do think it is important to note, in writing, that beyond Kickstarter crowdfunding and incentives, Paul is also offering real opportunities to invest in the film, with all the producerial credit and such that comes along with being a “I hope to get my money back someday” investor. So if you want to be a bigger piece of the puzzle, there’s your opportunity.
For me info on Favor, you can follow along (and hopefully help fund) via Kickstarter, check out the film’s official website and/or follow Paul Osborne’s personal Twitter account.
DISCLAIMER: Donating or investing in a film or film-related project is always a risky endeavor, so it is important to keep that in mind before deciding to get financially involved with any film project. Film Threat, FilmThreat.com and our parent company, Hamster Stampede, LLC hold no liability or responsibility regarding any of the projects showcased on our site, their content or performance or the content or performance of any of the sites linked to in this article. Our involvement with the featured project is strictly what you see here: we find a work-in-progress project that sounds interesting to us, we ask all the questions we’d like to know the answers to and then we share that information with you, the audience. This should not be considered as personalized investment advice. What happens after you read this is your decision, and, again, before parting with any money for any film, think it through and BE CAREFUL.
Can someone tell me more about the crowdfunding. I am involved with a cause film that is trying to raise money via the internet and would love to learn more!