Patent trolls are an ugly, stinky zit on the face of the American legal system. For too long, they've been using decades-old loopholes in intellectual property / patent law to game our system and bleed inventors & entrepreneurs dry. With congress unable (or unwilling) to present any meaningful reform, we're turning to the power of satire to bring this issue to the masses.

(NeverCharge Battery prop replica -- Get yours by contributing now!)

Our protagonists lose it all to a patent troll based on a shady judge's even shadier interpretation of an outdated law... But they don't go down fighting. They come up with a plan that allows them to use the system against the patent trolls.The titular "trolls," in this case, are the heroes.

In short, they troll the trolls.

This classic rise-and-fall story explores the pitfalls of start-up culture, dealing with success, and avoiding becoming the thing that you hate the most. So, there are some very universal themes wrapped around our base. Something for everyone!

• Lex Lybrand – Writer / Director
  (Summer League, Meet Me There)
• Rob Gagnon – "Roman"
• Lisa Friedrich – "Jamie"
  (Meet Me There, Least Favorite Love Songs)
• Pat Dean – "Gum"
• Katie Pengra – "Kate"
• Kelli Horan - Producer
• Some very special surprises in key roles based on how much $$ we can raise!

(Pat Dean, Lisa Friedrich, Rob Gagnon, and Katie Pengra -- the "core four")

Regardless of how much money we raise, I've decided to keep my core cast populated with local talent. If we raise twice what we're asking for, then we'll have an opportunity to get creative with the casting for some of our smaller roles... But I'd really like to feature a group of 'unknowns' from the Austin comedy scene as the 'core four' / main cast. I think this film will have mainstream success potential, and I would love to share that success with local talent more than anything!

Several things we need to do this right that aren't cheap...

• Locations & Sets. There are 3 scenes that take place on airplanes, and that alone can cost up to $10K per day to shoot. Also, we need an old run-down office building for the characters to rehab. So, not only will we need to rent the space, but we'll have to pay for a mini makeover as well. On top of that, we also need to recreate a late night talk show TV set!
• Gear. I wrapped Meet Me There about 2 years ago, and the gear I purchased to use on that film (a 1080p DSLR rig) is now sorely out of date. We need to go 4K, and we need your help to make that happen!
• Crew. I'm used to doing 9 jobs at once on the set. The film suffers when that happens. I had to re-record 20+ minutes of dialog in both of my first two films because we couldn't afford to have a professional sound person on the set. I want you to be fully invested in the story when you watch this and not notice that the dialog doesn't match the lip movements of my actors. You want that, too. Help us get a sound person!
• Food. A hungry cast & crew is an angry cast & crew. Help us avoid having leftover pizza and store-brand soda for 15 days straight!

I'm confident that change is coming to IP law in the next few years. I think this film could help nudge it along. Mainstream culture is becoming aware of what's happening with the real-world trolls. The podcast community was recently shook pretty hard when a patent troll went after the Adam Carolla Show. That story ended up having a happy ending when listeners & other podcast producers banded together to raise enough money to take the legal fight to the trolls -- something most people targeted by these types don't have the ability to do. Recently, Last Week Tonight with John Oliver produced a feature story about what these trolls are up to. We'd like to keep that train moving forward and shed as much light onto this issue as possible. A mainstream comedy film that's readily accessible to millions of people is a step in the right direction!

It's my goal for this film to be what a high school history teacher shows their class 10 years from now to show them how absurd this system used to be. Kind of like Coppola's Tucker, but without all of the adultery.  ;)

This will be my 3rd feature film in the director's chair, and my 3rd funded via Indiegogo. My first 2 films were made for under $10,000 a piece, but this one is on a much larger scale, so my budgetary needs have increased.

Both Summer League and Meet Me There were successfully completed & played multiple film festivals before landing distribution deals for DVD, Blu-ray, and VOD, which is remarkable for the size of film we made – but this was only possible because I did all of the production & post production in-house. I personally produced, edited, sound-mixed, and color-graded both films, and I was also the cinematographer for Meet Me There. I love wearing a lot of hats, but I also really value my sanity... So, please help me bring an actual crew on board for this one!

Maybe you don't have piles of cash to send to us. If you do, then please - by all means - send it over!

But, if you don't... Spread the word! Send this page to every tech blog, legal forum, crazy uncle, or anywhere/one else you can think of. The more people that hear about what we're doing, the more the idea behind the film will get out there. That's goal number one. Hopefully somebody out there has at least one of those piles of money. Is it you? DO YOU HAVE IT?