Dark Dignity Story Synopsis
Dark Dignity is the story of the women of a nomadic tribe, searching for a new home five years after the world crumbled. Civilization as we know it is gone due to The Infected that plagued North America and beyond.
This diverse mix of former suburbanites – teachers, doctors, police officers – must always be prepared to fight for survival in the badlands of rural landscapes and desert vistas. The dangers hiding behind every shadow may be thieves or gangs… or perhaps creatures once human and now forever changed.
The Team
The team behind "Dark Dignity" is comprised of talented Arizona filmmakers from diverse backgrounds, including all-female leadership serving as director and executive producers who have an overall mission of showcasing Arizona film talent to a global audience.
Writer Cassandra Nicholson, who also serves as executive
producer, has worked on the production staff or as assistant director on
more than a dozen media projects over the last five years. Director Rae Damon is a freelance videographer and photographer who has worked on a number of short films and television shows. They are joined by actor and marketing/public relations expert Eva Louis, who serves double duty as both a principal cast member (portraying "Devi") and executive producer.
Rounding out the rest of the film's principal cast are Michelle Y. Allen, Melissa Farley, Carol Gibson, Kim A. Huenecke, Sandy Kim and Shellie Ulrich.
The team's goal is to build upon the success of this project by producing annual and bi-annual short films of cinematic, feature-film quality - all with women at the core of the story, regardless of genre.
Check out our Week 2 update video below.Our Mission
Producing a high-quality short film requires a certain level of resources. In pursuing this project, we have developed a plan and a budget that takes into consideration cast, crew, production, post-production and distribution expenses. We value our talent and key contributors that are involved and have included that recognition as part of the budget.
Ultimately, we intend for this to be the beginning of a long-term movement towards storytelling through film with women being at the forefront. Once this production is completed, we will showcase our film at festivals with the goal of reaching a global audience.
As we are at the start of this effort and journey, we are still developing and establishing our foundation of resources like a start-up business. This is where you can help support and participate with us. The "Dark Dignity" team recognizes that there are a number of ways to support the arts worldwide. While we hope you choose to donate to our efforts, we also appreciate you sharing this link with those who are familiar with members of the "Dark Dignity" team, or who simply appreciate the hard work and dedication that goes into independent films.
Check out production updates and behind-the-scenes tidbits here.
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What We Need & What You Get
In order to produce a high-quality, science-fiction short film, shot over the course of three days, our team needs to raise $7,500. This will cover the following essential production, post-production and distribution costs:
- Principal & Supporting Cast: $1,350
- Film Department Heads (i.e. cinematographer, sound operator, editor): $3,000
- Production Costs (i.e. location fees, props, wardrobe, craft services): $2,000
- Distribution Costs (i.e. film festival submissions and local premiere): $875
In thanks for your financial support, we're offering perks that include film and IMDB credit. While we would love to provide tangible perks like swag, those items are rarely sustainable, and the production of those items would actually significantly cut into the funds we raise.
The Impact
The "Dark Dignity" team is lucky to have a variety of fantastic talent
in front of and behind the camera. These creative visionaries - camera
pros, sound gurus, actors, lighting masters - have all worked hard to
hone their craft over time. They bring with them several years of
creative and life experience that will infuse the project from the
inside out. Without them, the story simply remains a bunch of words on a
page.
Believe it or not, but even a latte's worth of support helps sustain the film and media careers of everyone attached to this project.
Not only does it mean that the crew who do this for a living can continue to pay their bills and put food on the tables for their family, but it also increases the chances of anyone on the "Dark Dignity" team to further their career through added professional exposure.
Everyone associated with this project wants to continue forging their career path in film. As has been proven for generations, sometimes it just takes the right person seeing the right creative in the right film for those opportunities to be realized.
The team is privileged to have eight women actors to showcase on the big screen later in 2016, as well as a woman director and screenwriter - all who are artists fortunate enough to be working in an industry that's undergoing a long-overdue creative revolution when it comes to equality and equity.
We're excited to see where this revolution takes the film industry, and we're also happy to be part of it in some small way.
Risks & Challenges
Being independent filmmakers, we're extremely well-accustomed to bootstrapping and making projects with very little resources. Production of "Dark Dignity" will actually begin before the campaign concludes.
If for any reason we don't reach our full $7,500 goal, we've made arrangements to still ensure our cast and crew are paid for their individual contributions. It won't be easy, but it also won't stop us from creating a high-quality project worthy of the big screen.
Other Ways You Can Help
No matter how you contribute, we want to thank you for your interest. Here are other ways you can help the "Dark Dignity" team's fundraising efforts:
- Please spread the word on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram and follow us on each of those channels at @DarkDignityFilm.
- For easy sharing, Indiegogo offers tools that you can utilize straight from this website.
- Check back at DarkDignity.com for more information about our team and our journey.
Thanks again for your support!
