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As an African-American woman filmmaker I am deeply inspired and encouraged to create stories that are rooted in social issues including race, sex, gender issues, women’s rights, poverty and exploring life within urban communities. Growing up in NYC has had a significant influence and impact on my political and creative perspectives, leading me to challenge myself further by pursuing filmmaking as it is a visual interpretative medium.
In making this short film noir “Destiny Jones” I intend to address the complex issue of sexual assault and rape through the life of a NYC female detective who was sexually assaulted as a child by her stepfather and begins to deal with her trauma as an adult while pursuing her profession. The film approaches this controversial subject with an unorthodox yet exciting approach of fiction/fantasy narrative storytelling. Many of these cases of abuse are vastly unreported especially within minority communities. I hope in making this film it will raise awareness to prevent and stop sexual assault. Those who have fell victim of sexual assault deserve to be recognized as survivors, and ‘Destiny Jones’ exemplifies what it means to be a woman survivor.
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A female detective working in a tough neighborhood in the Bronx has finally found the right case to come along for her to arrest her stepfather – completely innocent but guilty of sexual abuse years earlier – and the abused was she.
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Briana Swann (to play Destiny Jones) is a native of San Jose, California who moved to New York to pursue many dreams all rooted in the arts. She's performed in various productions and worked with various directors spanning from internationally known Spike Lee, to up and coming talents like Dui Jarrod. She is looking forward to expanding on her journey and joining forces with the cast of Destiny Jones to create an unforgettable contribution to the cinematic industry.
Tony Head (to play Mark 'Stepfather' Johnson) has appeared in the recurring role as Major Bobby Reed on the acclaimed HBO series “The Wire”. He has appeared in HBO’s “The Corner” and played feature roles in major films including “Thunderheart” starring Val Kilmer and “Head of State” starring Chris Rock. Mr. Head has also been featured in numerous network commercials including Visa, Nuprin and At&T. He has performed in a range of theater productions including ATA’s LEATHER HEART as the role of Stan and AFTER THE RAIN as the lead character Peter. He is appearing in the new off Broadway play, "Hounds of War " opening at the Abingdon Theatre at the end of March.
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- Within today’s thriving source of new media and filmmaking, the lack of strong female protagonists especially of color has yet to embrace the screen. In making this film, we hope to support women in the filmmaking industry and change the ways in which women are portrayed and represented in cinema.
- Sexual Abuse and Rape is one of the most enacted crimes today amongst men and women. Many sexual assaults are unreported especially within communities and neighborhoods of primarily African-American and Hispanics.This is a story of a woman who has been abused but has taken control of her life, leading her to make her own decisions and ultimately how she deals with her abuser. We hope to raise awareness to stop rape and sexual abuse amongst all genders and race, shedding light on this topic through fiction filmmaking.
- The film definitely embodies the genre of film noir. In crafting such a story with the film noir lens, we are excited to bridge the aesthetics old and new filmmaking to create a modern film noir with a twist, thus creating a new genre of filmmaking.
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Making a film is a challenging, collaborative effort with one of the most rewarding payoffs but it's not easy raising the funds needed to make the picture. The budget covers the costs of pre-production, production and post-production, where all the magic happens. Here's the breakdown:
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Pre-production and wrap costs is what every film needs in order to get started. Including casting and audition fees, finding a producer and the people needed to get things going.
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Shooting crew and labor costs are essential.That includes finding the right crew for your film including an Assistant Director and key people for the set. Basically preparing the film for production. With no crew = no movie.
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Locations and Travel Expenses. If you thought rent was expensive in NYC, it's even more expensive to find locations and buisnesses who are filmmaker-friendly. In order to shoot even on the streets, permits and location fees are required.
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Studio and Set Construction Costs, Equipment Costs, Film Stock and Post-Production. These are the bare essentials for the film. Whether it's having the right camera, lens, props and art direction to tell the story, color-correction, editing, sound mixing, this is where the story is made.
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Talent costs and expenses. Writers, Actors and everyone needed to make the characters and story truly come to life with natural talent and performance. All of us artists live truly like artists which is low budget, and even on a film set the talent can become costly, especially if there is a large cast involved with extras and more.
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Your donations mean everything, and we'd like to offer rewards as a thank you for your support whether big or small. All contributions will serve as means to fully producing and creating this film from the beginning to the end.
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THANK YOU FOR YOUR SUPPORT!