What is ‘Her Tragedy’?
‘Her Tragedy’ is the latest film effort from the Oxford Comma Film Cooperative.
It is a low-budget festival-bound indie drama that will be shot in March of this year.
‘Her Tragedy’ is the latest film project from the Oxford Comma Film Cooperative. It is a feature length film that tells the story of Riley, a young woman looking for a sense of belonging in her life. She returns to the small town where she went to college to visit the people with whom she felt she belonged. She comes to realize the horrible truth behind why she left in the first place and is forced to come face to face with the ugly side of her own past.
Featuring a dazzling cast of talented young actors from Minnesota, Chicago, and South Carolina. Some names you may recognize from Minneapolis-local productions, like Casey Hoesktsra and Joanna Harmon, while others like Gillian Strachan and Emily O'Connor may be unfamiliar. Each cast member brings to the project not only their talents and previous experiences, but unique insights into the characters and the story itself.
Ross Destiche, Matt Fitzgerald, Jenna Enemy, Matt LaBorde, Michelle Casali, Michelle Makie, and Emily Olyarchuk round out the cast list, and we are privileged to have every single one of them.
The Oxford Comma Film Cooperative, comprised of Vanessa Magowan Horrocks, the director, and Brenna Erickson, the producer, are proud to invite new collaborators Laura Walus, OK Keyes, Matt Burr, Marc Arnason, Niq Van Der Aa, Christine Parham, and Kat Lee Hong on board.
Niq is lending his considerable talents to the film's costume design, while Laura will serve as both editor and art director. Matt Burr will act as the audio engineer. Keyes, along with introducing us to our two South Carolinian actors, will be the film's lead cinematographer with Marc Arnason on second camera.
This project promises to be a visual tour de force, and a poignant but honest look into the humanity of its characters and the complicated relationships between people.
What Do We Need?
In order to make ‘Her Tragedy’ at the production level that we want to, we are asking for $10,000 for 3 main reasons: production cost, equipment, and paying our actors and crew.
Those of us involved in the production have put together the basic needs for our production and have sorted them into 9 categories that cover most of the costs for production.
Transportation
We need gas money to transport our South Carolina crew (cinematographer, 2 actors, 2 PAs) to Minneapolis. We will need gas as we drive the cast and crew between our 3 main locations:
St. Cloud, MN
Minneapolis, MN
Hutchinson, MN
Costumes
Our talented costume, Niq Van Der Aa, has done some wonderful work translating the complicated themes and concepts in the script into beautiful costumes. We are collecting pieces from our closets, thrift stores, and other thrifty places. However, we do have plans to make some of the more challenging pieces by hand. We will need funds to buy the fabric to make these designs a reality.
Props & Set Dressing
Our primary location is a old farmhouse. We need to collect pieces from thrift stores, antiques, and our own homes to create the feeling of generations living in this rustic house in the country. We will be looking for some furniture, dishware, knick knacks and other decorations to enhance the feeling in the filming space.
Equipment
We already own a lot of our own equipment, but in every film we try to obtain a couple pieces of equipment to improve the quality of the film. This project, we have selected wireless microphones to make the post-production audio mixing process easier. We also want to buy the raw materials to make a jib, and maybe invest in some lights and stands.
Catering
On every project we work on, keeping the cast and crew fed is one of our top priorities. It keeps everyone’s energy and spirits high while providing a bonding experience for the cast and crew allowing us to work together as a cohesive unit to tell the story. And coffee. We work long days for buying enough coffee, tea, hot chocolate, etc will keep us warm, energized and working hard.
Cast and Crew
We have assembled a fantastic cast and crew of passionate people who want to make this script come to life on film. However, these people are giving up work, school, rehearsal for shows, freelance work, and so much time, energy, and sleep for the sake of ‘Her Tragedy’. We would like to pay the cast and crew $50/day to at least partially compensate them for their time, talent, and dedication to the project.
Composition
Music can make or break a film and changes the way an audience interacts with a film entirely. We have been in contact with a local Minneapolis band who have expressed interest in composing the score for ‘Her Tragedy’. We would like to show our appreciation and be able to compensate them allowing us access to their time and talent.
Art
Adrien, one of the main characters in the film, is an painter. We would like to hire a freelance artist to provide the sketches and paintings for the film.
What Can We Offer You?
If you choose to fund the project, we have a lot of great goodies at every level of funding. From a public shout-out on twitter and facebook, to a personalized on-set tour, to a special edition DVD, to Executive Producer credit on the film, we have a lot of great swag that goes along with making ‘Her Tragedy’ the best product we can. That includes great relationships with our backers. Please take a look at all our our different contribution levels and incentives!
Why Fund this Indie Film?
Chances are that you know, work with, or are related to someone working on this project. If you are: thank you for stopping by our IndieGogo page. We hope you support the passion and work we are doing on this film. If you don't know us, welcome. We hope you like what we're doing.
The script of 'Her Tragedy' tackles some very serious psychological themes. Part of this comes from being a drama, and part of this stems from our desire to explore a story with characters who struggle with the same existential crises that everyone does. At times this can be a painful, dark experience.
We want to examine sexuality and gender roles as a fluid organic thing. We want to touch on the devastating experiences that go with domestic abuse and assault. We also want to explore the dynamics between familial relationships, friendships, and romantic or sexual relationships.
One of our primary goals in this film is to explore these existential themes and motifs without glamorizing or sexualizing the inherent violence that these character in vulnerable situations are experiencing. We want to approach these controversial themes with respect, sensitivity, and accuracy.
We have spent a lot of time researching and examining this material with psychological professionals to help ensure that we have captured the most accurate portrayal possible.
We think these themes, while difficult subject matter to approach, are social issues that don't receive much attention even though they affect the lives of lots of people. We want to raise awareness and talk about these difficult issues through our film, 'Her Tragedy'.
Thank you for your time and consideration.
