Rite of Passage is a Steamfunk movie, set in Victorian-Era Nicodemus, Kansas, a town established and inhabited by free Blacks and former slaves. Our story follows the four legendary guardians of Nicodemus – Harriet Tubman, her student Dorothy, the steel driving John Henry and the lawman Bass Reeves – all possessors of extraordinary natural abilities, or ancient artifacts that grant them great – and fearsome – power, which they uses to fight oppression and evil. The guardians are at odds with ruthless businessman, P.T. Barnum, who hires a team of half-human assassins to kill a resident of the small – but very important – town.
This is the second film project science fiction and fantasy publishers, MVmedia has worked on and the fourth project Roaring Lions Productions, as a company, has done. We have also worked as cast and crew on several other major projects for other companies, which means a few things to YOU, the donor:
- WE HAVE DONE THIS BEFORE! We know exactly how much this movie will cost to make, we already have our entire creative team on board, we know how to effectively deal with the stress of on-set emergencies and last-minute tweaks in editing, and we are very good at what we do, so you can rest assured your money is going to a project that will get finished on time, under budget, and at a high quality that far exceeds most independent films.
- WE LOVE WHAT WE DO! Our catalogue of short, instructional and feature films shows that we are not only experienced, but we are also eager to keep making films at all costs. To that end, our production team includes a core group of incredibly talented and professional people who have generously given their time, talents, and energy toward making films that look and sound incredible.
Now, you may be asking a very real and important question:
WHY INDIEGOGO?
Why not just go to a single investor and ask for money? First of all, with Indiegogo, you can be confident that you have given to something that others also support, which is an indication that our reputation is a good one and that we will give you a finished product that reflects the quality of work YOU signed up to create!
Secondly, if we raise more than our goal, we have a lot of other exciting additions to share with our fans and backers, such as pursuits of international distribution deals and more behind-the-scenes elements and other special features on the DVD. The possibilities are endless, and YOU have the power to make it happen.
People say that there aren’t many strong roles for Black heroes in film and roles for women as heroes are nearly non-existent. Rite of Passage gives us several heroes who are African-American and women!
We want YOU to help us make this film a reality. It's not just about donations and cool prizes – and yes, the prizes are very, VERY cool – but about the excitement of being a part of making history; of making a labor of love a reality. It's about connecting us, the creators, with you, the audience.
What do YOU want to see?
Rite of Passage, we hope.
