We made our target because the last £250 was pledged in the 11th hour by an Eton Manor Old Boy. Terry Bell knew Harry Mallin and Arthur Villiers, the two real life heroes of The Wilderness.
HOW FITTING!
Since those under the wire pledges, we continue and receive money. To date we have raised over £9600.
KEEP READING TO FIND OUT WHY THESE LOVELY PEOPLE HAVE SUPPORTED US IN THIS GENEROUS & AMAZING WAY...AND HOW YOU STILL CAN JOIN THE WILDERNESS FAMILY! IT'S NOT TOO LATE
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There's an Olympic Story with a Love Story and a War Story based on a True Story that I want to tell on film. The Script has been written. The Storyboards drawn, the Budget created...however...
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ALEXANDRA BOYD
HELLO,
I'm the writer/director of THE WILDERNESS. As a woman in the man's world of filmmaking and boxing, I've had an interesting and exciting time getting this feature film off the ground. There are many steps on that journey to the red carpet...
This Indiegogo campaign is the latest pitstop on a road I have been traveling for the last two and a half years and I'm inviting you along for the ride. After my many years as an actress in film, TV and theatre, I have been inspired by actors-turned-directors like Ben Affleck, George Clooney and Joseph Gordon-Levitt. It’s my hope that with The Wilderness, I’ll be able to add my name to this list!
It all began with a short film I directed, You Don't Have to Fight to Win.
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To watch it, click the Boxer or HERE
This little film is a brief outline of what happened at the 1924 Olympics. Champion boxer, Harry Mallin and his patron, Arthur Villiers, talk about the sporting legacy that started in the East End 100 years before the London Olympics were staged there.
Making the short film opened my eyes to the world of film directing from an experienced actor’s POV and really helped develop the aesthetic I want for my feature and inspired my SCREENPLAY. So after months of interviewing champion boxers and Olympians, research in archives, talking to WW1 historians and visiting the locations where we will shoot, the story has expanded to a 120 page script.
LOG LINE: In the early part of the last century an Old Etonian started a boys' club in Hackney Wick. The wild scrubland where they played sport was known as THE WILDERNESS. One lad is saved from a life of poverty and crime when he learns to box but returns from The Great War with debilitating shell shock. His dream of being an Olympic champion is destroyed until he learns that you don't have to fight to win...
THE WILDERNESS has been compared to films like Atonement, Billy Elliot & The King’s Speech… and for your further reading pleasure, here's what some high ranking people in the film industry have said about the screenplay:
"Great characters, emotion, story..." Matt Flanders. Head of Development. Plan B
"I liked this script a lot. It has that bittersweet, sentimental feel of that particular genre of war films (comparable to something like War Horse) which in its melodramatic scope probably has a lot of commercial potential."
"Combine the war-torn romance and the inspirational sports story and you’ve definitely got a film which has wide appeal to audiences across the board."
"Overall it neatly reconciles great triumph and great loss in the style of a classical Hollywood piece." Hollywood Reader Coverage
Nice feedback, huh? So that's sorted. I have a dramatic, inspirational, moving, bittersweet and potentially commercial motion picture on my hands!
But now I need your help...
For the last year or so I have been meeting the players in the industry who will collaborate in the making of this film. Top cinematographers, art department, costume, makeup, executive producers and film financiers.
I've been to Film Festivals...
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The Berlinale in February. It was chilly.
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Cannes in May. It was rainy.
The purpose of these events, glamourous as they are, is to pitch your project. I've spoken to executive producers, film financiers and sales agents. These people are the nuts and bolts of the industry and understand the high risks involved in making and selling a film.
One of the obstacles I need to overcome is to convince the Big Money Guys I have the chops to direct a movie like this. Turns out all those years I was working as an actress in Hollywood watching from my front row seat and learning from some of best filmmakers in the world... I was standing on the wrong side of the camera!
I'm confident I can direct the film. I just need to show the guys with the cheque books...
SO: My own Hero's Journey continues with this next film which I can make for very little money using the Angels and Allies I have met, a Little Help From My Movie Friends and a Little Cash From YOU!
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BOXER ON THE WILDERNESS
My aim is to demonstrate the strength, beauty and emotion of boxing on film. I'm going for drama and spectacle. I want to get inside the head of a boxer as he trains alone on The Wilderness and then faces his opponent in the boxing ring. To make the audience feel every punch and body blow and the raw emotion he feels when he wins... or loses....
I hired top Hollywood stunt man DEREK LEA (Titanic, James Bond, The Bourne Ultimatum) to train my boxers and choreograph the fights. I will shot on the RED EPIC for the super slow motion sequences. This amazing instrument captures the super slow motion dramatic action replays like those you have seen on live sporting events and cool beer commercials.
WHAT'S IN IT FOR YOU?
I want as much of your money as possible to end up on the screen.
I believe people become part of a crowdfunding project not because they want another T-shirt or a signed DVD but because they believe in supporting creative people and want to be involved and, in part, responsible for the darn thing getting made. On the last campaign I ran, I learnt that fullfilling too many perks can add up in real costs. For that reason, I've kept the rewards to a minimum.
I don't want to discriminate between those that can pledge a lot and those that can only give £20. Every person who gives something is showing their faith in me as a filmmaker and that is worth so much to me. For those reasons, unless you want a Producer's credit, I've made the perks all the same.
SO: Everyone who pledges will get a SPECIAL THANKS in the credits of the short film and an invitation to a PRIVATE SCREENING in Central London. This will probably be at BAFTA, the lovely Piccadilly home of the British Academy of Film and Television Arts.
One pledge = One credit and one ticket. If you want to bring a partner or friend, they need to make a separate pledge.
This evening will be very special and fun. You will get to meet and mingle with the CAST & CREW of the film and some of the other players involved in getting the feature film made and I will get to thank you in person.
If you don't live in London - or the UK - I'm working on creating a LIVE webcast of the evening with a live stream of the film from the Princess Ann Theatre for all of those of you who can't make it.
And.... When I direct THE WILDERNESS I intend to name and thank EVERYONE who pledged for the short film.
That means YOUR NAME will roll up in the credits with all the famous actors and crew in every cinema in the world.
