With 4 days left in the campaign, THE ANONYMOUS ANGEL IS AT IT AGAIN...with a twist!  If we are able to raise $5,625 by 9 pm Pacific Time (11 pm Wpg time, Midnight TO time) on Sunday, January 26th, that amount will be MATCHED, raising our total to the goal of $25,000. Please see this morning's update for details!

And, we have a new video:

What is the goal of this project?

We want to make a feature length comedy thriller starring the inimitable Doreen Brownstone.

Who is this Doreen Brownstone?

At 91, Doreen Brownstone is a mainstay of the Winnipeg theatre and film scene. She started acting in the RAF during WWII, moved to Winnipeg as a war bride, and in 1958 starred opposite Gordon Pinsent in the very first production at the very first regional theatre in North America (Hatful of Rain at Manitoba Theatre Centre, directed by John Hirsch)

Much more recently she has brightened such films as Silent Night (2012), High Life (2009), and an episode of Todd and the Book of Pure Evil (2011), and continued to delight theatre audiences in shows such as: Fiddler on the Roof, Over the Tavern (RMTC) and Over the River and Through the Woods (Winnipeg’s RMTC, Montreal’s Segal Theatre and Thunder Bay’s Magnus Theatre).

If you’d like to learn more about Doreen’s history, stay tuned for SWAK Productions’ documentary Doreen Brownstone: Still Working After 90 coming to MTS Stories from Home in 2014.

If you’d like to help make a feature film starring this 91 year old dynamo, read on!

About the Film

Legendary B-movie star “Doreen Brownstone” investigates the mysterious goings on in her apartment building while trying to revitalize her fading career.

Equal parts Curb Your Enthusiasm-style “reality” zaniness, and an affectionate homage to B genre movies of the past and present, the script—which incorporates scenes from past “Doreen Brownstone” movies within our movie—will showcase Brownstone’s ability to act in a variety of movie roles and styles, and exploit screenwriter Angus Kohm’s love of, and genius for parodying, B-movie genres

Why is this project important?

That four out of the six lead characters are female could be said to make this project important (it’s also just consistent with Kohm’s long history of writing smart and funny roles for women); what makes it really important to us is Doreen Brownstone.

Like Betty White and Christopher Lee, Doreen is doing some of her best work at an age when many actors are long retired. However, unlike White and Lee, Brownstone’s greatest performances have been on stage, and therefore are unavailable for fans to enjoy over again, and new fans to discover.

We want to immortalize Doreen Brownstone in a starring role on film while we still can.

Who is this "We”?

SWAK Productions is the film and video production company of Stefanie Wiens (SW) and Angus Kohm (AK). As individuals, Stefanie and Angus have produced an eclectic range of theatre and video projects—from Angus Kohm’s satirical genre musicals, Bad Girls Jailhouse (“Hilarious! 4 stars” Winnipeg Sun)and Sorority Girls Slumber Party Massacre: The Musical (“This is the show you don’t want to miss. It’s fast, funny and macabre…”—the Montreal Gazette; “a raucous, cutting-edge satirical attack on slasher movies” –Winnipeg Free Press) to industrial health care videos. In a variety of arenas we have demonstrated our ability to create successful, effective projects on a really low budget. As SWAK we have produced a no-budget (non-union) feature Vendetta’s Big Slaughter (in post production), and various private and industrial projects. Our most recent SWAK project is the Doreen Brownstone Documentary, which will be on MTS Digital’s Stories From Home in 2014.

The Nitty Gritty

Because Doreen is an ACTRA member, we plan to shoot under the ACTRA Indie Production (AIP) agreement. This special agreement was created by ACTRA and the Canadian Media Production Association (CMPA) to allow low budget producers to create projects with professional actors (such as Doreen) with special reduced fees. The film will be shot in and around Winnipeg, and the cast will be made up entirely of Manitoba ACTRA members; colleagues and friends whom Doreen has (and/or we have), worked with over the years and is (are) eager to work with again. To use the AIP all performers must be ACTRA members, and the producer must belong to CMPA. We joined CMPA in 2012 as 6506179 Manitoba Inc. (an incorporated business we created for the express purposes of making this movie; incorporation is not only a requirement of membership in the CMPA, but also a prerequisite for applying for MB tax credits)

Where will my $ go?

$25,000 will cover the absolute essentials needed for the pre-production and production phases of the film: ACTRA performers’ fees, hard costs (insurance, basic equipment, feeding actors and crew on set) and basic honoraria for production and crew. This charming pie chart shows the breakdown of how this $25,000 will be spent:

Though our overall budget is significantly higher, $25,000 will allow us to prepare and go into production in late spring/early summer of 2014.  If we reach our $25,000 goal, we have stretch goals we will be happy to announce!

Check out our perks on the right of this page.  Hopefully there is something there to fit your budget and interests

How else can I help?

We know there may be many people out there who would like the idea of this project but don’t have money to contribute: if this is you, we appreciate you helping out by simply spreading the word to anyone you think might be interested.

Also, to keep costs down, there are many tangibles and intangibles we will be seeking to secure through partnerships, in-kind donations and other routes. If you have a non-monetary way that you would like to contribute to the film, or want to know more about this, please get in touch with us.

We want to seize our opportunity to immortalize Doreen on film, and to work with this gem of a performer while we still can.

Thanks for reading all the way down to the end: we appreciate your interest and support! Check back: we’ll update the page as the campaign progresses.

Featured Campaign photo courtesy of Leif Norman, © Leif Norman