What's this film about?

20 MATCHES will be a 5 minute short, entirely lit by matches. An actress faces the camera, lights twenty matches, one at a time, and recounts the story of a Viennese serial killer who kidnapped and murdered twenty Eastern European women over the course of twenty years. There's no on-screen violence. This is pure storytelling. The film will have a nice, dark, unsettling vibe.

I plan to shoot 20 MATCHES in May or June, and finish it by August 2015.

Tell me more about these perks. Matchbox figures? What?

You should back this campaign not only because 20 MATCHES will be a good movie, but also because you get your own personalized clay figurine. Each figure is 1¾" to 1⅞" tall (4 to 4.5 cm). I sculpt them with my own fingers.

(Early figures of me and my wife – this mockup is to show you how the figures will look in their velvet-lined matchbox "beds")

Tell me who you want your figure to be – real or fictional, human or not, alive or dead – and I will sculpt it for you in colored polymer clay. I'll make it as accurate as I can, harden it in my oven, pack it in its own velvet-lined matchbox, and mail it to you.

I'm making T-shirts too. Here's the design, consisting of my own b&w photos of 20 variously burnt matches:

The film's title is not on the shirt, so you won't look like you're advertising something. You'll just look smokin' hot. Shirts come in one color: black. You select the size.

Stretch Goal 1: $1,500 = NICER PERKS!

$1,500 will not only help me make a higher-quality film, but also make higher-quality perks for YOU:

• The highest quality T-shirts (most likely organic American Apparel)
• Leather-bound matchboxes for your matchbox figures. (Vegetarians can still opt for the cardboard box.)

Stretch Goal 2: $3,000 = L.A. SCREENING AND RECEPTION!

ALL backers will be invited to a free screening of 20 MATCHES – and the five other short films I've made over the last decade. This screening will take place in a Los Angeles theater, sometime in the second half of 2015. The hour-long program will be followed by a reception.

Basically it's a party. It's also probably the only chance you will get to see my short films with an audience, which is how they should be seen. (Can't wait? You can watch them now on my YouTube channel.)

All backers at $100 and up get VIP seating for two!

Hooray! This stretch goal has been met!

Stretch Goal 3: $5,000 = CASTING, FESTIVALS, BAY AREA SCREENING!

Additional funds are needed to cast this film professionally: renting an office for auditions, hiring a casting director, and paying for workers comp insurance, which is mandatory for a SAG-AFTRA production.

Casting a well-known actress will greatly increase 20 MATCHES' chances of being seen. And so will film festivals. Their entry fees add up quickly, so this money will help me apply to as many festivals as I can.

Finally, as I grew up in Cupertino, if this campaign hits $5,000 it will pay for a free Bay Area screening of all my short films! All my backers are invited, and those who come in at $100 and up get VIP seating for two!

Final Stretch Goal: $6,500 = SCREENING OR TALK IN YOUR(?) CITY!

Even now, every dollar you give still gets put to good use. (More festival submission fees, more audition space, renting nicer camera/lenses, etc.)

But if I meet this last goal, I will also travel to the city with the most individual backers (not the most money raised) and give a live presentation. When this campaign ends, those backers will vote for a screening of my short films, a screening and Q&A of one of my features, a talk on screenwriting, or a talk on crowdfunding. I will be your trained flea!

I'll cover my transportation and lodging, and do my best to cover venue costs as well. (Depends on audience size; the event could be held anywhere, even a school or a private home.) This goes for any U.S. city outside of Los Angeles and the Bay Area. Any contribution from within 50 miles of each city counts. The event will happen in autumn 2015.

Hooray! This stretch goal has been met! Currently, Seattle is in the lead, with Portland close behind. But you can still change everything  and make me come to your town, if you contact enough local friends and get them to contribute! 

Who are you, Mr. Mark Tapio Kines?

I'm the first person to ever crowdfund a film. I did this in 1998 for my debut feature Foreign Correspondents, which starred Melanie Lynskey, Wil Wheaton, and Corin Nemec, among others. I raised $150,000 that year and finished the film in 1999.

I made a second feature, a thriller called Claustrophobia, in 2003. It starred Ms. Lynskey, Mary Lynn Rajskub, and Sheeri Rappaport. Lionsgate distributed the film as – sigh – "Serial Slayer" in 2004.

I've also made several short films, including The Closest Thing to Time Travel, which won first prize in a Getty Images competition in 2006. More recently, I authored a screenwriting course on Lynda.com and do freelance writing for Fandango.com.

Can you break down the 20 MATCHES budget?

Sure can. Since this is a "flexible funding" campaign, 20 MATCHES will have a "flexible budget". If I only raise $20, the film will still get made. But the more I raise, the better the quality of the film. Here's where your money's going:

• Hiring a production sound mixer, with gear.
• Renting an HD camera that excels at low-light scenarios, such as a Sony a7S.
• Hiring a cinematographer who can work that camera better than I can.
• Hiring a professional actress, instead of limiting my casting options to non-union talent who will work for free.
• Renting a small soundstage, instead of shooting in my house with the lights off.
• Feeding cast and crew.
• Paying a composer (if I use music).
• Creating and shipping all your perks!
• Finally, about 10% of what I raise will be kept by Indiegogo and PayPal for their commissions.

Risks & Challenges

Risks are minimal. This movie should be easy to shoot. I've already directed two features and a bunch of shorts, and they all turned out OK, so there's no reason 20 MATCHES won't get made. Unless I'm dead or in jail. And if I'm in jail, I'll break out.

Thank you,

Mark Tapio Kines