Short Summary
Hi there. We are Systir Productions, an award-winning production company from London and we're looking for help raising funds for our new webseries, '616'.
This is a project which started off four years ago as a very bad gorefest B movie feature script. Needless to say, we didn't make that film...! But the concept behind it was so strong and so unique - a horror concept that has never been done before!! - we had to put our mark on it, so we made the idea as a short film. It was still a gorefest B movie - using animation for the effects - and the trailer for that is in the gallery.
'616' as a series came about as a result of our first webseries, 'The Syndicate', which debuted online in January 2012 after a two year battle to get it finished. We took it to webseries festivals around the world and it won some awards, including Best International Webseries at the Hollyweb Festival 2012 - which was super exciting! You can take a look at the series here - http://www.systirproductions.com/watch-syndicate
Whilst at the festivals, we got together with some Canadian webseries creators whose series 'Divine' also won many awards - http://www.youtube.com/user/DivineTheSeries - and they told us their plans to create the first webseries studio, Frostbite Pictures. Long story short, many beers and Skype calls later we're now the UK arm of Frostbite and '616' is our first online collaboration.
We've moved the story away from the crazy B movie though and towards a more mainstream fantasy/horror style. But don't worry! The super cool, never been seen before horror concept is still there... and a lot of people will die gruesomely...! ;)
We've shot the first three episodes as a pilot to help gain funding for a whole first series, which means we need to edit and polish it up by the end of this year so that we can submit to festivals next year and Frostbite Canada can pitch it to the television networks in the States, while we pitch it to production companies over here in the UK.
But we can't do it without help!
We have no trust funds, no famous friends or rich relations - just bags of great ideas and the know how to get them onto the screen and we'd really love it if you could help us do that!
The Story
Jenna and her family are the guardians of an ancient quest to rid the world of evil.
6000 years ago, during a great battle against the last of this evil, something went wrong and the creature's energy was scattered across the planet in 616 pieces. The surviving three warriors vowed to give up their mortality and live until these pieces were contained and the creature finally defeated. Descended from one of these warriors, and guided by him, Jenna must continue this quest.
But time is running out. The followers of the creature are also working to retrieve the pieces and when they have enough it will be able to be reborn... plunging the world into armageddon.
'616' takes its inspiration from the fragments Papyrus 115 and the Codex Ephraemi Rescriptus, said to be the oldest extant versions of the Book of Revelations. In these fragments, the number of the beast is noted as 616 rather than the later, and more familiar 666. The number is said to be a reference to the Roman emperor Nero, but what if it wasn't? What if it referred to another, more ancient legend...
In this way, '616' weaves its way through the mythologies and religions of the world culminating in an epic tale of a battle between good and evil, in which the lines are often more than a little blurred...
What We Need & What You Get
Here's what we need. We have a start up fund - which is already pretty much gone... - and we are putting our own money into it of course - can't ask you to do it if we won't! - but we need about the same amount again in order to cover all the core costs involved.
Your pledges will help us hire camera and lighting equipment, pay location fees, feed everyone (very important!!) and pay everyone at least National Minimum Wage. We could do this without paying everyone and it would cost a lot less, but we think it's just rude to ask people who are professional performers and crew to do their job for nothing. Would you work for nothing? Exactly!
In return for your pennies, we have a bunch of cool perks - of course! - and we will also be introducing limited edition surprises along the way, so keep an eye on this page...!
If we go over our target, there will be more cool stuff up for grabs to say thank you for being so awesome and supporting us!
Other Ways You Can Help
The world is in perpetual recession and we know that pennies are scarce. But money isn't everything!
Tell everyone instead!
Social media posts don't cost a thing, so if you can't give us cash, give us a tweet instead, or a status update. You could share us right here on Indiegogo, or pin us perhaps, Instagram a screenshot or post a Vine all about how ace we are(!). Anything and everything you can do to help us spread the word, find our audience and bring more people and pennies to our campaign is absolutely invaluable.
If you love horror, we need you to do whatever you can to help us scare the world - our fate is in your hands... :)
