WHY THE BEATITUDES?
Movies are one of the most powerful ways to enter into the intimate spaces of broken human relationships — where God most wants to reveal his love. Modern religious filmmakers often safely cater to an audience by telling stories that preach truth but are void of beauty. But stories that challenge us, mirroring our broken experiences through the lens of hope, are the films we want to make.
The 8 Beatitudes are a roadmap to navigate the difficulties of life with hope. We’re producing 8 short films that narrate these timeless truths to man’s modern heart.
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WHO ARE WE?
We’re a large online community of filmmakers and artists from across North America, passionate about recapturing the imagination of the Gospel through film. The 8beats film marks a new chapter in how our generation of Christian artists will collaborate to address modern issues.
8beats Team Video Views - 148,322,112
Likeable Art, Ecce! Films, Spirit Juice Studios — these are just a few of the businesses and projects our collective team has produced.
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HOW ARE WE MAKING THIS HAPPEN?
Through a collaboration of artists from diverse backgrounds, working at the highest levels of technical excellence in our industries, we will create eight short films inspired by the Beatitudes that will reach a contemporary audience. Instead of delivering a moralizing message, we will instead portray relevant characters and narratives that impact the heart.
The final work will be released as an anthology feature film available through digital download and Blu-ray. It will include a behind-the-scenes documentary on the making of the film, as well as a booklet featuring poster art by the artists.
The film will be released in late 2018, and will be submitted to film festivals to reach a wider audience.
JOIN THE MOVEMENT
We are gathering around one powerful idea — that we are weaving the universal into the personal, the ancient teachings of the Beatitudes into today. There, humanity finds accessible answers to age-old questions.
We want you to join the movement with us, to be a part of the national collaboration of this ground-breaking film project. We want to make films that will shape culture, and we need you to be a part of our team.
Whether you donate $1 or $1,000 (or more), you’re shaping culture by making this happen
Follow us on our 8beats social media channels:
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OUR TIMELINE
PRE-PRODUCTION
February 2017: The project was born! Team members met for the first time to give this project its initial shape.
April: We commissioned Daniela Madriz to create a logo and icons representing the 8 Beatitudes. We voted on the title of 8beats which references the Beatitudes and other film projects.
May: The teams began writing their film treatments and synopses. We brought on Alan Barros to create the website and strategize our online presence.
June: Our writers submitted their storyboards and scripts to our collaborative group for feedback, which were finalized at a writer’s workshop. We began preparing for this Indiegogo campaign and applying for grants.
July: Inviting artists to design posters and film art, the team began to expand even more. We launched the website and announced the project to the public.
August: In August our project exploded. We opened up official collaboration with the Catholic Creatives Community and an influx of top marketers, designers, and copywriters joined the fray. We launched this Indiegogo campaign and began the process of raising $200,000.
PRODUCTION
Filming will begin in September 2017 and will run until December 2017.
We will send behind-the-scenes updates to our Indiegogo supporters and also keep the general public informed via our website.
POST-PRODUCTION
December 2017 to August 2018
December: A rough cut of each short film will be submitted for peer feedback. Graphic artists will begin working on their poster designs.
January: Submission of behind-the-scenes “making of” documentary.
February: Picture lock of the anthology will be completed and submitted. Scoring and audio mixing will begin. Graphic poster designs will be due. We will start printing and creating booklets. Pre-orders for the Blu-ray will begin.
Early Summer: Final cut will be uploaded and the anthology will be completed and submitted. We will confirm theatrical event screenings and order Blu-ray copies.
Fall: The film will receive a world premiere at the Catholic Creatives Summit in Dallas, Texas.
BUDGET BREAKDOWN
Each of the eight short films would normally cost $50,000 to produce and distribute — if all of the creatives in the project were paid bare minimum market rates. In total this would cost over $400,000. However, because so many of our artists are donating their time for the sake of the mission, we only need $10,000 in hard costs to put each short film into production.
Our total fundraising goal, which includes all marketing and distribution costs, is $200,000. $80,000 of this will go directly to our 8 regional teams for production.
Indiegogo is only one part of our fundraising strategy to raise $200,000, and with our network and community we are optimistic about reaching our goal.
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And this doesn’t even include the hundreds of hours of pre-production, or the hundreds of hours of post-production, sound design, and musical scoring that will also be put into these films.
Profits from soundtrack and poster sales (outside this Indiegogo campaign) will go directly to the musicians and poster artists. The remaining budget funds will go towards our massive marketing and distribution campaign to get these films in front of as many people as possible.
We believe that all our artists should be paid for their time, and would like to raise enough with this project to pay all those who will be spending countless hours making 8beats a reality. For this reason, we will be raising funds throughout the entire production process, and we ask for your generosity as we embark on this journey together.
RISKS AND CHALLENGES
We are a team of over 100 working professionals spread throughout North America. We have differing backgrounds, perspectives, and creative expressions.
Communication alone is a massive challenge. We are bringing together competitors from across the continent to collaborate on a singular mission. We are learning to navigate interpersonal relationships with other creatives and artists we have never met. We are collaborating in four different time zones on a variety of media platforms ranging from Slack to old-fashioned calls.
Finally, the short films themselves are technically and emotionally challenging. Scheduling, safety concerns, weather, actor performances, and many other variables need fall into place in order to capture these powerful stories.
These films will be made of blood, sweat and tears.
PERKS UPDATE - T-shirts
We will confirm sizes by email after the campaign ends. Sizes available will include Men's S-4XL and Women's XS-3XL.
Due to the adjustment of the production schedule, Perks will be shipping out in late summer 2018.
CLOSING REMARKS
"You tell a story because a statement would be inadequate."
- Flannery O'Connor
We could exhaust books with statements about the Beatitudes. But statements are not enough.
These teachings are a challenge that can change lives when lived, and we want to tell those stories.