We made it through Viva Las Vegas and have wrapped principal photography. Yes we may have a few more small things to grab here and there but we are moving full speed ahead in to Post Production. That means we need your help! 

We have over 100 hours of footage so our editorial team has their work cut out for them! We don't want to lose any momentum and we're ready to spend the next 6 months locking in an edit suit. We are looking to you to help us cover the cost of a talented Editor and Assistant Editor to cull all this amazing footage down to 90 minutes.  Plus we've got more original music coming from our composer!

Check out all of the 2015 Miss Viva Las Vegas Pinups and some HOT rods in our update video, with producer Dano Pizzuti Krogman explaining his artistic approach to the project:

The Iconic Lisa Love - An inspiration to Pinups everywhere - Check out our special Lisa Love merchandise below!

My name is Dane Pizzuti Krogman, but to keep things simple I prefer Dano with a long A.  I’m one of the producers of Bombshells and Dollies, the documentary about contemporary pinups and the 12 finalists of the Viva Las Vegas Pin Up Competition 2015.  My career spans some 30 years as an art director for advertising, film, and television.  I have also written a few screenplays and have spent the past 16 years as an arts educator at the college level. Besides having had a life-long involvement in art I have also had a life-long passion for fast cars and the women who enjoy the company of the same.  I’ve built half dozen hot rods of my own and have worked on and off as a crew member of a nationally recognized race team. 

Hi, I’m Dan Halperin. I’ve been an independent film and TV producer for over 20 years. I live in Los Angeles, yet a proud native of Chicago. My SHOWTIME series PICTURE WINDOWS won an EMMY. One episode was selected to premiere at the CANNES FILM FESTIVAL. I wrote and directed the series pilot, which won numerous awards at festivals both here and abroad. I’ve also produced, written and directed on the PBS Documentary Series PHENOMENON, directed music videos and commercials, and produced a couple of feature films including ROAD KINGS released by LIONSGATE. I’m also a member of the International Documentary Association, The Television Academy and The Producers Guild of America where I serve on a number of committees, including the PGA's Power of Diversity Workshop.

Why Pin Ups?

Some projects are surely great stories and have artistic merit, but when you have the added component of doing something positive for the world and man (and woman) kind, I get a particular charge. BOMBSHELLS AND DOLLIES not only stars lovely ladies and has the backdrop of the MISS VIVA LAS VEGAS PINUP CONTEST. But the MISS VIVA CONTEST is no ordinary Pin Up contest, this one celebrates the twelve selected contestants, who hail from all over the world (Brazil, South Africa, New Zealand, Australia, Canada to name a few…) as much for their beauty on the inside as on the outside. All of the contestants are engaged in philanthropic and social work, helping their communities live better lives.

We believe that the culture and the expression of the Pin Up are little known, or is largely misunderstood by the general public. We’ve learned that clothes, cars and all kinds of products constructed in the 40’s &50’s were most often made by hand or in quality factories right here in America. These ladies have taught us about an attention to quality and detail that is unfamiliar to today’s consumer.  As filmmakers, storytellers and historians, we think it’s important to reintroduce these values to our audience and celebrate them in a vibrant colorful way!

These women also exude a timeless beauty that artists have tried to capture for ages.  In this film we are striving to capture what is known in art history as “The S Curve”, or as the Greeks and Romans’ called it, contrapostto.  It’s that beautiful serpentine curve that we find in classic human poses in painting and sculpture.  It’s that line that shifts the center of gravity off kilter just enough to give us a sense of liveliness and activity within a static image that excites the attention of the viewer.  The S-Curve is that line of beauty in painting, drawing, sculpture, design, and nature.  It is not the simple geometric , angular or repetitive shapes. It’s that line that gracefully modulates from one gradient to another.  It’s the line that hot rodders and custom car builders intuitively, naively, and sometimes consciously use to alter, let’s say, a 49’ Mercury, a 32’ Ford, or a 59’ Chevy into an object of erotic beauty. This S-Curve, this one simple line is also the same tool the pinup model uses to set herself off as a living work of art.  Whether it be that hot looking car or that hot looking pinup our eyes are drawn to the image, and we will linger on that sight and we will be enticed and teased into admiration and possibly love. 

There are untold numbers of films that feature automobiles of another era and those who drive them, build them and love them.  Maybe it’s too daring to say the same about women, it’s politically or socially unacceptable to feature women as an object of erotic beauty, or is it?  When these women pose, when they take a stance thoughtfully and artistically, they find themselves.  They find their inner beauty, their true beauty and it is heroic and we can’t stop looking.  These pinups are as edgy as the custom cars we love.  They have all the right curves, all the right colors, paint or makeup, and without moving they look like they are going places, and going there fast and with purposeful intent.

We’ve been following the Miss Viva Contest for the past three years. Getting the story and building our relationships. This year our Executive Producer came onboard with seed money to start recording the application and voting, and  selection of the twelve finalists.  We’ve been shooting and collecting photos, stories and video from all of the contestants and members of the pinup community . We now need funding to carry us through our 4 day shoot as all of the contestants arrive in Las Vegas, meet each other, are interviewed, and interact with the massive crowd that will select the final winner…all culminating in the grand finale crowning of MISS VIVA LAS VEGAS 2015. 

We have been hard at work researching and sourcing  historical film and stock footage from the 40’s & the 50’s to help put the whole film in context – the WWII effort, the birth of the Rosie the Riveter story, how American women took on the war effort at home, replacing their men in their positions in factories, building ships, airplanes and tanks, as well as everything else. We will also be acquiring music from the day, hit tunes that used to spin as 45’s on turntables from coast to coast as well as some new original songs from current artists in the Rockabilly scene.

What You Get

What Your Contribution Will Do

We are almost there! Your contributions will cover much of the continuing production costs post VLV, including post contest interviews, licensing archival footage, an editorial team, composer, music licensing, sound mixing and prep for distribution. We believe that with the help you provide through this campaign will greatly impact the quality of the final film. The better the film, the more people will see it, enjoy it, and learn about this unique part of American history and culture. And I remind you, all with beautiful women as your tour guides!