Browncoats: Independence War (A Firefly Fan Film)
The Final Push
Hello, Francis Hamada
here. I am the writer and director of
Browncoats: Independence War, a
fan film
based on the television show
Firefly. This film is set
during the final day of the disastrous battle at Serenity Valley that marked
the end of the Independence Army and their attempt at secession, and introduces
a set of original characters. Our film is a prequel to the events in the
show, though we follow existing canon as well as create new canon of our own.
Thanks to the generosity of backers during our original crowdfunding
campaign in 2013, we have just enough money to finish a bare bones version of
the film.
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So why a second campaign?
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There are
thousands of Firefly fans who missed the first campaign and this is
a chance for them to get their copy of the Browncoats: Independence War
DVD or digital download. We have been getting tons of
emails and comments from folks who never heard of our original
crowdfunding campaign. These fans are sad that they missed their
chance to get a copy of the film. Fan films like ours must be very
careful that they make no money from their project. Being non-profit
shields our project (and all fan films in general) from negative scrutiny
from the studios and their lawyers. We respect their intellectual
property, and thus are only doing this for the fans and not for profit.
As is the case with public broadcasting, you can receive a perk for
donating or pledging to pay the cost of production, but you do not pay
directly for the service or product. Even asking for the exact cost of a
DVD and shipping is still receiving money for a product and starts
stepping on the boundary between fair usage and IP violation. The bottom
line? Once this DVD run is done, that is it. It will never
be put into production again. The only way to see it will
be at a convention or charity screening (like Can’t Stop the Serenity).
There will be no other copies of this film.
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We got some great offers that we can’t refuse! As more people became
aware of this film, and started following its progress on Facebook and the web,
we started getting contacted by talented Hollywood professionals who were
gracious enough to offer their services at a “buddy rate” (i.e. pennies on the
dollar). All of these recent offers came in the form of enhanced and
improved computer generated imagery (CGI) and the creation of an original
score. These offers came from people who have worked on blockbusters and
hit television shows. They’ve reduced their fees to levels so low that
any production would jump at the chance to use them, and they are making these
amazing offers to us because they are fans too! I want to be able to take
them up on their offers, and increase the overall production value of the film.
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What about the original Backers?
We will honor and highlight all of the original
backers as being the first. They made the film possible. You will
be giving it higher production value and will make it a lot more accessible, to
yourself and other fans.
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What We Need & What You Get
We are asking for $5,500. This pays for
studio recording time with amazing musicians and a series of effects shots from
industry professionals, all of whom have worked on major films and TV shows.
Browncoats: Independence War is going to be completed regardless,
but I’m offered the option of using decent After Effects style effects made by
us, or getting major motion picture-level shots. My other decision: to score
the film with friends using personal music equipment, or perhaps using an
actual orchestra playing beautiful original music written for the film.
These are the decisions that we are presented with! We know what we
would choose--and what you would like to see and hear--if we had the funds!
We are keeping the funding flexible. The
film is almost done. This is the final push over the finish line and we need
additional funds to do it. How much incredible enhancement we get is up to
people like you. Any amount of funding above and beyond the cost of
sending out perks for new backers will be funneled directly into either one of
those post-production costs, and we will hire them to do as much work for the
film as your dollars will pay for. If we reach our goal, we can get many
of the upgraded special effects shots done; if we fall short, we get only a
few. Every little bit helps.
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What is the plan and timeline for
release?
We will screen the first version of this film
this year in San Diego during Comic Con. That is our hard deadline to
deliver a film. After San Diego Comic Con 2014, we will be doing the
absolute final touches on things like conforming to broadcast standards, a
final pass by sound engineers, a final color correction pass, and digital
encoding. Once that is finished, we will launch the digital downloads for our
backers who pledged at the DVD and digital download level. Following
that, we will finish the DVD extras and features, master the DVDs, and mail
those and all the other perks that we promised our backers.
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What are the perks?
A full list of the perks for this campaign is
below. A major goal of this campaign is to get digital downloads and DVDs
to all the fans who missed out the first time. Some of the original
pledges (during our crowdfunding campaign a year ago) went up to $2500 (and yes
we did have contributions that high), but those perks allowed donors things
like a chance to appear in the film, something which doesn’t apply now because
the film has been shot.
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What are the risks?
One advantage of this campaign is that your
risk is minimal. You’re helping with the last leg of the journey.
The heavy lifting has been done and this is just the final push to the
finish line. Backers of other films always risk that the project will
collapse somehow and never get done. That won't happen here because the
project is near completion. But this campaign is going to fund some truly
special post production work that will massively increase the production values
of the film. If we fall short, the film will still be done. As I
said, the first draft version will be screened at a venue just a short distance
from the main Convention hall of San Diego Comic Con 2014 (on July 24th of this year!), so you don’t have
long to wait, unlike the original backers who were patient and supported us all
this time. Join them. Be one of the backers who helped us bring
this fan film to Firefly fans everywhere!
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Do you know what you’re doing?
Well, that is up to you to decide! Check
out our teaser trailers and snippets of video that we’ve shared on our Facebook
fan page. Hopefully this will prove to you that we are capable of this
undertaking!
Do you ship internationally?
Why, yes. Yes we do!
We had so many requests at one time from
friends overseas that we decided, even though it takes more effort (we don’t
have a shipping department that routinely ships packages all over the world),
we will make sure our fans all over the globe get their perks!
International fans will have to do the
following:
For international fans who want to pledge at or
above the $50 level (which is the lowest tier of physical--as opposed to
digital--perks), we require the following:
- For Canada and
Mexico, please add an additional $5.00 USD to your pledge.
- For Backers who
reside in the U.K. and Australia, please add an additional $10.00 for your
physical perks.
- For any other
country, please email us and we will have to quote you the exact amount
but we will get it to you!
If you forget to add add international shipping
fees, or if you move to a location outside of the U.S. in the interim, it’s not
the end of the world. Though we prefer the shipping fee be added to your
pledge, you can PayPal it to us later when your package is ready to ship!
Please realize that this is an agreement and we cannot ship unless the
additional mailing funds are received.
Please see international shipping
notation below:
Note: We must fill out USPS CUSTOM
FORM: PS Form 2976, Customs - CN 22 - Sender's Declaration for every
international backer. We will make sure we have all of your information
prior to shipping to ensure that we ship to you without any problems or delays
as imposed by various governments.
You are responsible for any duties (duty fees)
your country imposes on our shipment of your perk. By pledging and
expecting a shipment of your perk, you assume responsibility for reimbursing us
for that cost (and only that cost, nothing more). Sorry, even if it seems
small, it really adds up when you’re talking about dozens or even hundreds of
shipments and we’re a non-profit fan film rather than a business that can
absorb those costs.
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Help spread the word!
Remember that this is a fan film! The
more people who take part, the more awesome this will be! Make sure your Firefly
friends know about this! I hope that you will want this film to be a
part of your Firefly/Serenity DVD collection. Help us spread
the word. This is the final push to the victory line! Get there with
us!
