The Plot
Annabelle Johnson's peaceful day at the library is ruined when a man walks in with a gun. Now suffering from PTSD and unable to function in the real world, Annabelle signs up for a new age virtual reality experiment meant to "cure" anxiety. However, the simulation isn't what Annabelle expected, and she quickly finds herself trapped inside of it with no way out. With only Caden (another participant) to help her, will Annabelle manage to find a way to exit the experiment? Or will her anxiety get the better of her, keeping her trapped there forever?
The Who
We are a group of indie filmmakers from Boston and eastern North Carolina. Melissa Bennett, our director, has been working in leadership roles since her high school days and has been teaching filmmaking since 2011. Both our producer, Alison Rose, and our director of photography, Andrew Fewsmith, have won awards for their productions in the past. And our production designer, Lizzie Lovett, has done both costume and set design work for numerous theatre productions in the Wilmington area for the past three years.
The When & Where
Principal photography for "Butterflies" will take place in March down in Eastern North Carolina.
The Why
"Butterflies" is a film our director, Melissa Bennett, has been developing for over a year after going through a particularly awful series of panic attacks. Born and raised in eastern North Carolina, Melissa left her teaching job to pursue her MFA in Film at Boston University. "Butterflies" is both her thesis film and a journey.
Mental health is a topic that's often talked about but rarely understood. For people dealing with mental health issues such as depression, anxiety, etc., reaching out to people who don't understand can be difficult, as there's no common experience base to pull from.
This project stemmed from our director's own personal struggle with anxiety and depression. In an effort to deal with a particularly bad string of panic attacks and also explain to friends and family what anxiety could be like for a person, she wrote the first draft of "Butterflies". The nightmarish struggle Annabelle goes through during the course of the film can be likened to what someone might feel during a panic attack.
This film doesn't offer a magical answer to dealing with a problem like anxiety. That's the irony in Annabelle's search - there IS no magic answer. However, our hope is that this film will open a dialogue between people who suffer from mental health issues and people who don't. These issues are more prevalent than you might think, and they're often hard to talk about. But it's important for us to talk about them, and that's why we care so deeply about this film.
The What
Your contributions will go towards a number of our production costs:
- Paying for use of the locations (40%)
- Housing, feeding, and transporting our cast and crew (25%)
- Special rental equipment - such as big lights, generator, etc. (20%)
- Production design - including costumes and special effects makeup (10%)
- Safety - mats for falls, stunt coordinator for safe stunt work, special gloves for grip/electric crew, etc. (5%)
The How
While we do face a number of challenges in the creation of "Butterflies" - from night shoots to stunt work to limited time at some of the locations - we've assembled an incredibly talented and dedicated crew from both Boston and Eastern NC. All of our crew comes with several productions under their belts, some of which have won awards.
We've also hired a stunt coordinator to rehearse with our leads in order to ensure that all of the stunts are both safe and realistic.
We know that we have our work cut out for us, but with a strong cast and crew behind this production, we're confident we can overcome all obstacles as they arise.
Can't Donate? Here's How You Can Still Help!
It's okay if you can't contribute at this time, but there are still ways you can help us!
First off, please spread the word about our campaign! We need to reach our campaign goal in order to bring our director's vision to life, and we can't do that without support. So please, tell your friends, family, co-workers, and neighbors! If you or someone you know doesn't want to contribute through Indiegogo's online contribution system, please email us at butterfliesthefilm@gmail.com with the subject heading DONATION and someone will be in touch with you about other ways to contribute.
Second, if you live in or around the Wilmington/Eastern NC area, consider being an extra during our shoot on Thursday, March 10 at Jungle Rapids in Wilmington, NC. We are unable to provide transportation to and from the location, but we will be providing lunch for all extras that day. Again, please contact us at butterfliesthefilm@gmail.com with the subject heading EXTRAS if interested in being a part of this.
Thank you so much for your time and interest in "Butterflies"! Please help us spread the word about our campaign!
