Short Summary

CASTING KILL is a gripping and unsettling feature film written by James Smith and produced by Raya Films, about a casting director who exploits his position of power to turn his twisted fantasies into reality.

“This concept sounds insane!”
“The premise is fantastic...”
“This sounds sooooo good!”

Back the project, take the ride!

This is the notice that hundreds of actors, hungry for success, applied to. Only a handful were selected to audition. The lucky ones? Maybe not...

Sitting in front of casting director, Arthur Capstone, little do many of these men and women realize that they are about to become victims of fraud. They will lose their identities, their money, their dignity… a few chosen ones will pay an ultimate, horrific price for pursuing their dreams…

CASTING KILL is a bone-chilling look at how ambition can be exploited by predators. Actors are a vulnerable group of people who have been exploited since the dawn of the moving picture. This film raises awareness of such danger and is a lesson to never, ever drop your guard. We think Weinstein was bad… meet Arthur Capstone…
 

Why support this project?

To date, we have produced four feature films on zero or ultra-low budgets, utilizing consumer cameras such as Canon DSLRs and even Smartphones.

We learned lessons in film-making and distribution that are priceless - you could say working through those productions was our film school, yet we learned so much more on a real film set than we ever could at school. We’re proud of what we’ve achieved, and we are now ready to move to the next level with pro cameras and a studio location to produce a high-end feature film in a popular and commercial genre.

Help us rise to the challenge and be part of a production that is reaching for the stars!
 

Who are we?

We are James Smith and Caroline Spence - a writer/director and screenwriter/producer partnership who work under the banner of Raya Films.

Our award-winning debut feature film Do Something, Jake is now on general release following a successful theatrical and festival run. 

Our follow-up movie, Agent Kelly, is an experimental feature shot in Andalucía, Spain and will enjoy its World Premiere at the 2021 Southend Film Festival. Cyberlante, is a cybercrime thriller shot on a Smartphone and is now available online through a number of digital channels. Surveilled - a creepy mystery thriller - is currently in post-production and  due for its World Premiere at the renowned Horror-on-Sea Film Festival in May 2021. Check out the trailer here:

Many of our skills reside in-house, so we are able to produce a slick, well-crafted feature film on a small budget, but we can’t do this alone and we wouldn’t want to! Filmmaking is all about teamwork and we want to offer paid work to the professionals who will become part of the Casting Kill team.

While this film will be made from our own blood, sweat, and tears, we will still need money to pay for a whole bunch of stuff, including:

• Actor and crew fees and expenses
• Our primary studio location
• Equipment hire, costumes, props & items to facilitate set design
• Healthy & ethical on-set catering
• Indiegogo / banking fees, plus production and delivery of rewards

We believe we have something truly special with Casting Kill - a chilling horror that actors will shiver at, horror fans will embrace, and film fans will relish. 
 

Through past crowdfunding campaigns we have been able to identify the most popular perks that benefit both the project and you - our valued supporters. So we have designed perks that are simple to understand, quick to receive and affordable.

So simply head to the right hand side of this page, choose a reward, click it and you’re nearly there!
 

Risks & Challenges

Through our experience making micro/zero-budget movies, we have figured out how best to minimize risk with the following:

• Own the camera gear
• Work with crew we can rely on 100%
• Use tried and tested methods of organization, planning, and the insistence on being totally prepared for production

Covid-19

You can rest assured that Casting Kill will be totally Covid Compliant. We will be hiring one location - a studio with plenty of rooms, and kitchen and toilet facilities. Our crew will be minimal, as will the cast and we will be providing requisite sanitary products such as hand gel, soap, and masks. The studio and facilities will be thoroughly cleaned daily and there will be no physical contact between actors, or sharing of equipment between crew.

James and lead crew members will have taken the ‘Coronavirus basic awareness on production training’ assessment recommended and provided by ScreenSkills UK.
 

Environmental impact

What’s more, this production will have a minimal carbon footprint and be practicing sustainability and environmental awareness. This will be borne out with the following:

• One location
• Local crew where possible
• Cruelty free make-up
• Recycled materials and props
• Paper-free where possible
• Plastic-free where possible
• Vegetarian/Vegan/Pescatarian/palm oil free/environmentally sustainable catering

We are confident we can pull this off. You will love what we're striving to achieve and you will be proud to be involved!

Thank you for your time and for backing indie film entrepreneurs.

Let’s get pledging!

Thank You!

Caroline & James
 

Other Ways You Can Help

We hope we’ve convinced you that this is a project worth supporting. If you don’t feel able to pledge but you’d still like to help us, make some noise!

• Talk about this project to friends, family, colleagues
• Use social media and IndieGoGo’s share tools to help spread the word
• Buy some cool merchandise from the Casting Kill online store! Tee shirts, mugs, caps & hoodies are available HERE Every penny will go towards production & if you post pics on social media modelling your purchases, we'll promote you all across our platforms as a big THANK YOU!
• Do you personally know any businesses that might be able to act as sponsors or who want their brand/product placed on screen? Their name and logo will be splashed all over our promotional materials, mentioned in press releases and representatives photographed by our official photographers and the media at screening events
• Are you able to provide in-kind products or services such as food/drink, transport, props or even donating extra perks for this campaign?

Any questions? No problem - email Caroline on caroline@rayafilms.com and she'll get right back to you!
 

Thank you for your time and for supporting independent feature film!