It all started with one man's experience.

I was recently in a foreign country and experienced homeless like I’ve never seen. A tiny young girl on the street begging for money at 6:30am. The part the broke me immediately was the fact that she was completely naked and covered in filth and grime. Only the streaks from tears showed this poor child's true skin tone.

Here's the scoop.

"Catching Fireflies" is the story of a little girl who attempts to escape the rigors and misfortunes of the ghetto through the power of her mystical imagination while simultaneously protecting the relationship with her addict mother.

On a shoestring budget, we were able to shoot the entire film in 7 days, but as we entered post-production, we unfortunately exhausted what little money we had. With the significant amount of intricate special effects needed to make the protagonist’s fantasy scenes come to life, we need more funding to complete this project in order to realize its full potential.

We still need at least $25K for:

1) VFX-Digital Visual Effects
2) Sound Design- All sounds in a film besides dialogue you hear
3) Editing- Cutting the scenes together to what makes a film
4) Coloring- The Final coloring of the actual film and specific pieces
5) Output- Final outputting sources such as DVD’s Codecs etc.
6) Additional Distribution, etc- Reaching the sources of festivals

I’m so proud of all we have been able to accomplish up to this point, but without securing the additional funds, we won’t be able to complete the project.

Will you please help me breathe life into this film?

This story is written and directed by Lee Whittaker who has worked extensively on both side of the lens, beginning as a top stunt performer on some of Hollywood’s biggest blockbuster films.  As a second unit director and stunt coordinator the last ten years, Whittaker safely and creatively pushes the boundaries of design and innovative cinematography to capture extreme action.
 
The dramatic short film, “Catching Fireflies” is his directorial debut.

Putting the pieces together to create a Miracle starts with the heartbeat.

Composer, Yuichiro Oku, is a multi-award winner and brings incredible depth and heart to the project. He uses multilayers of sonic vibrations to paint a colorful and emotional canvas of melodies.

Creating Movement

Elisabeth Carpenter is a Cirque Choreographer.  She brought us her talented resources, including Erica Lynz who is the lead in the documentary film,”Cirque Du Soleil: Worlds Away,” in theaters now.

Eyes on the Story

Elie Smolkin is our incredible Cinematographer. He really understood how to capture not only my vision but also the beats within the art of cinematography.  We shot the film on a RED EPIC, with use of a Steadi-cam, underwater housing and a new technology using aerial photography.

Imagination brought to life

The Production Designer, Brent Mason, was in charge of the overall look of the movie via set decoration, props etc., collaborating closely with the Costume Designer to ensure a cohesive flow of tone.

Putting a face on things

Todd A. McIntosh is a two time Emmy Award winner and twelve time nominee.  He headed the Makeup department on the hit TV series “Buffy, the Vampire Slayer,” for six seasons where he juggled all his skills at beauty and special make-up. In 2009 he won a second Emmy for his work on the TV series, “Pushing Daisies.”

Mystical creatures for an adolescent imagination

 

Jessica Dru is our professional mermaid, an integral role in the imagination of our lead character, Isabella. She is a PADI Master Scuba Diver and professional underwater model.

The daunting task of long breath holds, cold temperatures and heavy difficult costumes is a lot to mentally put aside to capture the grace and elegance of a magical performance captured through cinematography.

The most important piece? That's You.

I believe that art is one of the most powerful tools to bring awareness to the world. This platform allows artists like myself and those who helped create “Catching Fireflies” be seen and heard with the amazing opportunity “crowdfunding” provides.  Help us reach spread our message of compassion for the homeless and those facing the adversity of daily living in their world. 

In short,

I was inspired to do this film by my experience in India only to return home to Los Angeles and experience the same situation in my own "Backyard."  I hope you are inspired by what you’ve seen so far to help me complete my labor of love, “Catching Fireflies.”  Any donation amount truly can make a difference.

Risks and challenges

When it comes to risks and challenges, every endeavor has them. Film is no different than any other project. "Catching Fireflies" has many challenges. One challenge is that our lead actress is a 9-year old girl who was involved with sensitive material. We had a studio teacher present at all times, abided by laws and union rules, obtained a work permit and workers compensation, and made sure she was okay in situations where we were filming under challenging scenes, physically and emotionally. Another challenge was we shot under water and sought underwater camera operators, certified scuba divers and rescuers, in order to overcome any hurdles in regards to this type of filmmaking.

Our biggest remaining challenge is the completion of the visual effects, one of the most important (and expensive) elements of our movie.  

Any donation helps.

With much gratitude,

~lw

Be the difference.