Felicitations!

Hello friends, my name is Murphy Tom and I am the founder and director of Panvenni Films; a unique and award winning film production group based in Olean, NY.

What's that now? You've never heard of Olean, NY ???

Well, no worries..., very few people have who don't actually live, work, or accidentally got sucked through a time portal and ended up here.

But just FYI, we're about an hour and a half south-east of Buffalo, NY. Guess you could say we're like Buffalo's cool little brother... or very distant cousin... either one works for us.

The easiest way for you to get to know about me, my cast and my crew is by clicking this link to our website: Panvenni.com.  No, I'm not being lazy -- I just think our site represents us best -- and I was told by somebody smarter than myself before starting this campaign that I shouldn't clutter up my page and ramble on and on, soooo....

Let's get into it: Here's the backstory!

I came up with this really cool idea for a film back in 2015 that I dubbed"A Philosophy of Ruin", and we ran a crowdfunding campaign to get it made...but that was a bust. We got more than half-way there, but couldn't make the finish line. So we ended up with zip. I don't want to say who we ran the campaign with but...c'mon Kickstarter, why you gotta be so mean???   Oops, that cat just jumped right outta the bag didn't it?

Anyway, we didn't just roll over and lick our wounds; but before I get into what happened next, I think some more information would be helpful.

The idea for the film:

So I saw this rerun of a video on a news channel about the 2013 shooting death of 28 year old Joshua Sweat -- some of you might remember that story.

On the way to the stand to give his statement, Sweat's father lunged at his son's killer, Antonio Clifford, and had to be forcefully restrained to keep him from inflicting grievous bodily harm to the murderer.

The rage on the father's face clearly conveyed the agony he was feeling at what, for him, was an insurmountable loss.

So I thought to myself: What if it was legal to hand the killer over to the deceased's father, if that's what he wanted? And that thought stayed with me for several days -- I just couldn't shake it. It was like something was telling me..."hey you boob, you're onto something here, stop ignoring it."

With that, I started to do some research, and within three weeks I had written a script based on an ancient Babylonian law contained within the Code of the Hammurabi (look that up, it's really interesting). And as I already mentioned, I named the film A Philosophy of Ruin  but subsequently changed that to the more poetic sounding: Code of the Assura, since the ancient Assyrians (who conquered the Babylonian Empire and Mesopotamia around 1225 BC) had a similar code.

So what's the film about:

The film is based in the year 2035, and it's about this civil engineer (Robert Vaughn) who accidentally causes the death of an affluent young woman. 

After being convicted of manslaughter, Robert is turned over to the woman's family -- a well connected and unspeakably ruthless bunch.

They isolate him in a cabin in the woods and use the most creative forms of torture they could conjure up to make him suffer for what he did.

There's no way for Robert to escape, since the cabin is sentineled by some very advanced mechanisms designed to keep imprisoned occupants within 100 feet of the structure -- or die a horrible death trying to escape.

As the story progresses, we learn that Robert was nothing more than a fall guy in an elaborate conspiracy, and when his innocence is revealed, the audience will find themselves strongly rooting for his survival. But there's much more to the story than meets the eye, and the expectation is that by the end of the film viewers will leave with a sense of renewed hope in humanity. 

With the failed crowdfunding effort behind us...

...we quickly regrouped, and self-funded a shortened version of what was supposed to be a feature length film. And honestly, it turned out great.

Pulling this event off just right is a HUGE DEAL... since we stand to raise a lot more money than we possibly could by running another campaign.

The investors just want to see that we're serious, well organized and capable of producing a good product/film. And that starts with how we present this opportunity to them.

What We Need & What You Get

So to pull everything together for this Investors Screening we need to raise $3,800.00; and here's what that's for:

• Theater rental (we got a reduced rate but still need to cover some of the cost).
• A support technician provided by the theater custodians.
• Pitch Packs (presentation folders with all the information the investors will need or want -- each costs about $6 to put together, and there are going to be 69 investors and their spouses in attendance ).
• Legal fees for drawing up detailed contracts that protect us and the investors.
• Atmosphere: Posters, Step and Repeat Banner, Past Production Stills, Photographer etc.
• Food: Guests must be fed -- mama said it's common courtesy. 

As artists we are always so grateful when others share in our vision, and even more so when they express their support in a tangible way. If you're reading this and you're an artist/entertainer yourself, then you know the feeling of validation you get from those who stick their necks out for you...you wish you could give them the moon.

Well, sadly, we can't offer you the moon. But we've tried to come up with some creative and heartfelt ways to say thanks for your support. If you can think of something that we haven't listed that would make you more inclined to contribute, then by all means, shoot us an email at: panvenni@gmail.com and we'll try to include it.

Special Note:  All perks pertaining specifically to the full length version of Code of the Assura will be delivered in 2018.

What happens if we don't make our goal?

If this campaign was about making a film, then I'd point to our track record as outlined on our website and tell you to trust us, we absolutely finish what we start... no matter what.

But since this is about screening an already completed short film so that we can get on with the business of making the full length version, the risk isn't in pulling off the event we're trying to fund; the risk is in pulling it off poorly.    

So if we don't get all the funds we are trying to raise for this Investors Screening, then we'll just work with whatever you guys give us. Sure, we may have to cut a few corners, but what we lose by way of aesthetics we can try to make up for with steely determination and charm. And of that we have oodles !!!

As independent filmmakers, we oftentimes have to make do with what we have. So we'll make do!

Other ways you can help:

We understand that some people just can't contribute monetarily, but that doesn't mean you can't help. So please take a few seconds and:

• Ask folks to get the word out and make some noise about our campaign.
• Use the Indiegogo share tools to help us reach more people!