A Quick Summary of the Project:
BACKSTORY:
As some people might
be aware, I have written 2 decent-selling novels, one of which is also
available as an audiobook. Shortly after
selling my first book ("The Desert") I was approached by a Hollywood
film production company (Winkler Films, behind many blockbusters like the Rocky
films, GoodFellas, etc.) about adapting the novel to a $17-20 million
movie. After a couple years of
development, and the studio's disappointing returns on another Iraq War-themed
movie ("Home of the Brave"), they unceremoniously dropped all movies
dealing with Iraq, which included the novel adaptations of both of my
books. A few months later, the SyFy
Channel almost went through with a $1 million dollar version of "The
Desert", but backed out during location scouting. However, during the process I learned a lot
about movie-making, writing screenplays, and the strange and sordid ways that
movies achieve financing.
In addition, some of you might be familiar with my columns at Niti Central. Feel free to examine them here: http://www.niticentral.com/author/bryon-morrigan.
THE INSPIRATION:
I've always
daydreamed about making a big movie about a Hindu epic, like the Ramayan or
Mahabharat, but I was not sure how to go about it. And given the apparent lack of interest in
those kinds of movies (even in India), I didn't think it would be possible to
get the kind of funding necessary. But
then, one morning I was watching a slide-show of devotional
pictures on the big TV while doing my morning japa rounds, and when I saw one
of the pictures of Krishna, I thought, "That kinda looks like Tom
Hiddleston. Imagine how many people
would become interested in Sanatana Dharma if they saw a movie with someone like him playing
Krishna? It would be a blockbuster in
India as well." And I thought about
the current success of the Indian movie "Baahubali"*, and I daydreamed a bit about making such
a movie.
(* For those of you who aren't familiar with it, the movie "Baahubali" also deals with Hindu themes, and is currently the 3rd highest-grossing Indian movie of all time. More here: http://www.forbes.com/sites/robcain/2015/11/18/baahubali-renews-assault-on-pk-global-record-with-latin-american-release/)
THE PLAN:
And then I thought:
"I can do this." I have the
unique set of skills (screenwriting, a Master's Degree in Ancient History,
management, film production knowledge, etc.), and a surprising amount of
contacts (and family) in the film industry, as well as a lot of contacts in
India who would likely be willing and able to assist in getting funding and
helping with creative issues. So I'm
getting this movie done. The plan is to
use crowd-funding to get the first few stages of the movie into the works, and
then likely seek traditional production assistance, hopefully from
"non-traditional" sources primarily concerned with the religious
aspect of the film.
WHAT IS THE FILM?
The movie is going to be kind of like "The Princess Bride" meets "The Bhagavad Gita".
What I mean by this is that we will begin with a story of an Indian-American teenager ("Arj") in school in the USA. He faces teasing and bullying from his peers, and is direction-less in life, as he does not wish to follow in his father's steps working in the family convenience store. When he speaks to his father about his problems, the father realizes that he has not done a good job explaining the concept of Dharma to his son.
And so he begins to tell the tale of the Bhagavad Gita to his son, and as he does, the father becomes the "narrator", while we see the events unfold on the battlefield of Kurukshetra. He narrates the events leading up to the battle, which are then shown as a montage.
Many of the main concepts, particularly relating to the concept of Dharma, are then shown in cinematic form, as Krishna explains them to Arjun, occasionally jumping back to the father having to explain things in more "modern" terms to his son.
Eventually, the story moves beyond the Gita, and climaxes with the Battle of Kurukshetra. The father finishes his story, but the son is still not completely sure of his Dharma. The next day, Arj goes from school to his father's store, only to find that a robbery is in progress. It is at that moment that Arj truly understands that his Dharma is to be a Kshatriya, a protector of the weak, and he saves his father from the villain, with the scene flashing back and forth between Arj and Arjun fighting in the battle.
It will be filmed in a style combining Zack Snyder's "300" and
Peter Jackson's "Lord of the Rings" series, employing a large amount of "green-screen", both to make the film easier to create, as well as helping to change the "tone" between the modern scenes and those from the ancient past.
What We Need & What You Get:
This is the "Stage 1" crowd-funding project for Dharma.
STAGE 1:
The purpose of Stage 1
is as follows:
- Creation of the business
entity, "The Dharma Initiative, Inc." (TDI) to conduct
operations.
- Opening a bank account for
TDI.
- Arranging the
"Team" of who is to be involved as the main group running TDI.
- Creating a website.
- Creating graphics design
elements and posters designed to solicit funds for the next stages, as well as a short video showing our progress.
- Setting up American and
Indian teams to promote the project and solicit funds.
- Completion of the working draft
of the screenplay, with input from backers.
- Arranging a historical and
Dharma based advisory committee.
- Determining the goals and
methods for Stage 2.
- Et cetera.
REWARDS:
In order to promote the idea of people getting involved at all stages of the production of DHARMA, all rewards for all stages of the crowd-funding process will be "cumulative". What that means is that if you choose to donate money to Stage 1, and then also donate to Stage 2 or 3, your rewards will be based on the total amount contributed for DHARMA in all stages, rather than simply going back to $0 each time a new stage begins.
WHAT HAPPENS IF WE FAIL TO MEET THE MONETARY GOAL?
We keep working. End of story. We just have to work harder, and maybe it takes us longer to get to a working film...but "giving up" is not an option.
WHY IS THIS PROJECT IMPORTANT?
