Indiegogo is committed to accessibility. If you have difficulty using our site, please contact support@indiegogo.com for assistance or view our accessibility notice by clicking here

This campaign is closed

Gemma & The Bear

Gemma goes to sleep and turns into The Bear - a shape-shifting sit-com like you've never seen!

You may also be interested in

Closed
Closed
Closed
Closed
Closed

Gemma & The Bear

Gemma & The Bear

Gemma & The Bear

Gemma & The Bear

Gemma & The Bear

Gemma goes to sleep and turns into The Bear - a shape-shifting sit-com like you've never seen!

Gemma goes to sleep and turns into The Bear - a shape-shifting sit-com like you've never seen!

Gemma goes to sleep and turns into The Bear - a shape-shifting sit-com like you've never seen!

Gemma goes to sleep and turns into The Bear - a shape-shifting sit-com like you've never seen!

Eevin Hartsough Kevin R. Free
Eevin Hartsough Kevin R. Free
Eevin Hartsough Kevin R. Free
Eevin Hartsough Kevin R. Free
1 Campaign |
New York, United States
$10,068 USD 153 backers
100% of $10,000 Flexible Goal Flexible Goal
Choose your Perk

Social Media Shout-Out

$10 USD
20 claimed

Gemma & The Bear Mask

$25 USD
22 claimed

DVD of Season One

$50 USD
20 claimed

DVD + The Fantasticks

$100 USD
20 claimed

Private Screening Party

$250 USD
3 claimed

Date with Gemma OR The Bear

$500 USD
0 claimed

Video with Matt

$750 USD
0 claimed

Season One & Dinner Chez Vous

$1,000 USD
1 claimed

HEY! This is still a GREAT place to learn about Gemma & The Bear. Make sure to check out the Updates tab and visit us at www.GemmaAndTheBear.com


Short Summary

Gemma & The Bear is a modern, humorous twist on Jekyll & Hyde.  Whenever nerdy-but-lovable Gemma goes to sleep, The Bear - a carpe diem-loving, fly-by-the-seat-of his-pants gay, black man awakens in her place.  As a bullied child, The Bear was Gemma's protector, but now she'd like to have a boyfriend . . . and stop feeling so tired all the time. It’s a show about how what we think is our biggest weakness can actually be the key to our success.

Eevin Hartsough & Kevin R. Free co-created, co-wrote and co-star in the series.  Eevin & Kevin share a background as New York Neo-Futurists (which is how they met).  Both are long-time actors and writers.  You can learn more about them by clicking their names below:

Eevin Hartsough is an award-winning playwright and actor who made her Broadway debut at age 10 as Helen Keller.

Kevin R. Free is an award-winning playwright, actor, and audiobook narrator, who is currently appearing as Bellomy in The Fantasticks Off-Broadway (and is the first African-American in the show's 54 year history to do so).

Matt Scott is an award-winning filmmaker whose recent short, Once A Loser, brought him to Cannes in 2014.  Matt, Eevin & Kevin have all worked together before and are thrilled to be reunited on this project.  Matt is so awesome, we don't understand why he doesn't have a website that we can send you to. But we can link you to his Vimeo page and the short film The Last Laugh which he directed and which stars Eevin!

This November, Eevin, Kevin and Matt (bringing the awesome together this time) intend to shoot the entire first season of Gemma & The Bear - six five-minute episodes - for release in early 2015.  


What We Need & What You Get

    How are we going to spend $10,000? By paying a lot of people a little tiny bit each.

    Our budget mainly goes to our core crew, each at $150/day:

    • Director
    • Director of Photography
    • Production Manager
    • Sound Operator
    • Light Operator
    • 3 principal actors (plus Eevin & Kevin who are working for FREE, because we believe so much in this project)

    In addition we've budgeted smaller daily rates for:

    • Production Assistants
    • Supporting Roles

    And we wanted to make sure we had enough to cover:

    • Equipment rentals
    • Transportation
    • Food (Because if we're only paying a little tiny bit, we want no one to have to spend their money on their own lunch)

    That's it!

    You'll notice we haven't included: locations, editing, composing, or indiegogo fees.  That's because we've got deals with people who have agreed to work for free/not cash and because we intend to contribute to our project ourselves. 

    In a perfect world, we'd reach our stretch goal of $12,500 which would let us pay our editor more (editing takes so much time and is so important!) and also help us cover the Indiegogo fees.

    If you donate, we have some great perks for you, including a meal cooked by Eevin and Kevin and a private screening of the entire series in  your home! 


      The Impact

        Like you, Eevin and Kevin and Matt were all children once. We have seen childhood issues that turn into grown-up issues. We have all wished that we had a protector who took care of us behind our backs - whatever the consequences - and this is our opportunity to make that wish come true. Plus, it will be really funny.
        We once worked together on a theatre project that was a very personal look on the one day in each of our lives that affected us more than any other. It was an amazing play that took place in a tiny theatre... and we won an award!  Though the subject matter is different,  making "Gemma & The Bear" is our way of re-creating that magic in a bit of a larger scale (and you'd never have to leave your house to see it).

        Risks & Challenges

          We have been working on this series for over a year, writing and re-writing (and re-writing some more!), and now it's time to see it through - by bringing it to life and sharing it with YOU!

          Considering our busy lives, the work we do in them,  and the personal obstacles that have come up in the past year, we might have given up on this project - this labor of love (for which neither of us has been paid) - at any time, and we haven't. 

          We haven't given up on the Gemma & The Bear; we haven't given up on our professional relationship; we haven't given up on our friendship.  We can't.  We believe too passionately that all of those things are a force for good in this world and it's part of our mission to bring that goodness to a wider audience.  That's why we need your help.

          If we don't make our indiegogo goal, we will figure out how to make it work. That's how much we believe in this project. At the end of the day, that's what Gemma & The Bear is about: losing a lot of battles, and still winning the war. 


          Other Ways You Can Help

            Listen, we know it's tough everywhere; we know that you work hard for your money. If you cannot pledge a small amount, please share our link with your friends and colleagues. Make some noise on our behalf! Use the indiegogo share tools and send it out!  And know, whatever you do, that we really, really appreciate it.

            Looking for more information? Check the project FAQ
            Need more information
            Let us know if you think this campaign contains prohibited content.
            Tags for this project

            You may also be interested in

            Up Caret