Short Summary
Hello! Amy Obenski is a long time singer-songwriter based in San Francisco. Evan Morrison is an independent filmmaker now based in the Santa Cruz area. As longtime friends, they are teaming up to make a music video for Amy's Song, "In Each Other's Arms."
Why this song? Even though it was originally written as a love song, it is just as easily about falling for all the people in our lives and cherishing the time we have with them. The music video will also be about what a powerful, world changing experience that can be.
Want to hear the song? Check it out here
Amy's discography is here
Evan's filmography is here
What We Need & What You Get
To cover our bases thoroughly, we need $4,000. What's that going to pay for? Some film industry talent to help us produce the film, post production, main actors, costumes, locations, making sure that the cast and crew has food during the shoot, and covering the costs involved in this fundraising effort.
Here are the perks for helping us raise the funds for this film. Keep in mind, you get all the perks for the amounts less that what you have contributed as well.
-$1: Feel good about helping us create a great music video! Also, the opportunity to appear in the music video as an extra.
-$20: Your choice of an MP3 copy of the album An Emptiness to Fill, an Amy Obenski t-shirt, or Amy Obenski coloring book.
-$30: Amy's full catalogue in MP3 format, or a signed copy of her CD "An Emptiness to Fill."
-$50: a new profile photo for your social media account(s) from the director, Evan Morrison.
-$85: Attend a pre-release viewing of the music video.
-$100: All Amy merchandise: Her 6 CD catalogue, coloring book and t-shirt.
-$200: The opportunity to be a featured extra in the music video. (This is limited to 10 people)
-$265: Lunch out with Amy and the Production Crew, or a photo shoot with the director, Evan Morrison.
-$350: One hour lesson in photography content or a one hour lesson in screenwriting from the director, Evan Morrison.
-$500: Co-producer credit.
-$1000: Producer credit.
-Over $1000: We'll work with you personally to make sure this is worth it for you, if you are considering it.
If we don't reach our goal, we're honestly still going to make the video. What the money gives us is the ability to make it look good, and to make a great product even if we make mistakes along the way. It gives us the ability to add the little things; to make sure the costumes are right, locations are right, props are great. It gives us the ability to make sure that actors and crew are properly taken care of. Paring down the budget narrows the margin for error. That goes the same if we get over funded as well. This project could easily be budgeted at $40,000 if we paid full industry price for every aspect involved.
The Impact
Right now, all we see when we look at the news is how divided we are. This music video is going to be a powerful reminder that the things that unite us can be stronger than all of those things that divide us. We debated adding things to this pitch like a storyboard, or outline of the story of the music video. Eventually we decided that we didn't want to give the plot of the video away - but so far we've had good feedback from folks we have shared the details with. We have already cast the 10 main roles for the video, and our 5 person pre-production crew has been working to get everything in order for four months.
Risks & Challenges
What are the challenges our team faces? It's always a challenge to get all the resources lined up before a shoot. Actors, locations, crew, and equipment can always face hurdles that take them out of the project. Sometimes that happens at the last minute. Running a shoot on a shoestring, as we are doing, those issues become the biggest hurdle. If we lose a day of shooting to resources that suddenly become unavailable, it becomes a strain on the production. Every day that needs to be added to a shoot can add $1-2k in costs to a project of this size. With a budget of $4k, we're playing it really close. How are we going to finish this project if something like that happens? We have years and years of making films on a shoestring budget, being able to think on our feet and come up with solutions when it seems that there are none. We will find a way. We are currently securing back ups for all of the primary resources that we need to make this music video happen. That means having back ups for equipment, locations, actors and crew - as well as funding sources.
Other Ways You Can Help
Whether or not you can contribute, please share this campaign. Getting the word out helps us get this project funded! Also, please share the music video when we release it. You'll notice that we haven't allocated any money in the budget for marketing the music video once we've finished it!
Indiegogo also wants us to remind you that when you share this campaign, to share it using the Indiegogo tools.
