Be a part of It's Called Inertia, Young'n by helping us raise the crucial funds needed to produce it!

It's Called Inertia, Young'n is an experimental short film about a young Native American man named Aaron (SkyHawk Tracey) dealing with such social issues as racial ignorance and prejudice, along with homophobia, in his community located in the American Southwest. Struggling in this transitional time of his life, resisting almost any kind of change brought before him, Aaron has to decide whether or not he'll keep on his same path, or change his state of motion. Love, happiness, hope, loneliness, growth, and patience are sub-themes in our short film as well.

Combining both digital and multi-format photography, the short film will also incorporate elements of dance, as well as experiment with structure, relying on character and composition to support the story. It's Called Inertia, Young'n is shot on location in Durango, CO, and Northern New Mexico.

Charles Brandon Hayes Co-Writer/Co-Director/Producer

Brandon is an ambitious filmmaker and occasional photographer currently based in Durango, CO. He has written/directed/produced short films, the feature film "Break It Down" (screened at the Abbey Theatre in Durango), and has directed music videos for Duncan Jewett, TS3, Big Ace & K-Diggz, among other artists. Brandon is a product of both the Pacific Northwest and American Southwest, and is a graduate of Fort Lewis College.

Brandon's videos: vimeo.com/cbrandonhayes

Brandon's photo blog: goldpix.tumblr.com

SkyHawk Tracey Co-Writer/Co-Director/Lead Actor/Choreographer 

SkyHawk is an aspiring actor, seasoned dancer, dedicated B-boy, and soon-to be filmmaker currently based in Durango, CO. As a theatre student in high school, SkyHawk was featured in several productions. He would later bring his enthusiasm and dedication to Fort Lewis College's Dance Co-Motion Club, and to Brandon's first feature film "Break It Down," in which he co-starred with Phelan Wolfe, Bubba Nutt, Ralph De Vera, Jasmine Johnson, and Charles Newmyer. SkyHawk is constantly pushing himself, taking on new ventures as the days come. He is also currently an instructor at Bella Dance in Durango.

Gabriela Perky Lead Actress/Choreographer

Gabriela is a passionate dancer and performing artist currently attending Fort Lewis College in Durango, CO. She has been featured in several of FLC's Dance Co-Motion performances, as well as the FLC Theatre Department's productions of "Enrique's Journey" and "We Are The Source." Gabriela is also a former Zumba instructor.

Skylar & Anne Pesata Supporting Cast

Anne is also an amazing dancer and performing artist residing in Durango, CO, with her son Skylar. She has been featured in many productions, from Fort Lewis College's Dance Co-Motion performances, to Dancing Earth Creations' "Walking At The Edge of Water" & "Of Bodies Of Water." Both her and Skylar were also featured in a friend's feature film. Anne is a graduate of Fort Lewis College. Skylar will be going into 2nd Grade this Fall.

Riley King Cinematographer

Riley is an extraordinary filmmaker, videographer, artist, and active philanthropist, currently based in Durango, CO. In 2008, Riley founded Unite Our World, a nonprofit organization dedicated to empowering people and facilitating resources to those making positive impacts in their communities. Through Unite Our World, Riley and a handful of dedicated friends successfully raised funds for the construction and staffing of both Solomon Muteb's Blessings of Joy Elementary School in Mweruka, Uganda, and Benon Kizito's medical clinic in Bukunda, Uganda. Riley is a leader and problem-solver. He also made a short documentary about Unite Our World's Bukunda Medical Clinic project, which premiered at The Back Space Theatre in Durango, CO, in early 2013. Riley has since worked on promotional videos for Desert Sun Coffee Roasters, Zuke's Natural Dog & Cat Treats, and National Farm To School. He is currently planning future projects through Unite Our World as well.

The Durango Herald's feature on Riley & Unite Our World: http://durangoherald.com/article/20130217/NEWS01/130219614&template=mobileart

Riley's "Unite Our World: Bukunda Medical Clinic" documentary: uniteourworld.org/film

Riley's Desert Sun Coffee Roasters video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZSLQpbMYu2U#at=17

Ralph De Vera Music

Ralph is an avid artist, dancer, and musician. Born in the Philippines, he moved to the United States in 2002, immediately immersing himself in the culture, joining the band Arvella, whom he toured across the country with as guitarist. Ralph has since taken up breakdancing, graffiti, music programming and production, among many other art forms at which he excels. He currently lives in Hesperus, CO.

William Hayes Music

William is a composer and guitarist currently based in Seattle, WA. As a composer of acoustic and electronic music, he involves himself with a variety of musicians around the country and has had works performed by the Seattle Chamber Players, the Corigliano Quartet, Trio Pardalote, the St. Helens Quartet, the Jim Knapp Orchestra and many others. He is also the guitarist for the band Newaxeyes and resident composer with the Pendleton House. William is a graduate of Cornish College of the Arts, where he studied composition with Wayne Horvitz and Jarrad Powell.

William's work: soundcloud.com/williamhayes

Newaxeyes' work: soundcloud.com/newaxeyes

Pendleton House: thependletonhouse.tumblr.com

Budo is a solo artist and multi-instrumentalist, born and bred in Seattle, WA. Raised on a diet of Sam Cooke, Charles Mingus, and Miles Davis, Budo is emerging with a debut record, The Finger & The Moon, filled with joy and intention, that defies characterization.

Budo's website: budomusic.com

Budo on Soundcloud: soundcloud.com/tags/budo

Vanessa Wilde Poster/DVD Design

Vanessa is a graphic designer, artist, and DJ based out of Santa Fe, NM. Of Diné (Navajo) heritage, Vanessa was born and raised in New Mexico. She is the woman behind DeadDisko, and is also the Project Director of Kaleidaspoke, a collective dedicated to instilling the love of bicycling through art and film. Vanessa studied English, Art and Graphic Design under influential art professors Chad Colby, Amy Wendland and design professor Paul Booth at Fort Lewis College in Durango, Colorado. The above image is of Vanessa working on a project for Modern NDN, in Santa Fe, NM.

Vanessa's website: deaddisko.com

Kaleidaspoke: thekaleidaspoke.com

Modern NDN: modernndn.com

Spike Lee's early work, like the film She's Gotta Have It is one of the inspirations for the style of filmmaking we're aiming towards. Of course, we're not trying to make a Spike Lee film by any means... but we are definitely inspired by his work.

Same goes for Kevin Smith's Clerks, though ours will be more stylish. Kevin Smith and his nack for writing dialogue is definitely an inspiration.

What else?

Robert Rodriguez's great $7,000 budget indie film El Mariachi. Rodriguez is a hero among indie filmmakers and his first feature film made the world recognize his talent. The Mexican terraine in this flick reminds us of some of the New Mexican terraine we'll be shooting in.

Here are some more films we're looking at stylistically...

Richard Linklater's Slacker

Jim Jarmusch's Coffee & Cigarettes

David Gordon Green's George Washington

Francis Ford Coppola's Tetro

It's hard to raise money these days. Instead of taking focus away from the storytelling process, looking around for grants and filling out excessive paperwork, hoping to get money from boards and committees who probably have no interest in us personally or all the hardwork we're putting into the project, we decided... why not knock at the door of those who we really make these things for? And thanks to Indiegogo, we get to do just that. But no, we're not simply asking for your money for a project. We're asking for much more. We're asking all of you, the audience (our friends, family, supporters, and future friends) that you invest in US. By pledging to It's Called Inertia, Young'n you are certifying your place in our history, directly affecting our future as successful filmmakers. And by success we don't mean becoming "big," ...no no. We mean engaging an audience's interest and accurately representing our communities and cultures. Trust us, it's not that easy these days. (We hope we're doing a good job so far)

So whatta ya think? After this project comes the next. And then the next. And so on! We are dedicated to making independent films about human relationships, coming of age, everyday struggle, resistance, redemption, etc. From Fiction to Non-Fiction. Through such genres as Drama, Comedy, Horror, and so on. This is just the start. Through Indiegogo, you get to be a part of all of that.

And yes, some of the money raised here will be put towards actually putting the film out on screens in front of all of you. We plan on submitting It's Called Inertia, Young'n to many film festivals, as well as showing it at a local theatre in Durango, CO. Basically, the more money we raise here, the more venues we can submit it to.

While we're at it, let's break down the rest of the funds.

Production Expenses: $500 (Gas, food, batteries, promotion, etc)

Cast + Crew: $1,500 (Minimum. Filmmaking is a tedious process and most everyone is having to take time off of their regular jobs to make this happen. Stack that on top of having to be out in the scorching sun all day, it'd be nice to pay our great cast and crew for their time and efforts)

Equipment: $500 (New lights, tripod, slider (it's like a small dolly system) - all of these would be great to have for this and future projects)

Film Processing & Digitization: $300 (Super 8 footage, still photography - 35mm, medium format, lomography, etc)

Music Composition + Live Instrumentation + Mixing: $1,000 (The music is going to be incredible. Combining digital and live instrumentation for the original music is something we've been wanting to do for a long time. However, this process is very time consuming and the recording process needs to be done professionally)

Film Festival Submissions: $1,000 (Minimum. At $100 per submission, that's just 10 festivals! Some filmmakers will even spend over FIVE GRAND in submission fees and postage just for regional festivals. We'll be requesting waivers where we can and be more selective with our submission, but we need some funds here)

Postcards, posters, DVDs of the flick, polaroids, etc. All of these goodies will be available, attached to certain pledge options up on the upper right of this page. Special Thank You's in the credits, along with Producer credits, are also available.

Delivery Estimates:

September-October - Production meetings

November - Postcards, posters, polaroids, etc

December - Tickets to Special Screening of the film in Durango

January - DVDs

OTHER WAYS YOU CAN HELP:

You can simply use the Indiegogo share tools to help spread the word to the rest of the world! That in itself is a major contribution.

- LIKE us on facebook (facebook.com/InertiaYoungn)

- Share us on facebook

- Tweet about us

- Make our poster image your avatar

- Share our movie blogs offbrandfilms.tumblr.com & inertiayoungn.tumblr.com

THANK YOU!