Intro

• Howdy! We are the team behind the new short film, "La Douleur Exquise". We are Thomas Miller (The Director), Andy Li (The Writer), and J. F. Carlson (The Cinematographer). No, we're not a Hollywood studio, we're just a couple of college kids from Boone, North Carolina who love telling great stories through film, and hope to continue to do so throughout our lives.  We have been making films for a collective 12 years.
• This is the first film we have produced with an estimated budget so big that we can't cover it on our own. With gear rentals, craft services, location costs, and film festival entry fees, we have run our resources dry.  Having to stop doing what you love because you don't have enough money is one of the most frustrating things ever.  
• Even through working part-time jobs, previous film gigs, and local business donations, we can't raise our budget needs.

What We Need & What You Get

Break it down for folks in more detail:

• For a 14-Day shoot, we need $730 for the Canon C100 mkII, $520 for a 24-70mm Lens with an anamorphic adapter, $200 for a SmallHD monitor, $90 for a ND Filter set, $220 for a mounted slider, and $90 for a set of two 256 gb SD cards to store our footage on.
• Patron Level ($75) - If you donate over $75, then we will get you a digital copy of the film at least one week early!  
• Investor Level ($150) - If you donate over $150, then you will get a digital copy of the Behind-The-Scenes from production to 
• If we don't reach our entire goal, we will have to bail on a few scenes, and cut down a few film festival entries, but we will push on!  Just because your plan doesn't go as planned, doesn't mean you can't do something great! 

The Impact

• Recently, the state of North Carolina lost our tax incentives of the film industry.  This pushed most of the film business out of North Carolina and back to the oppressive Southern California or Georgia.
• The Director (Thomas Miller) and the DoP (J.F. Carlson) both have strong filmmaking track records on their own, but this is their second project working together. The last one, Punchline, was flipped with Carlson as the Director and Miller as the Cinematographer.
• With casting already done, and production starting by the 8th of July, the clock is ticking as we get ready for our biggest project yet in the independent film industry.

Time

• Other than funding, our biggest risk is time.  With the Cinematographer gone until July 3rd on a filming gig up in New York City, and the Director having a job at a local stage theatre for their upcoming show run on the 18th, we have to make sure that we get our vision on-camera the first time around.

Other Ways You Can Help

• If you can't donate plain money, but might have equipment that we need (listed above) at a cheaper rate, let us know!
• Don't forget to share this page with your friends and other patrons of the arts!