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MERI, MARY, MARI
A Sci Fi Short Film Exploring:
A Modern Day Alice In Wonderland, Wormholes, Parallel Universes, Dystopian Future, Love, Betrayal, Destiny, Soul Mates, Quantum Jumping/Time Traveling Brooklyn Hipsters, Quirky Characters, Provocative Soundtrack..... with a Hollywood ending.
OUR STORY BEGINS WITH OUR PROTAGONIST DISCOVERING A PORTAL TO A PARALLEL UNIVERSE. LET'S IMAGINE WHAT THAT TRIP FROM BROOKLYN IN THE YEAR 2015 TO A PARALLEL WORLD MUST HAVE BEEN LIKE.
MEET THE FILMMAKERS WHO WANT TO TAKE YOU ON THAT RIDE.
Antoine Jackson, noted Brooklyn based cinematographer, T. Billi Martin, prolific producer/director/writer and a solid media presence at the Brooklyn Media Arts Center in the heart of downtown Brooklyn and Michele Cannon, actress/writer/ director and well known teacher of young performers in New York City met on the set of local talk show, "Second Saturday."
The meeting was a union of artists from very varied backgrounds who expressed to one another that they wanted to make a film that would represent a fresh wind on the filmmaking scene. Antoine, in his very laid back manner said, "Let's make a movie. Michele, do you have a short that we can run with?"
So, Michele presented Antoine and T. Billi Martin with a fantastical idea she had been mulling and assured them that she would develop the idea into a short sci fi film script under 30 minutes.
THE RESULT: MERI, MARY, MARI (garnered from a dream/nightmare that Michele had by the way.)
CAVEAT: The script IS short, the locations ARE few BUT the EFFECTS are involved.
Nevertheless, Antoine, Michele and T. Billi Martin decided that this short film has a BIG VISION and a HUGE QUIRKY story worth telling with a HUMONGOUS PROMISE of CINEMATIC FUN.
.......therefore, we have to do it. Classic storytelling with a HIPSTER take on.......
THE CAMPAIGN is uber important because it will give a chance to a group of filmmakers, actors, crew, musicians and creative artisans to work collectively on a film that brings a unique perspective to the world of cinema, specifically;
........Science Fiction
NOTE: There are no deep allegories....JUST A REALLY GREAT FILM THAT WILL TAKE THE VIEWER ON A FUN HIP RIDE WHILE MAKING A SIMPLE CASE FOR PARALLEL UNIVERSES AND WORMHOLES.
Not your ordinary sci-fi short, that's for sure.
MERI, MARY, MARI is an urban take on the classic, Alice In Wonderland. A HIPSTER in Brooklyn goes down the "rabbit hole." She meets her other selves and unearths a "inter-dimensional" secret that her dreams
(ENACTED BY "LITTLE MERI/LITTLE MARI") have been hinting at for her entire life. Everything contributes to the ambiance of the theme. Decidedly Brooklyn fashion, production design and music.
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Please meet the amazingly talented child star actress,
THARA YASMINE playing the dual roles of
"Little Meri/Little Mari" in our movie. Although she is only nine years old, she has tremendous emotional intensity and operates on an extraordinary level of discipline. We literally gasp when she performs.
The VIBE of "Meri, Mary, Mari"
MUSIC
The "Meri, Mary, Mari" soundtrack is eclectic, provocative and is in itself a central character as the story to unfolds melodically.
MORGEN LA CIVITA is one of the contributing artists.
New Artist Alert - Pretty Lyon is doing a cover version of the Run-DMC classic, "Mary, Mary."
Wardrobe and Production Design by Ston Crawford FX
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WARDROBEi.e., Brooklyn Hipster looks
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Decidedly Dystopian Viewpoints
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PRODUCTION DESIGN
@Brooklyn Nights Bar - Brooklyn, NY
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WE NEED YOU!!!!
We have developed a screenplay where science fiction themes
have been simplified into a dramedy format requiring intricate special effects
and a slamming soundtrack which we believe the audiences will welcome as a
fresh cinematic voice with old school attention paid to the art of storytelling
and artistry of great acting.
Now, our dilemma is that while it is a short film (under 30
minutes), we are all hard working artists with limited finances. We just have this desire to bring forth a
wonderful film production in hopes that it will garner positive response and
open the doors to other fascinating stories that we, individually and
collectively want to create.
AS AGATHA CHRISTIE WOULD SAY, "LET'S LAY ALL OF THE CARDS ONTO THE TABLE, SHALL WE?"
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WE ARE A NO/LOW BUDGET REQUIRING HI TECH EQUIPMENT TO MAKE A HIGH CONCEPT SHORT FILM.
So, we are a no/low budget and have spent our own money on
pre-production but production necessitates equipment , green screen studio
access, insurance and most importantly meals for our hard working "for basically free" actors and crew. THEN…….the major
expenses begin, specifically POST PRODUCTION.
- Our
bare bones budget is over $30,000, but if we can raise $30,000 or more on
Indiegogo, we can make a great film; one that you will enjoy and talk about for
quite some time.
Meri, Mary, Mari requires some serious CGI Special
Effects. Our CGI Supervisor, J.P.
Cummings is one of the best in New York City and we need to make his job as unproblematic
as possible and supply him with all the technological equipment and resources
he requires to make a beautiful film.
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STON CRAWFORD FX Creation - MARY happens upon a "Gynoid" (shown above). Hilarious interaction!
HOW DO YOU MAKE SOMETHING LOOK AND SOUND BIG-BUDGET ON THE CHEAP?
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We’ve crunched the numbers and have set our goal at the bare minimum we need to make this film. Every dollar we raise is going on the screen – this is a true labor of love and we don’t want to line our pockets here, we just want to make a thrilling, provocative, amusing sci-fi film that audiences will love. We know how hard you work for your money and we’re committed to making something that YOU can be PROUD to say was made with YOUR help.
"We don’t make movies to make money, we make money to make more movies" -Walt Disney
"We should take inspiration from the fact that many of the great science-fiction films of cinema history have been made with budgets far less than one would expect. Consider films like La Jetée (1962) by Chris Marker, Alphaville (1965) by Jean-luc Godard, THX 1138 (1971) by George Lucas, The Man Who Fell To Earth (1976) by Nicholas Roeg, Stalker (1979) by Andrei Tarkovsky, The Last Battle (1983) by Luc Besson, The Brother From Another Planet (1984) by John Sayles, and They Live (1988) by John Carpenter"
MEET THE PRODUCTION TEAM
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T. Billi Martin
Executive Producer
Michele Cannon
Co-Director
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Antoine Jackson
Co-Director and Director of Photography
PLEASE MEET OUR LEADING LADY: MIRIAM AGWAI playing not 1, not 2 but 3, YES THREE roles; "Meri," "Mary" and "Mari."
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Miriam's challenge is bringing to life 3 distinct versions of parallel selves, "Meri" from "Parallel World 1,""Mary" from "Parallel World 2" and "Mari" from "Parallel World 3 set in a future dystopian Brooklyn." Think "Cloud Atlas" meets "Orphan Black."
Her rehearsals are indicating that this young actress is going to give us a "tour de force" performance.
.....and YES! WE SHALL GIVE BACK!
One of the themes woven throughout the storyline in MERI, MARY, MARI is Quantum Physics. We would like to encourage students to pursue and study STEM: Science, Technology, Engineering and Math disciplines; particularly minority, under-privileged and female students who are vastly under-represented in the STEM sectors.
So, we figured, "Hey, let's contribute monetarily to organizations that actively seek students to pursue careers in STEM.
Sustained excellence in the fields of science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) is the hallmark of an innovative and dynamic economy. If the United States is going to compete in the modern global economy, its education and workforce training systems must prepare more students for STEM and STEM-related careers. Although STEM occupations demand extensive postsecondary education and training that ranges from associate degrees to advanced degrees to workforce certifications, they also offer attractive career opportunities. For instance, STEM fields tend to have higher job growth rates, lower unemployment rates and higher starting salaries than non-STEM fields.
10% of all MERI, MARY, MARI INDIEGOGO contributions $500.00 and above will be allocated to 3 Brooklyn-based organizations which work to recruit, train, counsel and provide college preparedness for a STEM career.
....AND SPEAKING OF TECHNOLOGY - CHECK OUT ONE OF OUR AWESOME PERKS: One of our $1,000 Standalone Perks is a TinyStic. (We will throw in a Crew Hoodie so you look cool while using it.)
TinyStic
Risks & Challenges
We're not trying to make money on this project. We just want to make a great film, subsidize actors and crew for their transportation;
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Provide nourishing meals for our cast and crew to sustain them as they work tirelessly for some really long hours; (Michele and T. Billi Martin are gourmet cooks by the way.)
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Most of the money will go for the rental of equipment;
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(we will improvise if we have to, i.e., dolly shot on a rolling chair...YES! We will go there if we have to.)
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And, of course, POST PRODUCTION will be costly.
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We believe that we have a film that will entertain you and provoke you to clamor for more.......such as, "Please make this short into a feature." In the meantime, we are utilizing exceptional creative talent whose careers will be spring boarded by this film, "MERI, MARY, MARI."
ANOTHER WAY TO HELP US TO REACH OUR GOAL
No donation is too small. Never despise HUMBLE BEGINNINGS or SEED
DONATIONS.
However, in addition to donations, we would greatly appreciate it if you would
share the link to our project's page with friends, family and contacts via
email, social networks, Whatsapp, etc. because the more people who know about
the project, the greater our chance is of achieving our goal.
WE HOPE WE CAN COUNT ON YOUR IMPORTANT CONTRIBUTION WHATEVER IT IS!
Thank you very much…
The EXECUTIVE PRODUCERS of MERI, MARY, MARI,
Michele Cannon
Antoine Jackson
T. Billi Martin
Be a part of this with us. It's going to be a lot of fun -- and a really, really, cool film.
MERI, MARY, MARI 
