What We've Done... and What's the Next Step
We've come a long way with Mind Rip. After shooting sample scenes for promotional purposes, we put together a great drive-in style trailer that got us some attention. We presented the trailer and promotional materials to distributors, who showed real interest in seeing a final product. We've even lined up genre actors to appear in the film. Up till now, we (producers John Vincent, Mike Boas and a few others) have funded this ourselves.
What's next? We're at the point in our development where we have everything put together to go to investors to get substantial budget that fits this genre of film. One way to do this is meet with investors at film markets and festivals.
We're asking for $3,500 to help with this next stage. The initial funds will be used to form our LLC and pay legal fees for our business documents. Following that, money will go towards travel expenses and promotional materials.
Take a look at our rewards and see what you can receive for helping us meet our goal!
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As a proof of concept, we shot some scenes and assembled a promotional trailer. This will give you a sense of the tone we're going for with Mind Rip.
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After posting our trailer online, several horror news blogs picked it up and had great things to say!
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In addition to a cast of up-and-coming talent, actor Bill Moseley has agreed to play the prominent role of Gary the Ghoul, a late night horror host that comes face to face with monsters weirder than any he's introduced on TV. Moseley is a favorite actor among horror enthusiasts, with credits that include The Texas Chainsaw Massacre 2, House of 1000 Corpses, The Devil’s Rejects, and Texas Chainsaw 3D.
We also have letters of intent from genre actors Kane Hodder and Michael Berryman to appear in Mind Rip. (A letter of intent is an agreement to be in the movie assuming schedules and other factors are favorable.) These actors have enough confidence in Mind Rip to give us a written letter stating they feel this project is worth getting involved with.
A prominent distributor has also given us a letter of intent, that says when the film is finished, they'd be interested to work out an agreement to distribute Mind Rip. This company has distributed horror films of similar nature in the past, including last year's successful American Mary. A letter of intent is not a contract, but it shows that there is serious interest in the film we are making.
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Mind Rip tells the story of David Endicott, who is returning to his hometown for the first time in ten years, having left after the death of his younger brother, Jack. David soon finds that a bizarreseries of local murders is connected to Jack's childhood fantasies.
Creatures from Jack's horror comic books have appeared in
the flesh -- and they're not friendly. Creatures such as a ten-foot-tall
beast made from exhumed corpses, a pop-eyed hot-rod-driving creature, a flying monster constructed of antique surgical tools, an army of zombies, and one cute but homicidal stuffed bunny named Happy Jack.
David is compelled to look into the circumstances of Jack's
death and the involvement with GreyTech, a secretive pharmaceutical research
company. But time is against him, and an army of nightmare manifestations stand
between him and the truth.
The tone of Mind Rip is at times serious, at times comedic, but never repellent. This is a monster movie, and with that comes some violence, but we're not interested in making just a soulless slasher. Instead, we're making a fun, cartoonish romp with a sympathetic main character.
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See THE DEAD rise from their graves!
A flying SURGICAL TOOL CREATURE that cuts off heads in a mad fury!
A giant SCARE-SNAKE devouring a young couple!
A RABID STUFFED RABBIT named Happy Jack!
And SKULLY, a massive monster made from unearthed corpses!
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No CGI!
Real rod puppets!
Real special Make up FX!
Real stop motion animation!
Real Miniature FX!
Real animatronics!
Mind Rip is a throwback to drive-in films of the 1970s and 1980s, when everything you saw on screen was a practical effect. Like those films, we're using stop-motion animated creatures and other old school methods to tell our story. Modern horror audiences, weary of computer animation, are keen to see films like this.
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Mind Rip is being produced by a team of industry
professionals, including:
-
Joseph
Grossberg, visual effects supervisor (G.I.
Joe, The A-Team, Van Helsing, Species 2, Lions For Lambs, Catch Me If You Can)
-
Paul
Alexiou, visual effects coordinator/producer (Watchmen, Corpse Bride, Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban)
-
Yancy
Calzada, stop motion animator (Evil
Dead 2, Beetlejuice, Mega Piranha, Boa vs Python)
-
Michael
Del Rossa, special make-up effects (Watchmen,
300, Van Helsing, The Passion of Christ, I Am Legend)
-
Christopher
Nakis and John Cocca, producers
(Sundance film After Image)
-
John
Vincent, writer/director (Hero of the Underworld, Proud,
Smoking Laws, 3.14…, After Image)
-
Mike Boas,
editor (3.14… and Hero of the Underworld)
Biography for writer/director John Vincent
John began his film career at the age of eight years old. Starting off with
an 8mm camera handed down to him from his grandfather, John animated small clay
figures moving across his bedroom floor. John continued to make small films and
study the art of filmmaking through his high school years. After studying
animation at The Rochester Institute of Technology, he graduated from Monroe Community
College with an associate’s degree in Liberal
Arts. John attended Brooklyn
College for one year in
the Motion Picture Production School and began to work professionally in the
motion picture industry afterwards. He began as a production assistant and soon
elevated to higher positions, working in virtually every department in the
business. John’s first screen credit appears on the low budget horror film The
Refrigerator as part of the special effects crew. Since then, he has
worked on roughly a dozen feature films and countless commercials and
industrial films.
In 1989, John directed and animated a clay animated television spot at
Animatus Studio in Rochester,
New York, for the well known
music store called The House of Guitars. It has been running every year at
Christmas time, making it one of the longest running television ads in United States
history.
In 1991, John moved from the east coast to Los Angeles and began working for David Allen
Productions. David Allen was the creator of miniature and stop-motion animation
effects. There John worked on low budget horror and science fiction movies like
Freaked (a cult favorite), and Full Moon productions such as Robot
Wars, Doctor Mordrid and Prehysteria.
Following his stint in California, John
moved back to his home town of Rochester
and founded Philrose Productions. He has since headed up art departments on
productions in the upstate New York
area. John was the effects supervisor After Image, starring
John Mellencamp and Louise Fletcher, and Tommy Hilfiger Entertainment’s Proud,
starring Ossie Davis. John also served as Art Director on Proud and
Producer/Director of Photography on the feature film 3.14.
Most recently John directed and was cinematographer on the feature film Hero
of the Underworld with Quinton Aaron, Catherine Mary Stewart and Nicole Fox.John also served as one of the producers.
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Risks & Challenges
As with any movie project, there are many hurdles to overcome to get a finished product. Any money we do raise will go first to legal expenses, then travel and promotional use to get investors interested in jumping on board. The longer it takes to get investors, the longer it may take to make the movie. But we're confident that we have a film that horror movie fans want to see, and we're looking forward to making this project a reality.
Other Ways You Can Help
Don't have the cash right now? Then help spread the word! Like our Facebook page at http://facebook.com/mindrip . Share this page to your Twitter and Facebook friends or by email!
