Short Summary
The creative force behind Neapolitan is our director, writer and producer extraordinaire, Todd Mattson, who is bringing his experience in the film industry, including work on Hollywood & Independent film, network & cable television, and documentaries, to tell a different kind of story.
Rounding out the three person producing team are Jeremy Duckworth, an experienced actor now in a new role camera side, and Paul Newton, who also has one of the lead roles, "Roy", the donut-munching, electronic cigarette-smoking, detective, partner of "Phil", the lead detective on the case.
Neapolitan tells the story of a group of teenagers whose fun summer night takes a turn for the worse, and the two detectives who investigate their inadvertant crime.
To make this story come to life, Todd has brought together a talented and dedicated ensemble of cast and crew in Northwest Arkansas who love film, believe in the spirit of Indie filmmaking, and want to be a part of the film community in Arkansas as it blossoms.
Neapolitan is a story that we really want to tell, and that we think audiences will truly enjoy. More than that, we're ready to help showcase the thriving creative spirit of our town and state, and we need your help to make that happen!
The rough cut of the trailer is right above this section. It does not yet have the production audio and titles, and there are a few additional cuts that are left to be made - and those things make it a rough cut. I hope you enjoy!
What We Need & What You Get
We are trying to raise $100,000 to cover many expenses typically incurred by film productions (the extra is to cover IndieGogo's fees). Examples include actors' salaries (keep in mind - these actors are working for Ultra Low Budget SAG scale - which is really the equivalent of McDonald's wages!), crew salaries (NOBODY is taking a standard day rate of $400/day+gear!), producers' stipends (they are called stipends and NOT salaries for a reason), food and beverages for said cast and crew (they can get really hungry and thirsty!), props, costumes, location fees, quick equipment replacement, and many other production related expenses. We do own all of our own equipment, so rental is not a factor, but wear and tear certainly can be!
In addition, the money will be used towards completion of the film, which includes, but is not limited to, syncing, editing, color timing, audio re-recording and sweetening, sound effects, visual effects, titles, soundtrack composition, music licensing, festival entry fees, transfers to D-Cinema packs - which are the modern storage and delivery medium (you no longer need to make film prints) for major theater chains, along with many independent theaters nationwide, and lastly, but certainly not least, marketing, promotion, and advertising.
On July 11th, we began production on the remaining teen storyline scenes, approximately thirty minutes of screen time, which we are going to complete by July 22nd. In August, we will finish up by shooting the remaining scenes from the detectives' storyline, another thirty minutes. The film is slated to be 80 minutes running time. Not too long. Not too short. Just right in that sweet spot that so many of my favorite independent films run.
This campaign will run for 47 days. However, PayPal payments are received immediately, and can be put to use on location immediately upon receipt - making an impact at just the right time. An account is simple to set up, and used as originally intended, as a payment conduit to conceal bank and credit card information. That said, any payment is unexpected, and inches us closer and closer to success! We are grateful for every penny in any form that it is delivered, even as pennies.
Our intent upon completion is to have a festival premiere, followed by a limited theatrical release and a simultaneous early iTunes release. After that, it will be available on iTunes as a standard release, as well as other VOD (video on demand) outlets including Netflix, Amazon, and others. At that point it will also be made available to cable and satellite, mobile devices, and hard copy (DVD, Blu-Ray).
The perks have been carefully packaged to give you an experience you'll never forget. There is no filler. No T-shirts or posters or hats or mugs or other non-experience related items. These perks packages are more crafted towards what you cannot hold in your hand - a good time, and an experience geared specifically towards the art & craft of film.
We have several "Perk Packages" ranging from the $50 donation level to a $10,000 level which are detailed on the right side of this page. If we do not reach our goal, any and all funds raised will still go towards the completion of this film - and making sure that the production remains solvent enough to continue through to the end! Worst case scenario if we don't meet our goals - we have to do a second round of fundraising to get us past the finish line. No scenes will be shortchanged. Money goes onscreen first, where it belongs. We want you to SEE exactly where your money is going! We want our $100,000 movie to look like a million bucks, all thanks to you!
