Short Film "NOPPERABOU"
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(Japanese campaign page is from above/日本語ページは上記より)
Nopperabou (のっぺらぼう)Noun - faceless ghost, is a Japanese legendary creature.
The name of the best cr
oss cultural short film in Japan to US!
"Nopperabou"
is sometimes included in Japanese textbooks for first or second year
students. This story from the Edo period about the woman with no face
scared me when I read it, but I really loved it. I thought it was so
cute that Japanese people gave names to their different ghosts! These
kinds of stories have no chance to go to Americans who don't speak
Japanese. I really want to show not just America but the world that
there are many sides to Japan. Not just Tokyo and anime and video
games, but a beautiful country full of mystery, history, and wonder.
The staff and cast of Tokyo Cowboys we all feel this way. Let's introduce our world to Japan and our Japan to the world!
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Story
Dave (Kyle Card) and
Brian (Christopher McCombs) are two Americans who have come to a small
town in Japan for a year long intensive language study program. Upon
arrival, the brooding Tanaka (Kintaro Aoyama) explains that the town is
still and quiet. An ideal place to study and learn. It is also
dangerous to be out after night and he firmly advises them to get
indoors before dark. At their first day of school they meet the
straight talking Deni (Camilla Ståhl) and Brian discovers the legend of
the weeping faceless ghost Nopperabou in one of his textbooks.
That night, though Tanaka warned him, Dave and Deni head to a bar
for a few drinks after school. With no car, Dave is forced to walk the
dark country roads alone. As he drunkenly makes his way he comes across
a crying woman in the street and the horror begins.
Traditional Japanese country life meets the modern American man. A
famous Japanese legend brought into a modern setting. A short film
that is both thrilling and touching.
Tokyo Cowboys is proud to present "Nopperabou."
Cast ![]()
Christopher McCombs as Brian
American born print/catalogue model and actor, Chris has been performing since the age of 15. He has appeared in various commercials, magazines, music videos including Namie Amuro and DJ Makidai, as well as television dramas. He recently starred in the NDJC 2012 short film The Secret Keeper and will appear in Miracle Devi-Kuro-Kun no Koi to Mahou winter of 2014. He also appeared as a regular on Tokyo MX's Gojinimuchuu. Chris is currently based in Tokyo, Japan and is represented by Freewave Entertainment.
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Camilla Ståhl as DeniCamilla Stahl was born in the Swedish archipelago. She began acting lessons from a young age and has been modeling since the age of 12. Looking for adventure and warmer climate she moved to Tokyo at the age of 19 where she pursued her modeling and acting career full time. She has worked for various clothing brands, television commercials, magazines, music videos including Gackt and Yamashita Tomoshisa, regular on the tv Drama Nihon-Jin No Shiranai Nihon Go (The Japanese which Japanese people don't know) and other various tv shows. Camila also appeared in the 2014 movie Judge! Her future dream is to do more movies, both in Japan and abroad. Camilla is represented by Freewave Entertainment.
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Kintaro Aoyama as TanakaKintaro was born in 1978 in Yamanashi, Japan. Since he was a child, Kintaro often watched movies with his mom who worked at a video store and became very interested in entertainment as a result. After coming to Tokyo at the age of 20, he got a role in his friend's film and became interested in acting professionally. From 26 he primarily focused on performing in stage plays, but is currently working mainly in television, commercials, and movies.
Present by Tokyo Cowboys
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Tokyo Cowboys is a short film production company based in Tokyo
Japan that specializes in cross cultural entertainment. We are proud to
introduce untold stories from Asia to America and Europe.
We will
also bring beloved stories from the west to Asia for the first time. Our
production team has staff from around the world and is tirelessly
working to provide quality entertainment. In our first year, we are very
proud to present four different short films. Each film will be made
with the same production team and performed by the same actors and
actresses in new roles.
Why we chose Japan?
From
a young age, I have always had an interest in Japan and Japanese
culture. After modeling in Las Vegas and Los Angeles for several years,
I used the money I saved up to study Japanese at college and then move
to Japan.
Moving to Japan was difficult. At first it was very hard to get
used to life here. Everything is so different. But-Japan has been
amazing to me. I have made many friends and these friends have become
family. These people have really made me fall in love with Japan and
Japanese culture.
Working in entertainment in Japan has been like a dream! The
Japanese art of storytelling and structure of Japanese stories are world
class. I want to share these stories and this craftsmanship with the
world. (by Chris McCombs)
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Team
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Director - Tomori Tsubasa
Born in 1983 in Okinawa, Tomori came to Tokyo at the age of 19 to pursue a career in the film industry.
After
studying at Nihon Kougakuin Hachiouji Digital Film School, he worked at
a television studio as an assistant director and began working on his
own film projects. Tomori continues to work freelance making short
films, music videos, and event promotional films.
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Director of Photography - Miki YamatoBorn in
Tokyo in 1986, Miki has been working with a camera since the age of 10,
and rented her first darkroom at the age of 14. She began studying
photography and design full time at art school from the age of 15 while
continuing to work as a professional cameraman.
Continuing her
education, Miki began studying special effect camera techniques and
holding one-woman exhibitions. After graduation, she opened her own
photo studio chain (Yamato Studios) and continues to work in fashion and
portrait work while experimenting with film.
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Producer - Chris McCombs"Taking risks. To forge ahead even when there isn't a road. Working hard.
Not
giving up. This is the American Cowboy spirit, we want to infuse with
the Japanese sense of teamwork and sophistication to create new and
exciting ways to tell beloved and classic stories. I hope you'll come
with us on this adventure.
Tokyo Cowboys' first short film, "SURE THING".
As our first and previous work, we created "SURE THING".
"Bill
and Betty" is called "Sure Thing" in America and it is a well loved
short play. We added many things to the story and decided to give it a
name easier to understand for a Japanese audience. We really wanted to
introduce a new story to Japan as well as introduce ourselves at the
same time.
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Story
SURE THING is a romantic comedy about getting a second, third, fourth, and even fifth chance at love.
Bill
(Chris McCombs) is out for a coffee, but when he arrives at his usual
coffee house, he finds it is completely packed. The only empty seat is
in front of Betty (Camilla Stahl). When the two finally meet, will they
have a happy ending or not so happy? Only time will tell in this playful
romantic comedy of redos, retries, and replays. (Runtime/22 mins.)
"SURE THING" First Screening event in Tokyo
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We organized a premier screening event at Baloque Caffe in Asagaya, Tokyo in September 2014.
We had 3 sessions to show "SURE THING", each time the seats were almost sold out and totally about 150 people came to watch!
We had a special talk show and raffle with great prizes at the event, the people who came here gave us a lot of positive comments, as well as we are very much happy with sharing the moment beyond the cultural distance.
Why we need this crowd funding
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When
we were making Sure Thing, I provided all of the money we used from my
personal savings. I really believed in this project and wanted to see
how far we could go without money. I was very lucky to gather a
professional cast and crew who all felt passionate about making quality
entertainment and were not worried about getting paid.
Having said that, shooting
with little to no budget was difficult. There were many pieces of
equipment we wanted to rent or buy, for example better sound equipment
or a stabilizer, but there was no money for it. We had to use what we
had and improvise. It was amazing to see everyone use every bit of
professional knowledge they had to make it work.
Moving forward, we have agreed
to keep working without pay on Nopperabou. We all want to put every
bit of money we have available to us into this project.
I am very proud of what we did
with Sure Thing, but it is my hope for Nopperabou to have access to
higher quality equipment to make a higher quality film. I want to step
up our game. (By Chris McCombs)
Perks
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$5 : Arigatou Message
◆Thank you message from Tokyo Cowboys via email, eternal gratitude from us
$30 : Online 2 films Screening
◆Thank you message from TOKYO COWBOYS via email
◆Exclusive
Online screening of "NOPPERABOU" and our previous work "SURE THING"
◆Original sound track date
$65 : DVDs & Posters
◆Thank you message from TOKYO
COWBOYS via email
◆Original sound track date
◆Fisical DVDs of NOPPERABOU and SURE THING with signed by
staffs&casts
◆Signed posters of both works
$115 : Special supporter
◆Thank you message from TOKYO
COWBOYS via email
◆Original sound track date
◆Fisical DVDs of NOPPERABOU and SURE THING with signed by
staffs&casts
◆Signed posters of both works
◆You will be invited to the premium screening event as a special
supporter,
◆Your name will be appearing at the event.
(The event will be
in Tokyo, transportation fee isn't included.)
$115 : Signed premiere item
◆Thank you message from TOKYO
COWBOYS via email
◆Original sound track date
◆Fisical DVDs of NOPPERABOU and SURE THING with signed by
staffs&casts
◆Signed posters of both works
◆You receive a unique signed item by Tokyo Cowboys staff&casts, this item will be used in the film. (The item will be random.)
$165 : Act as an Extra!
◆Thank you message from TOKYO
COWBOYS via email
◆Original sound track date
◆Fisical DVDs of NOPPERABOU and SURE THING with signed by
staffs&casts
◆Signed posters of both works
◆You will be invited to the premium screening event as a special
supporter,
◆Your name will be appearing at the event.
◆You will be able to act as an extra in this film.
◆You get the scenario book.
(This shooting, event will be in Tokyo,
transportation fee isn't included.)
$215 : Debut as an actor/actress
◆Thank you message from TOKYO
COWBOYS via email
◆Original sound track date
◆Fisical DVDs of NOPPERABOU and SURE THING with signed by
staffs&casts
◆Signed posters of both works
◆You will be invited to the premium screening event as a special
supporter,
◆Your name will be appearing at the event.
◆ You will be able to perform as a role in this film! Of course you
will speak!
(This shooting, event will be in Tokyo, transportation fee isn't
included, You will be required to speak English or Japanese.)
$215 : Participate in our party!
◆Thank you message from TOKYO
COWBOYS via email
◆Original sound track date
◆Fisical DVDs of NOPPERABOU and SURE THING with signed by
staffs&casts
◆Signed posters of both works
◆You will be invited to the premium screening event as a special
supporter,
◆Your name will be appearing at the event.
◆You participate in our private party with all of Tokyo
Cowboys staffs&casts, the place will be at the cafe where we shoot
"SURE THING".
(All events will be in Tokyo, transportation fee isn't included.)
$315 : Become a Nopperabou
◆Thank you message from TOKYO
COWBOYS via email
◆Original sound track date
◆Fisical DVDs of NOPPERABOU and SURE THING with signed by
staffs&casts
◆Signed posters of both works
◆You will be invited to the premium screening event as a special
supporter,
◆Your name will be appearing at the event.
◆You participate in our private party with all of Tokyo
Cowboys staffs&casts, the place will be at the cafe where we shoot
"SURE THING".
◆You can experience the special effects makeup to be a Nopperabou. After
you make up, our photographer takes a photo of you to make a your
Nopperabou's poster. As well as you receive the unique poster.
(All events will be in Tokyo, transportation fee isn't
included.)
$1,000 : Welcome to Japan!
◆Thank you message from TOKYO
COWBOYS via email
◆Original sound track date
◆Fisical DVDs of NOPPERABOU and SURE THING with signed by
staffs&casts
◆Signed posters of both works
◆You will be invited to the premium screening event as a special
supporter,
◆Your name will be appearing at the event.
◆You participate in our private party with all of Tokyo
Cowboys staffs&casts, the place will be at the cafe where we shoot
"SURE THING".
◆Tokyo Cowboys members will pick you up at the airport
in Tokyo, after that let's go to our recommend places in Tokyo! For
instance, a great sushi restaurant and some traditional temples,
Japanese shopping places! Of course you can request where you want to
visit!
(2days plan, accomodation&transportation fee isn't included,
English or Japanese support is available.)
Thank you very much for reading!
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