PERFORMANCE: A Celebration of Despair
Performance: A Celebration of Despair is a short art house film that follows a day in the life of a depleted performer.
We shot the film in August 2012 on location in Manhattan, Brooklyn and Staten Island, and are now very proud to finally have a final cut.
However, we still have one of the most important aspects of the film left to complete: Post Production.
This involves creating the sound design and engineering the sound mix, composing and recording our original score, as well as doing the final touch ups with color correction.
In order to accomplish this, we need your help in funding the process.
Our Team
Jakob Abrams, writer/director. As a director, Jakob's previous credits include cult films Jungle Girls and I'm Your Man, and as a producer, MOM and the upcoming Summum Bonum, in which he also stars.
Simon Vargas, producer/actor. Simon Vargas is the founder of Quien Te Cuida Films. After Performance, he will start development on his first feature film to be shot in Colombia in 2014. As an actor, Simon has appeared on New York's stage in several Shakespeare plays, and has been featured in several different short films, one of these being Tequila Mockingbird's La Madrugada.
Melinda Prisco, producer. Melinda Prisco has been working with the same collective for the past five years. Credits include producing Jakob Abrams' Jungle Girls, I'm Your Man and Play Mates, as well as Lonely Christopher's MOM and the upcoming film Summum Bonum, directed by Performance cinematographer Matías Penachino.
Matías Penachino, cinematographer. Matías Penachino recently served as cinematographer for Sebastian Hofmann's Halley (Official Selection Morelia Film Festival, Official Selection Rotterdam Film Festival, Sundance Film Festival) and also shot MOM. He has directed three feature films, Finde (Distrital Film Festival) and the upcoming Orden Natural and Summum Bonum.
Orly Anan, art director. Orly Anan is an artist based in New York City. Recent credits include set decorator for Harpers Bazaar's photo shoot of Wes Anderson's Moonrise Kingdom, the art installation Objects of Desire in New York's Lower East Side, and is now working on a stop motion film for Nickelodeon.
Raúl Locatelli, location sound. Raúl Locatelli is an established location sound mixer. Credits include extensive collaborations with Carlos Reygadas (Cannes Film Festival 2012 Best Director), notably Silent Light (Official Selection Cannes Film Festival) as well as the recent Halley (Official Selection Rotterdam Film Festival) and the upcoming Summum Bonum.
Cast: Alan Altschuler, Simon Vargas, Chloe Hurst, Vivien Landau, Marilyn Kim, Tadashi Mitsui and Erin Markey.
How the Funds Will be Spent
We are very excited to have assembled a team of outstanding professionals for our film's post production.
We will be teaming up again with Neil Benezra (Brooklyn Sound Society) for our sound design and mix. In order to enhance the film's surreal environment, Neil has already started to record exclusive sounds. Some of his previous credits include a long standing relationship with James Franco (Sal, The Broken Tower, Child of God) and he recently worked with world renowned director Abel Ferrara on 4:44 Last Day on Earth (Named one of the Top 12 Films of 2012 by Cahiers du Cinéma.)
Our color correction will be led by Sam Daley over at the prestigious TECHNICOLOR. Some of his previous credits include HBO's Mildred Pierce starring Kate Winslet, Lena Dunham's Tiny Furniture and HBO series Girls and Sean Durkin's Martha Marcy May Marlene.
We are very lucky to be working with long time collaborator Loui A. Tomic for the composition of our original score. He's teaming up with music constructor and producer Mike McHugh, whose previous credits include producing the records of the establish punk band The Black Lips.
As we have very high aims for our film, we will be submitting Performance: A Celebration of Despair to the most acclaimed film festivals in the world. In order to do this, we must pay for each festival's admission fee, as well as copies, prints and shipping.
Other Ways to Help
If you're able to donate money through our campaign, we are extremely grateful. No amount is too little.
However, there are many other ways to help. You can share this link, or e-mail us with all your questions either at vargasacosta.s@gmail.com or melindaprisco@gmail.com.
If you have an event where you'd like to screen the film, or know of any new and upcoming festivals, please do let us know.
Word of mouth is the most important aspect in filmmaking, after all, it is the most collaborative form of all the arts.
Thank you very much,
Quien Te Cuida Films
