THANK YOU!

Hello everybody. First of all, we want to send a BIG THANK YOU to everyone who supported our campaign thus far and announce that we have secured $150,000 for the making of our film! It looks like Pickings is happening!!!!

We are scheduling principle photography for March of 2016 and hope that you can become a part of the process by contributing and spreading the word the film.

THANK YOU for your support! The response has been amazing!

Join us in the making of our upcoming feature film! 

Three cinephiles sit around the table to talk about their favorite films. The conversation quickly escalates to "I have a script for a feature film and I want you to read it". A vivid description of the film brings smiles across everyone's faces. CUT TO: "Three months later" - writer/director Usher Morgan partners up with cinematographer Louis Obioha to make their first feature film entitled Pickings. The film is scheduled to begin production in January 2016 and will be released to theaters around Christmas. It's a filmmaker's dream - and we want you to be a part of it!

Okay, Tell Me About the Film

When a short-tempered mobster and his gang of thugs try to shake down a neighborhood bar, they're soon confronted with the wrath of its owner - a mysterious mother with a dangerous past. She's willing to die to protect her children, protect her property and stand up to the biggest racket in town. With your support, this action-packed revenge thriller will be released to select theaters in 2016.

Our feature film has more than an important message; it has twists and turns, references and homages, plenty of humor and a cathartic climax. It has all the elements of a mob film, mixed together with the spiritual elements of a classic revenge film. It's something new, something original, and something that has never been done before. 

Progress Report

Pickings has been in production since May of 2015, we shot the trailer in July and now we are preparing for principle photography. The entire feature film will be shot under a $200,000 budget, a portion of the film's budget has already been secured and now we are looking to crowdfund the rest using Indiegogo. We are proud to offer you the opportunity to become a part of our film. 

Unfortunately, Hollywood generally refrains from making films about strong heroines and powerful female leads -  the ones that are made by the Hollywood system will generally be over-sexualized; the filmmakers will have them prance around in an uncomfortable and impractical outfits for the sole purpose of "looking hot" - story and character development are secondaries. 

What makes our feature film so different is that our heroine is not a 'typical' female warrior, she's mysterious, quiet, powerful... she's the definition of a strong Southern woman. She's being tormented by a past that she's trying to forget and forced to come face to face with her own demons and conquer them to survive. 

This film is more than just a "bully gets his ass kicked" movie, or a typical "lioness protecting her cubs" kind of film - it is about the importance of confronting your past, embracing your pain and coming to terms with who you really are. It has mystery, action, humor and an original story-line and we are proud to be sharing it with you and look forward to watching it on the big screen.

"Painful scars represent your painful memories; they're the proof you have of just how much pain you can take and how much you can endure. Every scar you carry, every bad memory, is an indication of how strong you actually are; how much you've endured, and how, against all odds, you survived. People say you need to forget about the bad things, forget the painful memories, and let them go. But if you do that, you lose the value of the scar, the pain was suffered and nothing gained. Fear overtook you, and the scar you carry, had made you weaker, not stronger." ~ Jo Lee Haywood, Pickings.

Distribution

We're aiming for a theatrical release by landing a distribution deal with a reputable distribution company. If a deal is not made, Digital Magic Entertainment will release the film to select theaters in New York City and Los Angeles, in addition to VOD, DVD and Blu-Ray. This is, in a way, the best incentive we can give to our contributors - as everyone will get a chance to see their name on the big screen come 2017! We've made this movie to be seen by as many people as possible.

BE A PART OF PICKINGS!

We believe that film is by far the greatest medium for telling stories and influencing viewers; it can last forever and if done right - remembered for years after its release. We want our movie to make a difference, we want it to transcend the viewer into a world they've never visited, to get them to care about characters they don't know and to fall in love with a hero that inspires them.

Filmmaking is a collaborative effort - Everything you see on screen is the result of hard work by dedicated professionals who are truly passionate about the story, the characters and each other. A film set quickly turns into a big family of individuals, each passionately working towards the achievement of a single goal - to make a feature film worth watching.

A little dish of cuteness...  Here we are celebrating our youngest member's birthday on the set of the Pickings trailer shoot (Lily Brooks O'Briant, playing the role of EMMA)

THAT is precisely why we chose INDIEGOGO - not only because of the site's previous success with indie films, but also because we are trying to reach out, expand and add passionate fans to our tight-knit filmmaking family. 

Check Our Our Pickings T-Shirts

OUR TEAM

USHER MORGAN - Executive Producer / Writer / Director

Usher Morgan is an award-winning filmmaker, screenwriter and executive producer. He wrote the first draft for Pickings in 2013 and has been evolving the story, characters and style ever since.

His first narrative directorial debut, a comedy short film entitled Prego, had recently won the Best Comedy Short Award at the 2015 Manhattan Film Festival, the Best Comedy Short Award at the Chain NYC Film Festival as well as the IndieFest film festival awards and is scheduled to be screened at 5 other festivals in the next few months. A student of the Dov Simens Filmmaking class and a self-proclaimed cinephile, Morgan's directing style is influenced primarily by film-noir and spaghetti westerns. His favorite filmmakers are Wes Anderson, Quentin Tarantino, Sergio Leone, Howard Hawks and Alfred Hitchcock.

LOUIS OBIOHA - Cinematographer

Louis Obioha, founder of Clever Chimp Productions, is a gifted cinematographer born and raised in New York City. His early years of education began with electrical engineering at NYIT in Long Island, where he honed his skills at the technical level. He then transferred to Queens College to pursue his career in filmmaking. During his time at Queens College, Louis began working in professional productions in NY, LA, Las Vegas, Dominican Republic, Russia and Japan. Louis has had the opportunity to work with creators like Spike Lee, J.Cole, Wale, Flo Rida, Sean Kingston, Zab Judah, Mike Tyson and Alec Baldwin. Louis believes that this field of work is made for the people who simply love to create and have the tenacity to fight against the odds. He served as cinematographer for Morgan's previous short film, Prego.

AND YOU

We are thrilled to be sharing our project with you and ask that you give what you can. We will be forever grateful for your support!  If you can't contribute financially - spread the word, follow us on Facebook and Twitter, share our kickass trailer and when the film reaches a theater near you, take your loved ones to the movies, buy some popcorn and enjoy the film. 

Thank you!

The Pickings Team