PRINCE ALI is a dramatic story
starring Sheila Vand (ARGO, A GIRL WALKS HOME ALONE AT NIGHT). Produced by Max
Borenstein (GODZILLA), Angel Lopez (DEAR WHITE PEOPLE) & Julia Lebedev (THE
PROPHET, DEAR WHITE PEOPLE) and Eric J. Feig (ADVANCED STYLE).
Short Summary
How does an indie genre-director like me find myself teaming up
with the filmmaker of a summer blockbuster and the producers of an
award-winning Sundance film for a new movie? Well, let's just say we all
strongly believe that stories about people we usually don't see portrayed in
movies need to be told and voices that aren't usually heard by the mainstream
audience need to be heard. And we believe that we have found one worth sharing.
I wrote the feature screenplay PRINCE ALI, about an
Iranian-American man named Ali Abbas, who, suffering from a mid-life crisis,
visits his homeland of Iran to meet and wed a young Iranian woman, Nazy. After
bringing her back to live with him in America, they both begin to realize their
cultural differences are destroying their lives. My friend Max Borenstein
(writer of Godzilla) was so moved by the material that he began developing it
with me as a producer. During this process we found a beautiful short story in
this midst of this drama that we realized needed to be explored first.
What inspired me to write this short dramatic story, and what
drew Max to the project, is the desire to tell a human story that shows how
people, from all different races, yearn for the same things in life. PRINCE ALI
speaks to the beauty and truth of basic human nature and with all the
devastating turmoil in the world today, it is important for a story like this
be told. Now.
Max and I have since grown our team and we just signed on
producers Angel Lopez & Julia Lebedev (two of the producers of the
award-winning Sundance hit, DEAR WHITE PEOPLE),
Eric Feig, a veteran
Hollywood representative now producer, and actress Sheila Vand (ARGO, A
GIRL WALKS HOME ALONE AT NIGHT) to play the lead female role.
To maintain the integrity and sincerity of the material,
we need the proper funds to turn Los Angeles into Tehran, Iran. Our 2nd Unit
crew in Tehran is ready to shoot as soon as we're green lit. Everyone,
from the ground up, is in it for the love of telling a human story about
characters who are usually portrayed as one-dimensional villains. We just
need your help to do this right.
What We Need & What You Get
Making high quality movies for an international
audience, to be shown at film festivals around the world, is expensive. Fortunately, for this short film, we only need enough funds for
a 3-day shoot. The money will go to cast the actors, book locations, rent equipment,
and feed our cast and crew, amongst the other million moving pieces it takes to
make a movie. We don't want to cut corners and deliver a
mediocre product. We need this film to look and feel as authentically like a
small neighborhood town in Tehran as possible.
We have some awesome perks for our Indiegogo donors,
including signed copies of our movies and even a special signed copy of the
Godzilla comic GODZILLA: AWAKENING. Most importantly, if you donate you
will join our team and participate in the production as we begin casting,
location scouting, shooting and, of course, the world premiere!
The Impact
Everyone on this team has more "commercial"
projects we're currently pursuing in the movie industry - but we're all taking
a break to make this important short and eventually, the feature. Your
contribution will help us a great deal on this journey. We can't do this alone
and we need your support to spread the word. These small, human stories are all
too often overlooked by the industry and unavailable to mainstream audiences. We
believe in art and the importance of making movies that reflect our humanity,
in all its flawed and beautiful contradictions, the grey in life and messiness
of humankind.
We want to take this feature short all over the word,
attend major film festivals and even garner enough momentum for a potential
Oscar nomination for Best Short Live Action Film of 2015. We believe this is
very possible because, as unique as this film is, it deals with a culture in
the zeitgeist right now. From ARGO to Jon Stewart's ROSEWATER, people are
hungry for these stories and ours is right at the heart of this particular
cultural moment.
I've directed two award-winning and critically acclaimed
features. Max has produced and directed his own award-winning feature and has
since become one of the most sought after screenwriters in Hollywood.
He just joined Steven
Spielberg to write and executive produce the MINORITY REPORT TV series for Fox
television. We also have two
accomplished producers, Angel Lopez & Julia Lebedev whose last film was an
award winning Sundance hit, DEAR WHITE PEOPLE.
Finally, we have veteran
Hollywood representative Eric J. Feig who has just executive produced the
documentary festival hit ADVANCED STYLE.
We have a strong track record
and PRINCE ALI is our most personal, passion project yet. We won't let you
down.
The Team
MAX BORENSTEIN – Producer
Borenstein's 2008 screenplay What Is Life Worth?,
based on Kenneth
Feinberg's memoir of the same name, was
honored with inclusion on The
Black List, an annual list compiled by
Hollywood executives of their favorite unproduced screenplays. His 2009
screenplay Jimi, commissioned by Legendary Pictures and based on the life of guitarist Jimi Hendrix, was also included on The
Black List.
Borenstein wrote the screenplay for Legendary's Godzilla (2014). The film was one of the biggest hits of the summer
and an international blockbuster. He will write Paladin for Walt
Disney Pictures and New Regency's MONA, based on the upcoming novel written by Swedish author Dan T. Sehlberg. He is currently adapting Steven Spielberg’s Minority Report
for television and is set to write Legendary's Skull Island.
KEVIN HAMEDANI – writer/director
Kevin Hamedani began his career as a filmmaker with the
award-winning short, “The Love of C.A.” (2003). Immediately after
graduating from the University of Washington with an honor degree in film
studies, Academy Award nominee John Sinno signed on to produce Hamedani’s first
feature film, “ZMD: Zombies of Mass Destruction”. The film went on
to receive critical acclaim at film festivals worldwide. “ZMD” was
acquired by Lions Gate and premiered theatrically in January 2010, now
available on DVD/VOD. Variety -- "Part of a rare breed: a horror-comedy that's
actually consistently funny...a promising start for debut director Kevin
Hamedani." BloodyDisgusting.com -- "The best of its kind since 'Shaun of the
Dead.'"
In 2013, Hamedani’s second feature, “JUNK”, was acquired
by Breaking Glass Pictures and received a limited theatrical release and is
available on DVD/VOD. The film won the AUDIENCE
AWARD at the Austin Film Festival
with overwhelmingly positive reviews. The film stars Brett Davern (MTV’s
“Awkward”), Jake Johnson (“New Girl”), and James Hong (“Blade Runner) with
music by OK GO: LA
Times - “…stoner
identities and Judd Apatow influenced, raunchy-yet-sensitive humor…the central
characters have a good rapport…a worthwhile lark.”
ANGEL LOPEZ - producer
Angel Lopez is a writer and producer based in Los
Angeles. Most recently, he was a part of the producing team behind the 2014
Sundance Film Festival award-winning hit, Dear White People
. His film career
began at Focus Features, where he spent time in both marketing and production.
There, he worked on campaigns for award winning films such as Brokeback
Mountain, The Constant Gardener, and Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind. He
then spent five years as a development executive at Participant Media, where he
contributed to such projects as The Soloist and The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel.
Angel also produced original content for Participant’s funded YouTube channel,
TakePart TV, as well as wrote and directed for Justin Simien’s web series,
“INSTMSGS”.
JULIA LEBEDEV – producer
Julia Lebedev is an independent producer and financier,
who founded Code Red Productions in 2009. She recently executive produced THE
PROPHET, which premiered at the 2014 Toronto International Film Festival. With
a focus on telling original stories featuring diverse characters, she helped
produce and finance the satire Dear White People
and thriller Honour
. Committed
to showcasing challenging subject matter, Code Red has contributed to the
distribution of films such as We Need To
Talk About Kevin
and After Tiller
. Prior
to running Code Red, Julia started her film career at Participant Media, as
part of the development team, where she learned not to shy away from
potentially controversial, but compelling human stories.
ERIC J FEIG – producer
Eric J. Feig is a veteran entertainment attorney![]()
and
producer who has worked in Hollywood for 20 years representing top clients and
projects. Since 2011, Feig has been developing and producing projects which feature
incredible characters, stories meant to touch and transform and which often challenge
the accepted norms. He recently executive produced documentary festival hit Advanced
Style
.
Feig is currently producing the BACA documentary, a powerful feature to be directed
by Academy Award nominee Kief Davidson.
SHEILA VAND – “Nazy”
Sheila Vand (born April 27, 1985) is an American
actress, performance artist and an ultra-adorable cutie-face. She is best known
for her role in Ben
Affleck's 2013 Oscar-winning film Argo. Vand made her Broadway debut alongside Robin Williams in 2011 in the Pulitzer-nominated Bengal
Tiger at the Baghdad Zoo. She has worked
with filmmaker Ana Lily Amirpour on several projects, including Pashmaloo,
which premiered at the Berlinale in 2011 and A
Girl Walks Home Alone at Night, which premiered
at the 2014 Sundance
Film Festival. Vand is currently starring in the
NBC drama with Katherine Heigl “State of Affairs”.
Risks & Challenges
Even though it's a short production, it won't be easy.
We need the right cast and a great crew to transport the audience to
Iran. To a world they've never seen before or are eager to explore again.
Fortunately, we have a lot of experience and enough passion to make this
a smooth, successful shoot – with your help!
Other Ways You Can Help
Even if you can't contribute, please help us by spreading
the word. Share this campaign with all of your friends. Post this campaign to
your Facebook page and other social media outlets. Tweet about PRINCE ALI to
help us get the word out and make some noise!
Thank you so much for reading and contributing to our
campaign! We look forward to sharing the finished film with you.
Use the Indiegogo share tools!
Concept Art by Michaele Razi (http://www.raziink.com/)
