Hi!
We're Gregor Barclay and Colin Bell. We've been making short films and music videos and sketches and web shorts and documentaries and ads and filming gigs and theatre and comedy shows...for years. And we really like doing all that stuff, but what we've always really wanted to do is make feature films.
Feature films are expensive, and up until now we've never had a feature film idea we felt we could raise enough money to comfortably - and professionally - make. We also didn't have the technical expertise and collaborators we needed. All that has changed with Ribbons.
Ribbons is a project we conceived after Gregor watched a video on youtube of the American filmmaker Joe Swanberg at South By Southwest talking about his career. Gregor wasn't aware that Swanberg had actually made about ten (I'm not kidding, TEN) feature-length movies in an 18-month stretch a few years back. Swanberg was knocking out more movies a year than some people watch in a year and his rationale for doing so was that it wasn't expensive IF (a big if) you shoot quickly, cast cleverly, and - most importantly - do it without a script. At that point, Ribbons was conceived - it was to be a low-budget feature, to be shot on location in Glasgow over four days in March with a quintet of local actors, a skeleton crew and a whole lot of chutzpah.
The Plot
Ribbons tells the story of a dinner party gone awry; first through the antagonistic actions of the host, and latterly through the intervention of a nuclear bomb, which detonates in the city beyond and necessitates the end of dinner (as you might expect) and the guests' swift departure downstairs to the host's panic room slash fallout shelter. Our host is revealed to be what's known as a doomsday-prepper - his subterranean bunker is equipped with everything that he and his wife need to survive the nuclear winter. Everything has gone according to his fastidious emergency plans - everything except the number of people now sharing the bunker with him. Perhaps there are ways he can thin the herd? It's for the good of humanity, of course...
Cast and Crew
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We're delighting to announce that Robert Jack will be playing our tetchy, antagonistic and unreconstructed homeowner. Robert is an accomplished actor, on the stage as well as screen. He's most widely known for his work as Jacko Jackson on the BBC's Gary: Tank Commander, but his extensive theatre credits include the National Theatre of Scotland productions Black Watch and Home. He's also worked with us on a number of occasions, most recently on 2016's Bells.
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Joining Rob in our five-strong cast is Shauna Macdonald. Shauna's considerable screen credits include Filth and horror classic The Descent (and its sequel). She's also appeared appeared in Star Wars: The Last Jedi and ITV's In Plain Sight.
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Joining Shauna and Robert is Ali Craig. Ali's been making a name for himself on the small screen, with credits in just the last two years including Outlander, Trust Me and Shetland.
Behind the camera, we'll be working with camera operator and cinematographer, Alan McIlrath. Alan's an experienced cinematographer and a filmmaker in his own right, having produced and written a number of his own projects.
On DIT and offline edit duties is Chris Brown, a long term friend, sounding board and frequent voice of reason.
What We Need
We're looking for £5,300 to make Ribbons. We want to pay everyone who works on the production stage of the movie - especially our cast, who will be doing a lot of the heavy lifting with a project of this nature. We've chosen to go with an egalitarian model for remuneration: everyone, regardless of position on set, will make the same amount (£100) for a day's work. On the technical side, we already have most of the filmmaking equipment we require to deliver the movie, so the equipment hire will be minimal. With all this in mind, the budget breaks down as follows:
- CAST: 2 actors for 4 days + 2 actors for 3 days + 1 actor for 1 day @ £100 a day = £1500
- CREW: 1 director + 2 camera operators + 1 DIT + 1 sound recordist @ £100 a day = £2000
- CATERING: 4 days @ £150 a day = £600
- PRODUCTION DESIGN: Props, set dressing = £200
- TRANSPORT: Van hire + fuel + taxis = £200
- EQUIPMENT HIRE: Lighting / Grip / Sound equipment / SD cards = £500
- INDIEGOGO'S CUT: (Mandatory 5% transaction fee + £25 transfer fee) = £300
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What You Get
Ribbons should be a leap to the next level for everyone on our team - and we want to reward everyone who helps us make that leap as best we can. We've got a bunch of rewards on offer, from the familiar (tickets to the cast and crew screening, set visits, the opportunity to see the movie early online) to the unusual (the chance to have Colin and Gregor come to your house and cook you dinner, or to have the Ribbons team shoot a short film written by and starring YOU).
And there's an invisible reward, too; which comes free with every contribution, no matter how small - the knowledge that you're helping us realise a life-long dream of actually making a goshdarnit FEATURE FILM, on our own terms.
Risks & Challenges
With any film production, there are risks, but Ribbons has been designed from the ground up to mitigate as many of those risks as possible - the cast and crew is limited, the locations are controllable and few (there's only two of them!), and the filmmaking gear is unfussy (no track or dolly shots, no special effects).
It may seem like our target budget is unrealistically slim, but every effort has been taken to make sure we can achieve what we need to with this figure. We wouldn't dream of beginning our climb up this mountain without being sure we're carrying what we need to reach the summit.
Additionally, we've put in place a number of contingency plans in case we don't raise the full figure. We won't go into them here - and they will result in a compromised version of our original vision - but we'll still be able to deliver a finished product.
