The Story
Roy is a robot mechanic holed away in a rundown barn, living in a world of rustic antiques melded with futuristic sensibilities. He is a man forgotten by society and spends his days tinkering at projects. That is until someone opens the door into his shop. A girl asks Roy if he's the robot mechanic, to which he responds that he is. The girl then threatens Roy at gunpoint to fix her: a sex robot on the verge of shutting down for good.
Roy is a story about compassion in the face of those affected by violence and despair. It explores the themes of how we relate to strangers and friends around us who have become bitter and jaded by the world.
Roy poses this question: how do we face those transformed by violence and angry at the world?
Our Financial Goal
Collectively, the team of Roy has worked on over 100 projects over the span of three years. These projects include feature documentaries, feature films, commercials, and short films. As young filmmakers, we have been used to working on little to no budgets for most of the projects we've worked on. For Roy, this is a project that we want to challenge ourselves. This includes being able to operate at a level where our creativity isn't stifled by constantly worrying about going over-budget.
Our budget is $10,000. The funds will go to items such as cast salaries, location expenses, camera rental, G&E (grip and electric) rentals, along with wardrobe and insurance prices (see graph below).
The most important aspects of our budget are Set Decoration, Props, and Art Department. Since Roy is set in this world where the vintage grandeur of the 1920s all the way to the 1960s is blended with the innovative and distinct coldness of sci-fi futuristic setting, the set decoration and props for the film are key in order to make the film. We have been gathering props and set decoration pieces for the past year during pre-production. Through your donation, we would be able to expedite the process of building and purchasing set decoration objects for the project.
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The Team behind Roy
Joseph Fifelski - Writer/Director
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Joseph Fifelski is a director, storyboard artist, concept artist, and writer of Roy. But more than that, he is a young filmmaker with a passion for telling stories that mean something. Why watch a film if it doesn’t make you think? Doesn’t make you feel? Joseph firmly believes in telling a story that has a purpose. His art and all that he tries to do through film attempts to reflect that view. Joseph grew up in rural Pennsylvania and have lived in various parts around the country. He is currently based in San Diego, where he continues to learn about the industry of cinema. Joe hopes to push his limits as an artist and plans on directing and art directing more in the future. Bringing words to life or taking a vision to fruition, this is his dream.
JJ Schindler - Producer
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J.J. Schindler is originally from Northern Idaho, his love for film started during a rough time in his life when his sister was diagnosed with a rare form of cancer. He saw that the only thing that really took her away from the pain of treatment and chemotherapy was watching a movie. J.J. knew from that moment that he wanted to make movies for the rest of his life. When working as an actor alongside the late, Patty Duke, he took a leap of faith after she advised him to go to Los Angeles. That he did, getting a scholarship for acting at a small film and acting school called John Paul the Great Catholic University, he moved down to Southern California and now lives in Hollywood. While working on various student productions he found his passion for film producing. He has produced dozens of short films including Behind Greatness, Anna, Scout: A Star Wars Story, Arch, and many others. He is ready to take things to the next level with Roy and is excited to take audiences to an amazing world and through a gripping story.
Peter Mai - Co-Producer
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Originally from Lincoln, Nebraska, his passion for creative arts began during high school when his friends convinced him to help build sets for the Fall Play. This love for artistic endeavors soon grew into a love for narrative filmmaking by the time he graduated. He soon discovered his familial background in photography, music, and film from his cultural home of Vietnam. This drove him to follow in the footsteps of the Mai family in being an artist. Soon afterward, he moved to Southern California to pursue filmmaking. He had worked in a variety of roles but his favorite part on set is being a producer. He has produced dozens of short films including Forsaken, Dangerous, Burning Building and many others. He is excited to help the team of Roy tell their story in this film.
Jesse Baron - Director of Photography
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From a young age, Jesse knew he wanted to become a storyteller and film was the best medium to actualize that creative fascination. Without knowing anything about the practical and artistic techniques of filmmaking, he set off on that path and discovered a world his creative identity could develop. Living abroad and studying film in London, England then working producing TV in Buenos Aires were experiences that shaped his approach, visual aesthetics, and taste. He currently produces, writes, and directs film & commercial video in Detroit, MI.
Shelby Turner - Assistant Director
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Shelby Turner is a multifaceted filmmaker. She is assistant directing for Roy but wears many hats - from actor to director to producer. Shelby knows the ropes from behind the camera to being in front of the camera. She has been on many sets throughout her career and is looking forward to working with such a talented team of filmmakers on Roy.
Lexi Lovetere - Head of Set Decoration
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Lexi Lovetere is a Production Designer and Set Decorator based in North Hollywood. She recently graduated from John Paul the Great University where she decorated many short films and senior thesis projects. Lexi first got into Production Design because someone noticed that she had a good eye for detail. They asked if she could fill in for the set decorator on their project. Ever since then Lexi has been hooked on color, design, balance, all think set decoration. She has gotten to work with most of the crew on Roy from other projects and is am excited to work with them again. Roy has a unique aesthetic that will be layered with detail and that Lexi is excited to dive in and help give it its special look.
Natasha Doran - Head of Costume and Wardrobe
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Natasha is originally from Peoria, Illinois and has loved costume design ever since she was a child. She graduated from John Paul the Great Catholic University in 2016 and is now pursuing historical costuming. She believes that the clothes we wear tell a story of who we are and what we have been through and hopes to be able to create a story just as well-crafted as this story, with the characters’ costumes.
Catalina Rojas - Head of Make-Up
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Catalina Rojas is a sophomore at JP Catholic and an Animation Major. She grew up in Arizona, but all her family originated from Colombia. Drawing for her began as a distraction which quickly turned into a passion. That passion expanded when she watched Pixar’s Brave and became obsessed with animation. Since attending JPCatholic, Catalina has been fortunate enough to have been a part of close to forty short films. On sets, she participated in acting roles and in other art department roles including production design and the head makeup/special effects for Roy. In the future, Catalina hopes to pursue a career as a storyboard and concept artist.
Joseph Graves - Visual Effects Supervisor
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Getting into film-making from the DSLR world meant doing everything yourself. From learning cinematography came visual effects, watching countless tutorials and eventually attending JPCatholic. From there he's been collaborating with other digital art students and learning the VFX pipeline. After working on student and professional projects all across the west coast, acting as VFX Supervisor on Roy is the culmination of trial-and-error and disciplined practice.
JP Poirier - Head Composer
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JP was born in Scottsdale, Arizona. Most of his life up until becoming a young adult was spent on the road traveling around the US with his family who practiced ministry. JP has always had a deep love for music. He has spent the last seven years growing in his skills as a music producer and is looking forward to putting those skills to use in the making of the soundtrack for Roy.
Other Ways You Can Help
If it isn't in your budget to help out with ours, we totally get it. Here are some other ways to help us out!
Check out our social media pages and share the content that we post. As storytellers, nothing is more important than to be able to share the stories that matter to us. We want to spread the word about Roy and the dedicated people working on it. We post stories about how our team got into filmmaking, concept art that was drawn by the director, video pieces about headaches the producers run into, and vlogs about flipping garage sale items as a way to fund the film.
https://www.facebook.com/roythemovie/
https://www.instagram.com/themovieroy/
Share this page to get more people involved!
https://igg.me/at/roythemovie
