Soul Cry

Þrek og Tár (“Soul Cry”) is a highly innovative Teen short by starlet actress/writer/filmmaker Margrét Ásta, and is her debut film as a writer/director. 

Margrét Asta studied acting at the TVI Actors Studio in Los Angeles, CA. She has starred in a Play at he Next Stage Theater in Hollywood as well as other theater productions and Short Films. She has also had a handful of smaller appearances and supporting roles in feature films, commercials and TV series. An accomplished dancer and vocalist, she has also done several music videos and performed live as a singer.

The Cause

A food for thought, awareness and prevention for kids heading into murky waters in their everyday lives, the film deals with a wide range of topics such as substance abuse, depression, bullying, rebellion, loss of a parent, grief, self esteem issues, fitting in and socializing as well as the trouble kids often face in the school systems of the modern-day western world. The entire team working on this project has a first hand experience with a lot of this, so it has become a passion project for everyone involved.

The Story

A teenage girl lives with her alcoholic father in a small town in Iceland.  She‘s had to struggle through a tough childhood; losing her mom and being constantly bullied, which ultimately led to a heartbreaking feeling of not belonging anywhere.  After reconnecting with an old friend, things start to get even more out of hand.

Why do we need your help?

All contribution will go strictly toward the most basic expenses of filming the project, so in contributing, the audience gets to place their hearts directly amongst the devout team of professionals who are giving their time and effort to inspire change and improvement in the lives of so many. It is the aim of this production to get this project out to kids and young adults currently facing hardship and light a spark of hope, as well as reveal the severe nature of the condition to others involved, such as parents, school officials and everyone who might make a difference in the lives of those close to them.

What we need is $13,750 to cover the projects costs. We want this film to look as good as possible and stand up with the top of the line film. Luckily a local rental company has given us a great deal on best equipment in the market. The film will be shot on Arri Alexa which is thought to be the best digital cinema camera to date by many great cinematographers. The quality of its image is simply put: beautiful. It's high dynamic range, skin tones and overall image quality really makes it the perfect camera for this film.  Alexa has been used to shoot many tv series like: Games of Thrones, Homeland and films like: Gravity, Skyfall & Iron Man 3.

With an experienced group of people involved, and a lot of connections, we have gotten a tremendous amount of support from our industry colleagues in terms of bringing expenses to a bare minimum. Gear rentals, locations and other providers have joined in with the best deals, discount and packaging they can offer, so a lot of work has already been brought to the table. With the success of this campaign, we will have covered the remaining gap to fully balance the budget.

Pre-production has been very productive in terms of making sure everyone is on top of their thing. Used to tremendously challenging conditions, Icelandic film crews are excellent problem solvers on their feet. We are devout to making your contribution, help and support count, and we will go on as planned with whatever we can get. The more the campaign makes, the less out of pocket for people who are already giving their time and their work.

The Team

Margrét Ásta 

Writer / Co-Director

Actress Margret Asta studied at the TVI Actor's Studio in Los Angeles, CA. She has starred in a Play at Next Stage Theater in Hollywood, as well as other Theater Productions and Short Films. She has had a handful of smaller appearances and supporting roles in feature films, commercials and TV series. An accomplished dancer and vocalist, she has also done several music videos and performed live as a singer. "Soul Cry" marks her debut as a writer/director, and she also plays the lead.

Vilius Petrikas

Producer / Co-Director / Cinematographer

A seasoned filmmaker, Vilius has worked in film and TV for 8 years. He has four years under his belt as a cinematographer and editor for TV, worked on over 30 major productions, 10 of which he himself directed. He's also working on his debut feature as a writer/director slated to begin principal photography this coming summer.

Halldór Fannar Sigurgeirsson

Assistant Producer

Originally an Actor/Writer, Halldor also has a Diploma in Film Making. He has co-produced a handful of projects with Vilius. Halldor has worked behind the camera a lot as well as in front of it. He has assistant directed two award winning shorts and two seasons of a TV talk show in Los Angeles. That aside, he has worked on international collaboration projects, experimental projects and done several stage plays. Additionally, he does industry and market analysis on the side, through which he has served as an advisor for startups, small production companies and individual artists. He has also written and edited for a News and Media Publication and performed as a musician and singer.

André Barros

Music Composer

Graduated in Musical Production from the ETIC (Lisbon, Portugal), André has been scoring music for many film projects. Most recently he has been nominated for best score at the Los Angeles Independent Film Festival Awards for the film "Our Father".

Davíð Charles Friðbertsson

1st Assistant Director

Davíð graduated from the Prague Film School in directing and Cinematography.  He has worked on narratives and documentaries with people from various nationalities and in diverse locations. Some of those locations include Karakorum in Mongolia and Prypiat-Chernobyl in Ukraine. As a co-writer of the short movie Seven Years of Winter he has won the Award of Excellence at the Los Angeles Film Festival 1st prize. Third place at the Rhode Island International Film Festival and nominated at the Slamdance Film Festival.

Hjalti Sveinsson

2nd Assistant Director

Since his Film School graduation, Hjalti has mostly worked as a Producer and Assistant Director. Assistant Direction is his primary focus, and he has done a lot of it.

Magnús Ómarsson

Sound Recording & Mixing

A self made man, Magnus emerged as a self-taught audio engineer. He was nominated for the Icelandic Music Award in 2002 in the "Best Album" category for his first mastered album. He has run his own studio and a record label. Since he started his studies at the Icelandic Film School, he has been the most desired sound engineer and worked on over 20 thesis films. He's currently finishing the sound work on director Elvar Gunnarsson's debut feature, "Einn".

Ísak Gunnarsson

1st Assistant Camera

Isak has worked predominantly in the Camera Department as well as G&E, although he's a jack-of-all-traits on a film-set. He has several projects under his belt.

Hallgrimur Johann Hallgrimsson

Gaffer

Having graduated from the Technical Department at the Icelandic Film School, Hallgrimur has an extensive trail of experience as a lighting technician and sound engineer. He's well accustomed to film sets and has an excellent sense of clock-work professionalism.

How you can help:

We appreciate every bit of help and support. If you can't pledge to donate, you can still help us by spreading the word, sharing our campaign profile (see indiegogo sharing tools) and make a difference in the lives of other. The donations of the heart are always the biggest donations, and every effort you put into helping us make this movie and get it out there is much appreciated. We humbly and gratefully welcome you on our team!