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Short Summary
The book The Expert at the Card Table and the mystery surrounding it is one of the few remaining unsolved mysteries in magic. This project is a chance to explore the legacy of the book and it's impact on the magic and gambling communities as well as the people who raised the material to prominence and solidified it's reputation as one of the great books about advantage card play in publishing history.
Contributors to this campaign will have a chance to play an important role in presenting this material to a wider audience. This film will be the first of it's kind to focus so intensely on the book and the campaign provides a unique opportunity to be a part of that legacy.
Should our goal be achieved, The Expert Documentary will provide a close and detailed examination of a variety of different aspects of card cheating, magic, gambling and cardistry.
A larger audience will also be exposed to some of the great talents of card table artifice both past and present through new interviews and rare archival footage.
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What We Need & What You Get
Funds contributed to this campaign will go towards a variety of costs associated with producing a documentary film. In addition to shooting more interviews with various individuals related to The Expert, we intend to recreate the meeting between the author and illustrator of The Expert at the Card Table. This meeting is important as it is the only first-hand witness account of the author of the book.
Archival footage and pictures will also be vital to producing this film and some of the funds raised will go towards research, licensing and rights for the various clips and images used to convey our story. Funds will also be used for production costs including insurance, legal consultation, crew, gear, travel to locations associated with the book and possible interviews, post production costs and various other necessities.
Contributors to this campaign will have the opportunity to obtain special one-of-a-kind items as well as unique Expert-themed items for both the serious and aspiring cardist alike.
Perk items include:
- Digital and DVD copies of the film when it is finished.
- A unique deck of Expert-themed cards. This will be a one of a kind, custom deck made specifically for the film. The design will be created and updated over the course of the campaign with input from donors and fans of the film.
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- An 11x17" or 12x8.5" (in Expert Package currently) hard backed practice pad made specially for the film campaign by JM Authentics. https://jmauthentics.com/
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- A custom made Expert themed deck clip made specifically for the film by RE Handcrafted. https://rehandcrafted.com/
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- A Joker from a Bee 1902 Club Special Smith Back Deck and copy of The Experts at the Card Table signed by the books author and magician David Ben.
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- One of four aces signed by Erdnase experts Richard Hatch and Jason England from a Bee 1902 Club Special Smith Back Deck.
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- A soft cover copy of the modern Dover edition of The Expert at The Card Table signed by Erdnase experts Richard Hatch and Jason England.
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- A modern, hard cover edition of The Expert at The Card Table by S.W. Erdnase signed by contributors David Ben, Mike Caveney, Jason England, Richard Hatch and R. Paul Wilson.
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- Passes to a TBD VIP screening of the film when it premieres.
- Executive producer credit.
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Should the campaign fail to raise it's entire goal, any funds raised will go into compensating collaborators who worked for differed pay on the trailer and campaign materials. Beyond that, funds will be put towards continuing the effort to produce the film.
The Impact
No other documentary film has been produced that explores The Expert at the Card Table in this detail. The film will examine the publication history of the book and the various candidates for the authorship, the various magicians and technicians who put the lessons of the book to use and other aspects of the history of advantage play.
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Other Ways You Can Help
Please WATCH the trailer, SHARE it so others can participate and DONATE what you can if you find the subject matter interesting and worthy of being the topic of a documentary film!
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This campaign would not be possible without the help of some very talented and generous individuals including: Andres Cuevas & Mike Ruggirello (Camera), Joe Chang (Graphic Design), and Dave Srock (Editor, Camera).
Special thanks to Joey Moriarty for providing shots and animation (@moriarty_joeyfx), and all contributors to the film those far including David Ben, Mike Caveney, Jason England, Brent Geris, Richard Hatch, Mike Piscotta and R. Paul Wilson.
Jim Davey is the owner of JLD Productions and is a filmmaker based out of Los Angeles, CA.
"...but whatever the result may be, if it sells it will accomplish the primary motive of the author, as he needs the money." - S. W. Erdnase
