"The First Men" is the culmination of Ben Kegan and Chandra Silver's  work in the MFA Film program at Columbia University. An adaptation of Stacey Richter's Pushcart Prize winning short story, "The First Men" is a dark comedy about a mother, a daughter, a student, and a day at the mall.

Please help us reach our STRETCH GOAL of $17,500 to cover the cost of the film through post-production and festival submissions.

Bios

Ben Kegan - Writer/ Director

•  Ben is a New York based filmmaker and M.F.A degree candidate at Columbia University, School of the Arts. Ben’s previous short films and documentaries have screened at several international film festivals including, TriBeCa, BFI London, BAM, Chicago International Film Festival, AFI Dallas, Ann Arbor, Cinequest, Plus CamerImage Poland, and more.  His documentary short, "Team Taliban" was named one of the Top 5 Best Short Films at the 2009 TriBeCa Film Festival by New York Magazine. 

Chandra C. Silver - Producer

•  Chandra has been in the New York independent film world since 2004, working for Hart Sharp Entertainment, Arianna Bocco at The Gersh Agency, and for Mary Jane Skalski. Before arriving at the MFA Film Program at Columbia, Chandra co-produced "The Revisionaries," which won a special jury prize at TriBeCa, was picked up by Kino Lorber and Independent Lens, and won a DuPont Award for journalism. Chandra was recently awarded student membership from the Producer's Guild of America. 

Angelos Rompolis - Director of Photography 

• Angelos is a Greek cinematographer currently completing his studies at the MFA Film Program of Columbia University. He is the recipient of the Alexander Onassis Scholarship. "The First Men" will be his fourth collaboration with director Benjamin Kegan. Their previous works have screened at Plus Camerimage, The Chicago International Film Festival, and Cinequest.

Chloe Lenihan - Co-Producer

• Chloe Lenihan joined the Screen Actors Guild in 1989 appearing in national television programs, commercials and modeling campaigns.  She worked for the Academy Award winning production company GK Films on "The Departed," "The Aviator," "Blood Diamond" and "The Young Victoria." She is currently an MFA candidate in Creative Producing at Columbia University, School of the Arts and recipient of the New York Women in Film & Television scholarship.

Iesh Thapar - Assistant Director

• Iesh Thapar is a New York—London based filmmaker and MFA degree candidate at Columbia University. Before coming to Columbia Iesh worked as an Assistant Director in the UK, and on an array of projects including the multi-award winning film "The King’s Speech." Iesh’s own short films have been well received at several international film festivals. 

What We Need & What You Get

• Help us keep PUSHING to fund "The First Men" through pre-production, production and post-production. Our shoot dates are June 8th-13th, 2014 in Middletown, NY and Staten Island, NY. 

• Contributions to our campaign will enable us to hire key cast and crew, such as a casting director, a production designer, steadicam operator, and colorist, as well as allow us to shoot in an actual working mall in upstate New York. Funds from the campaign will also be used for housing and meals for cast and crew, post-production expenses such as sound mixing, score, and film festival submission costs. Renting specialty anamorphic lenses is also a priority for our production, as the look of the film is very specific. 

• Revisit your adolescence at the mall! Our fun perks include the game, "Mall Madness," A hardcover monograph of Brian Ulrich's photography, Mall themed ringtones, retro limited edition signed posters, and more! 

Other Ways You Can Help

•  Please share the campaign via Email. Twitter, Facebook and good old fashioned word-of-mouth! Every donation makes a HUGE difference.  Thank you!

But you've reached your goal, why raise more? Our initial fundraising goal only represents a portion of our total budget and was the bare minimum we need to ensure we could actually go into production. Our stretch goal will more adequately cover our needs, and ensure that we have enough funding on hand to take our film through post production and the film festival submission process.   Wait, $12k is only part of your budget? Are you crazy? The short answer is yes.  But the reality is that in order to make films of the quality and scale required for a graduate thesis production it is very very expensive. For example we have to put our cast and crew up in a motel while shooting.  That's 15 rooms, for 4 nights, and even at the Super 8 where we're staying it adds up really really fast. Most of our crew are professionals and students who are working for free because they love the project, but the raw logistical costs still exist.