The Story
Death Investigator Theodore Davis (James Ray) has returned to the Chindi County Medical Examiner's Office after an extended bereavement leave. The flirtatious new employee Kai Cooper (Magdalena Durham) proves to be the distraction he needs, but she might uncover secrets before he has found the answers he needs.
Why This Story
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The Last Responders: Life After Death is a feature-length drama/thriller about the psychological effects on a medicolegal death investigator after he has experienced too much death. The catalyst/backstory for the main character in the film is present in the short film The Last Responders (2014).
So what exactly is a Medicolegal Death Investigator? According to the American Board of Medicolegal Death Investigators, "The role of the medicolegal death investigator is to investigate any death that falls under the jurisdiction of the medical examiner or coroner, including all suspicious, violent, unexplained and unexpected deaths. The medicolegal death investigator is responsible for the dead person, whereas the local law enforcement jurisdiction is responsible for the scene. The medicolegal death investigator performs scene investigations emphasizing information developed from the decedent and determines the extent to which further investigation is necessary." (*We will be using the term death investigator in the film; it's easier to say.)
There are shows about crime scene investigators (CSI anyone?), and medical examiners specifically (Dr. G: Medical Examiner, Body of Proof). But they don't focus or mention the medicolegal death investigators who do the leg work for the forensic pathologists. Mediocolegal death investigators sometimes can be the forgotten piece of the puzzle since it's actually the forensic pathologist that determines the cause of the death. But it's the investigators that go out to the scenes, who gather the medical/social history, speak with the families, work with the law enforcement on scene -- are the eyes and ears for forensic pathologists. (This, of course, does not happen at every medical examiner/coroner's office.) They are not simply transporters like it is often depicted on television or in movies.
Death is not something they can escape; it's part of their job. It's expected. But that doesn't make it any easier. Some cases hit close to home. Everybody has a case that they have not been able to shake. Are they given adequate psychological resources and support systems to handle these cases? No. And not everyone grieves the same, some may never get over a particular death, some may internalize it, blame themselves, or act like everything is okay. With this film, we are wanting to shed light on a small fictional, southwestern county medical examiner's office and some of its employees.
Our Team
CAST
James Ray
James is an Oklahoma native that has been the lead in several independent films and industrial training videos, but less known for his theater background, specifically two Tennessee Williams plays ("A Street Car Named Desire" to name one). James' tough guy looks and his military background means he is often cast as law enforcement or soldiers, but his acting range enables him to play any role including the emotionally conflicted Theodore Davis.
Magdalena Durham
Magdalena has appeared as a print model and in commercials, but she is more than a beautiful face. Her personality brightens any room she enters and she's a director's dream with her improvisation ability and consistency on set. Her most recent role was in Running Wild Films' Durant's Never Closes.
CREW
Andrea M. Magwood, Producer, Director, Screenwriter
Andrea has a degree in Broadcast Journalism from Arizona State University, but upon graduation she had her first job as a production assistant corralling 18 actors for various scenes, and other sundry duties, even filling a last minute role as a nurse. A few years after directing the award-winning short
Like Mother..., life got in the way and she took a break. But once she started producing for Phoenix 11, she realized she was good at it. This led to her producing
Second Chance for the 24-hour Almost Famous Film Festival, which won second place and other awards. Now she is learning as much as she can to embark on her first feature film.
Miguel A. Gonzalez, Director of Photography
Miguel has an infectious energy that makes cast and crew instantly adore him on any set. His ability to tell stories using light and shadows are impressive and should make him an asset to the film community for decades to come. Cinematography Demo Reel
KC Gardiner-Johnson, Line Producer
KC is mostly known in the local film industry as an assistant director, her credits including Helsing and The Choices We Make. But she is more than an assistant director, sometimes helping out on a set as key costumer (Patchwork Dreams). With producing as one of her goals, she has sought out more duties and education in the arena to adequately reach it. This production will be her first role as line producer.
Michelle Allen, Associate Producer
Michelle is a local actress and model who has made the cross over to the production side of the business. She has appeared on stage, in films, web/television shows, and commercials. Michelle has recently taken on the roles of stage manager for two theatrical plays as well as associate producer of a 2014 short film. She loves to help and keeping everyone happy, organized and on schedule.
George (Buzz) O'Barts, Art Director/Props Master
George may have a degree in animation, but set design and art direction is where he shines on a set. He has the ability to create magic for any production he works on, which included
The Graves and
Cowboy Zombies.
Paul R. Parker III, Technical Advisor
Paul has over 15 years of medicolegal death investigation experience, to include seven years in Chief Investigator roles at San Diego County (CA) and Maricopa County (Phoenix, AZ), two of the country’s largest Medical Examiner’s Offices (MEO), and the Director of the Pinal County Medical Examiner’s Office, a growing MEO between Phoenix and Tucson. This is Paul's first time working on a film production.
Emeric Palm, Editor
Patience is the best word to describe Emeric. Most often his Digital Imaging Technician skills are used for productions, but don't count him out in other areas on set. Although he is often called upon by True Libra Films LLC, he has just completed editing his first feature film This Is Gonna be Awesome.
Our Perks
We have many death investigation related perks that you can receive from contributing to our campaign: digital downloads of the complete film, death checklists from the scene calls the characters' investigate, boonie hats (that the characters wear) embroidered with the name of the film, visiting the set, or a copy of the short film in which the film is based,
Your Contribution
Your contributions will pay for cast, crew, locations, equipment, production insurance, and, of course, food. We like to feed our cast and crew well.
How Crowdfunding Works
This is an independent film. Although non-studio, independent films are becoming more mainstream, not all filmmakers have the luxury of the big bucks or tax incentives available to them. So crowdfunding can assist us in making our films feasible.
We have also sought out other arenas for funds, screenwriting competitions, film labs, and have applied for grants.
With Indiegogo, you are able to keep any funds contributed minus their 4.0% fees. If you do not reach your goal, their fees increase to 9%. There are also 3-5% Third Party Fees (PayPal, credit card processing).
Sharing
We would like you to share our campaign (via Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn), regardless if you are unable to financially contribute because the Power of Sharing can make our campaign successful as well. Share with five people who hopefully will share with another five people. And someone who loves independent film may be able to help us reach our goal amount.
Any additional questions can be sent to Andrea.Magwood@gmail.com or True Libra Films LLC, PO Box 40442, Phoenix, AZ 85067.