Background
Iwona Marciniak and myself (Rimante Naujokaityte) are co-creators of The Ruins. I am an actress, producer and a writer, and Iwona is an actress and a producer on this project. Together, we came about the idea when talking of our own experience of the ego; how it may destructively navigate our lives. The aim of our campaign is to portray the reality of human pain-bodies in an extreme, exposed light, through a physical manifestation of inner demons. Many of us suffer from issues which directly affect our mental health, such as stress, anxiety, fear of not fitting in, and fear of missing out, in turn we make decisions that don’t necessarily represent our true being. Our egos are reactive entities, they function off want, desires, and emotions. It drives us to act selfishly, wanting us to react in a volitile way to futher ourselves in our drive to get what it desires. It causes us to find distinct differences that we can use to separate ourselves from others. It creates an "us" and "them" mentality, because it's easier to selfishly pursue success if we don't feel connected to others. What if we could tune into our shared frequencies and discover that we are truly connected to everything and everyone? Would we not try to live in harmony with each other and things, so we could benefit and experience the beauty and fulfilment of what our lives are really about?
The Importance and The Relevance behind The Ruins
This campaign is important to us because we believe that this world is one shared experience and for the experience to be pleasant we must acknowledge that everything in life is interrelated and nothing exists in separation. Whether our actions are positive or negative, this energy affects the outcome of the whole for better or for worse. With the rise of mental health issues in our current world we felt it was an important time to explore our own egos. We want The Ruins to reveal to the world the power of influence that we hold individually, and that we are collectively responsible for the world’s peace and destruction. It’s up to us which one of those we jointly pursue.
By supporting our film ‘The Ruins’ means that you are not just helping yourself to discover your own ego, but you’re helping the whole of the collective. Though this project will encompass our experience within the film industry, we don’t wish this project to be solely for an entertainment purpose. Through this art form we are motivated to inspire our audience to learn of their embedded ego and how it can negatively navigate your life.
What We Need & What You Get
We are asking you to contribute towards our goal of £2000.00 to support us in producing The Ruins short-film. In return you will receive our exciting PERKS!
The money raised with the help of our backers will go towards:
- Cinematography £600
- Insurance £400
- Photographer £100
- Sound £150
- Location £100
- Travel £150
- Accommodation £400
- Food £100
If we do not reach our entire goal, the funds will still go towards producing The Ruins when we are ultimately ready to shoot it.
PERKS for YOU:
When you donate:
- £5 - we will give you a shout out on social media;
- £10 - a Special Thank You in the Films credits;
- £20 - a Special Thank You in the Films credits and an unsigned script of The Ruins;
- £30 - a Special Thank You in the Films credits and a poster and a signed script of The Ruins;
- £50 - a Special Thank You in the Films credits, an individualised shout out on social media, an invite to the premier, a signed script and a poster of the Ruins;
- £100 - associate producer credits, a digital copy, a Special Thank You in the Films credits, an individualised shout out on social media, an invite to premier and a signed script of The Ruins;
- £500 - executive producer credits, a digital copy, a hard DVD copy of The Ruins, a Special Thank You in the Films credits, an individualised shout out on social media, an invite to premier, a poster and a signed script of The Ruins, AND a secret additional gift!
The Impact
Our whole team has been working really hard on this project for almost a year and we are extremely dedicated to it. We believe this project is valuable to you and to the world, because ego doesn’t get talked about enough. With the help of this short-film, we want to encourage people to become in touch with their core spirits, allowing them to navigate their desires, increase their awareness of their egos, and discover their true-selves.
Risks & Challenges
As with any film there are several risks involved, or challenges that we need to overcome; this can be anything from awful weather, to broken equipment (fingers crossed that we don't face any issues - touch wood). One of the biggest issues we currently face is with funding. Although we are extremely hopeful that we will reach our goal to be able to produce The Ruins, we are also creating a backup plan in the unfortunate event that we do not raise the adequate funds. Our short film will be produced by Meteorite Pictures Film Production Company, and one of their core values is to be as transparent as possible with every single individual that crosses their path and in any way supports their projects. Therefore, we want to be honest and open with You - The Backer, so you are able to see and experience every challenge and every victory together with us.
Our scheduled shooting days are 12th and 13th of September 2020. If we do not raise our target amount by those dates, or additional problems arise, we will reschedule the shoot for a later date before 2021; making sure to keep you all as up to date as possible. So, the money that we would have managed to raise up until those dates will be kept safe for the inevitable day when we do have the full amount.
Stretch Goals
A stretch goal is an additional goal we have set for our campaign in case we exceed our initial funding goal of £2000.00 and this additional fund will only be used to fund the following:
If we raise an additional £500, this money will go towards the entree of Film-Festivals. The entree fee for a film-festival ranges between £27 - £55.
Film-Festivals we are especially keen to submit The Ruins to are:
- London and Los Angeles Lift-Off Film Festival
- The 6th Global Trailer Film Festival
- Cornwall Film Festival
- Raindance Film Festival
- Sundance Film Festival
- Flickerfest International Short Film Festival
- Leeds International Film Festival
- Short of the Week (NYC)
- London Short Film Festival
- Lauren Film Fetsival
- Los Angeles Short Film Festival
An entrance to a film festival will give The Ruins further exposure and may provide global screening opportunities, representation, build and grow a loyal fan base, secure instant or future financial support and most importantly it will give us a platform to share our work with enthusiastic and responsive audience!
If we raise an additional £1000, £500 will go on Special Effects that will support us in intensifying the 'pain-bodies' and therefore strengthen our main focus and message of the film. Things we would further work on:
- bettering our props, such as our 3D gun;
- intensify the action sequences;
- heightening the look of the demons;
- manipulate the overall mood of the location
If we raise an additional £2000.00 this money will go towards the aforementioned, as well as creating and producing a bonus scene that will be shown after the credits to introduce part two of The Ruins. Anything beyond this, we will put the money towards developing The Ruins into a feature film!
Other Ways You Can Help
We understand that not everyone will be able to contribute financially and back our project, but would really appreciate and be massively grateful if you could instead make some noise of our campaign to help us reach our goal!
Different ways you can do that:
- Use the Indiegogo share tools;
- Spread the word with friends and family: Word-Of-Mouth;
- Repost our Instagram stories and share our direct feed.
Feel free to tag us in any social media posts regarding this campaign. Our whole team is Thanking You in advance for your support!
