Overview
WildSky Films (comprised of Aydan Tair and John Shemmings) are creating their debut feature film: "The Stars Look Different in Chicago"! (former working title "It's Kate, by the way")
We've spent over a year developing the script and doing Pre-Production, and are finally ready to start filming, to bring this amazing story to life! We now need all the love and support we can get from YOU, our friends, family, and anyone sharing the same passion for Independent cinema, as well as that "Let's just do it!" attitude!
Any contributions are beyond appreciated and we hope you'll join us for our screening once the film is finished! Thanks for checking out our fundraising page!
Summary
Aydan and I (John) met at our previous employer where we quickly realised we shared the same love and enthusiasm for making our own films. Skip forward a few years, and a couple of short films later, we created WildSky Films following the success of one of our short films, having won multiple awards (including Best Director and Best Concept) at the AIKU Summer festival 2021.
Now we're tackling our biggest challenge yet, our first Feature Film! Which, funnily enough, started as a short film, however after entrusting a brilliant writer by the name of Joe James to help us develop the characters and story, Joe took it to a place where we knew we had to tell the full story of these characters! Thus, "The Stars Look Different in Chicago" was born. Since then it's been 10+ drafts of the script, countless Zoom and in-person meetings between Aydan, Joe, Marco (Exec. Producer) and myself, as well as many, many tweaks for the best part of 15 months; however, the script is finally ready to come to life!
"The Stars Look Different in Chicago" is the embodiment of our passion for, and dedication to, producing high-quality Independent Films. This is a perfect opportunity to showcase our talent and hard-work-ethic to the broader Film Industry, and an ideal launch pad for WildSky Films. We aim to leave our stamp on the industry and our audience: to tell exciting, realistic stories that are accessible to all, including first-time indie film-goers!
Unfortunately, producing a feature film is notoriously expensive, even though ours is a relatively low budget production. But, fortunately for us, our aim is exposure and fair pay, not profit. We're aiming to pay the cast and crew where possible, along with having funds left over for Film Festivals, which is how we came-up with our target for this campaign.
What We Need
Below is an outline of some of the costs associated with making our film. This campaign's goal is a realistic crowdfunding contribution towards our total fundraising target. We plan to raise money in other ways, as well as putting money in ourselves.
These are just some of the big costs, there are many, many more not listed!
Paying Cast & Crew: ~5k:
Aydan and I understand what it's like to work for free in this industry (Including this project, as we aren't paying ourselves - we are paying from ourselves). With that said, we're huge believers in paying people for their time, hard work and dedication. Therefore, we are putting the majority of our funds aside to pay the Cast & Crew for travel expenses, and ideally a fee for their talent and time dedicated to our film.
Post-Production & Film Festivals: ~1.5k
The first step is getting this project filmed; the second, and equally important step, is getting this film produced to a high standard, including edited, colour-graded and sound-mastered.
Luckily, we have teamed-up with the incredibly talented Marco Ciccotti from over at VibesArt Studios, who is not only helping us produce this film, but is also fully-editing it at VibesArt's beautiful editing suite! We're also very fortunate to be working with cast, creatives and crew who are incredibly talented, among whom Lucinda Turner (Peaky Blinders, The Great Gatsby Immersive Shows), and the Film Composer, Phil Braithwaite who will be creating a beautiful set of tracks for "The Stars Look Different in Chicago"!
Filming Locations/Travel costs: ~1k
Filming in London can get incredibly expensive, thankfully Aydan and I have used our cheeky smiles and smooth-talking skills (Lol) to obtain multiple locations for either a minimal cost or, in some cases, for free! There are only a few more locations we need to hire, along with travel expenses to get to and from these areas with our filming equipment.
SO JUST THE BASICS: £7,500
If you're looking to donate over £1000, please feel free to reach out to us directly, as we may be able to organise a Producer role for you (possible Commercial-only agreement)!
We are incredibly grateful for any donations received, however big or small. We've also created a rewards system to thank all of our contributors.
The Film
"The Stars Look Different in Chicago" follows Kate and Mark, 30-something millennials struggling to cope with modern life, love and personal fulfilment in the modern age. Their story is told in two timelines: the first one revisiting the night when they fell in love, and the second timeline showing patches of their relationship thereafter; sown with doubts and scars from their past.
As Kate is confronted with a past trauma, she is forced to decide between leaving for Chicago to pursue her writing career, or to stay with Mark and face all the challenges a modern, 21st-century relationship can bring.
Risks & Challenges
For anyone making a film, regardless of size or budget, it is incredibly financially-stressful. Even if we reach our fundraising target, this project is going to cost us a lot of money, and any shortfall will be taken out of our own pockets.
But, the hard work doesn't stop once we've got the funds, as we want to make sure we don't compromise on quality in any aspect of this project. All aspects of the production have been carefully considered and evaluated for maximum efficiency and quality: from the equipment we use to film (camera, microphones, lights, etc) to production elements such as the set-design, costumes, make-up and and more. Being a small team, each person involved in the project is committing a huge amount of time, energy and enthusiasm to make this film happen.
Any help you can give, however big or small, is incredible and helps make the experience a little less of a struggle.
Other Ways You Can Help
Please help us spread the message by sharing this campaign with your friends and family!
Similarly, if you have any other resources that you feel could help us, please get in touch. We need as much publicity, generosity and other fundraising opportunities as possible!
Thank you so much for reading this and please do come to see the film once we have our screening!
Much Love,
Aydan & John
WildSky Films
#TheStarsLookDifferentInChicago