What is The Taker? Who are you people?

Well, it's a movie! We're a group of filmmakers on our way out of NYU's film program, and we're ready to finish with a bang. The Taker is our ticket.

My name is Max, you can watch some of my videos here:

www.vimeo.com/maximillianstenstrom

This is a picture of me:

A few years ago, I spent a grueling summer working for the U.S. Census, saving money to pay for my first short film. The end result was called The Factory, and you can watch a trailer for it here: https://www.vimeo.com/29930641

After my sojourn with the Census, I held onto my bright orange netted vest and my U.S. Census messenger bag-- just in case I ever wanted to make a "Census Movie."

I went on to make a found footage post apocalyptic short film shot on a VHS camcorder from the 1980's, called Ugly.

And now, well, I'm at the end of the line at NYU and it's time to make that Census Movie.

The Taker, And The People Behind It.

A short synopsis: A young census enumerator, working amidst the national spread of an asbestos-like contaminant, encounters a deteriorating household governed almost exclusively by children that forces him to reconsider his responsibilities and reliance on the system he works for.

This project will serve to encompass all of the experience and craft that my time at NYU has provided. Effectively, this movie serves to define my education. I walk away from school with a diploma in one hand and this film in the other.

In addition to my personal stake in the film, I am working with a group of friends and collaborators as passionate as I am about filmmaking, and we all strive to create the most entertaining, gripping, and challenging films we can together.

Jordan Fein - Producer - http://www.imdb.com/name/nm3583341

Jake Saner - Cinematographer - http://www.imdb.com/name/nm1203769/

Kelly Simpson - Editor - http://www.imdb.com/name/nm3959363/

Veronica Pomilla - 1st Assistant Director - http://www.imdb.com/name/nm4276866/

Here's a picture a reporter took of me, Kelly, and Jake working on The Factory.

You can be a part of this project!

Our Census worker, Curtis Shannon, wanders into a household populated entirely by children. Their drawings are scrawled all over the walls, and the air is thick with a pungent chemical smell. The children themselves are beginning to show the first signs of illness associated with the contamination of their household. In order to really build this environment, and render Curtis' story as best we can, we need all the help we can get.

Your contribution will go directly to one of the following purposes:

Production Costs:

• Locations
• Food
• Transportation
• Lodging
• Equipment Rentals
• Insurance
• Props, Costumes, and Set Decoration (HAZMAT suits don't come cheap!)
• Special Effects Make-Up

Post-Production Costs

• Editing
• Color Correction
• Sound Design & Mixing
• Visual Effects
• Finishing & Mastering

Distribution Costs

• Film Festival Submissions
• Packaging
• Shipping

By contributing to the film, you'll officially be a part of the Taker team! Depending on your contribution, you could earn a DVD of the project before release, DVDs of our past work, signed paraphernalia, a copy of the shooting script, a limited edition poster, or even a little documentary about yourself!

Why does this matter?

We're at NYU pursuing careers in an incredibly collaborative artform. Collaboration and communal construction is the nature of filmmaking, and that extends from us the filmmakers, to you, the community.

This is a project very near and dear to my heart, and it is a film that deserves to be made. With your contribution, you become a part of that process, and in turn part of the film itself is yours.

With your help, we can make a movie that resonates with its audience. If it has enough of an impact, it will live with them forever as part of their memory bank.

Both The Factory and Ugly were funded primarily by contributors like yourself, and with The Taker we plan to take the production further than we ever have before.