THANK YOU for taking the time to visit our Indygogo page. We have been working on this project since March of this year and hopefully that shows from the amount of development that has gone into the creation of it so far. We have an incredible team onboard and are very excited to invite you to join us over the next year as we shoot principal photography, work through post-production, and then go out to festivals all over the world!
Hopefully our video was fun to watch and communicated the heart of our message. We’re not asking anyone to help fund a pipe dream or reach unrealistic goals. We are asking everyone, our fans and movie lovers alike to help us complete a story that deserves to be told.
So what is “TOP OF THE ROCK”?
Well, it all started with a picture really, a picture that when you look at it, sends shivers down your spine.
On September 29th, 1932 photographer Charles Ebbets took one of Time's top 100 pictures of all time of 11 ironworkers enjoying their lunch break atop a girder on the 69th floor of the then-rising Rockefeller Center some 800ft above the street. This year marks the 80th year since the picture was taken.
This story is free from the depression of tenement life and endless breadlines, focusing instead on the inspiring tales of a fearless few hundreds of feet above the Manhattan skyline. These men were “numb” to the daily hardships of steel work. They moved fast, often working incredible hours in fear of being instantly replaced by the myriad of others down below. They were called “rivet gangs” and would throw red-hot rivets to each other across the girders, pounding them into the steel. But it wasn’t their tremendous work ethic that makes these men so inspiring; it is the bond they shared amongst themselves, a brotherhood and family, stories above the depression-ridden streets of Manhattan.
WHAT exactly are we donating to?
We have enough funding to get us through principle-photography but need additional capital in order to finish off the project by February. We are extremely excited to announce that Panavision has donated a 60K film grant to our production and numerous companies have offered their services at greatly reduced rates. We ask that you please consider becoming apart of this team in any form that you can including joining the newsletter or just checking in on us from time to time.
We are in for the long haul and by the time we are packaged up and ready for the festival circuit in February, we will have spent over 11 months working on the film! So take a look and hope to see you around.
WHERE is the money going specifically?
We are not hiding where this funding is going. Below you will see specifically the breakdown for all elements of production that are in need of financing in order for us to finish this film on time.
PHYSICAL PRODUCTION BREAKDOWN:
Set Design and Construction overhead
Select Cast and Crew Salaries that were deferred
POST-PRODUCTION BREAKDOWN:
Visual Effects: This makes up the vast majority of the budget.
Matte Painting
Rotoscoping/Wire Removal
Match Moving
Compositing
Environments
Particle Simulations and Elements
Rendering
Music and the Original Score: The composer John Dickson has an exceptional background in composing music for film, television, and the recording industry as well as performing with such artists as Barbra Streisand, Elton John, and Ray Charles. John is currently working on the sixth season episodes of the USA Network smash hit Burn Notice. John has been a good friend of Jes's since he moved to LA and they have collaborated on most of his work since. John will be composing an original score for the film with a live orchestra.
Sound Editorial/Mixing: Often the unsung hero of Hollywood, sound can and does make the movie, especially when more is left up to the imagination. The folks over at 424 Post (www.424post.com), a professional post-production sound and picture editorial company that has worked on films such as Pitch Perfect, Snitch, 30 Minutes or Less, Country Strong, Secretariat, Easy A, and many others, have worked with Jes before and are offering to significantly reduce their rate for this project.
Color Grading: One of the final ingredients that gives big movies their polished touch. It’s the distinct visual palette or ‘look’ of our film. We plan to grade the film in a slightly de-saturated and sepia tone with a slightly higher contrast look.
Promotional Expenses: Festival Submissions, DVD/Blu-Ray printing, Distribution, and online promotion are not cheap and in order to get the film out there and into festivals we need to be fully backed by an online presence as well as have posters and postcards designed and printed.
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There are definitely some cool, fun, one-of-a-kind gifts to be had for supporting this project, including but not limited to original concept art, props used in the film, and even a trip out to LA for the wrap/launch party in February 2013!
This project means a lot to me and the rest of the team so on behalf of the crew we will be making the short film available for viewing online privately the week of the wrap party if you subscribe to the newsletter or like us on Facebook! Thank you on behalf of the entire team here at TOP OF THE ROCK headquarters in Los Angeles. We look forward to updating you weekly on our website, here on the Indygogo updates section and on all of our social media platforms. Welcome to the team!
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Have questions? Feel free to email us at info@topoftherockmovie.com. We will be sure to get back to you quickly.
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