We're a couple of film students and recent graduates from the University of Southern California wanting to step outside of the limits of classroom filmmaking and create something with longevity. Ultimately looking to be the creators of an opportunity to say something more than what goes on in a face to face exchange and create a series of meaningful visual pieces.
This means taking to heart the often redundant (but true) words heard at the many filmmakers' panels we have attended. The people whose success stories came about because they were constantly creating, creating, creating—some sleep— then back to "doing" and maybe some more creating. . .
We know that a certain type of filmmaking can be done for free, but for this particular project, we feel the best way to achieve our goal of creating a stunning web series will require additional funding. This will allow us to really fine tune our talents (while discovering some new ones).
Watch the video below (in HD) to get a feel of the kind of "Tryst" we want to share with you.
The Story...
A drama that revolves
around Lukas, a new face in Los Angeles who just became the assistant to a well known talent agent. His goal: work his way to the top of MTA, one of the most competitive talent agencies in Hollywood. Evelyn, Lukas's new boss, uses Lukas for more than just answering phone calls and setting up meetings. She uses him as a saboteur, sending him out to ruin people's careers, create scandals, and manipulate people to benefit her. Lukas obliges, but eventually he realizes there's no growth in it for him, which leads him to believe that the only way to get out of his situation is to use these newly learned techniques of manipulation against his boss.
This will be a 5 part web series, this current campaign covers funding for the first three episodes.
Lukas (Joey Stromberg)
Tall, charming, and striking 25 year old man. Has southern manners, therefore his politeness comes easy. Witty & clever, but has a quiet intensity to him that can often be confused for insightfulness. Smart, because he learned to be that way. He understands what people need and always knows what to say.
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Evelyn (Currently being cast)
Has the kind of aura that seethes with an aloof intimidation that hinders a lot of people from looking her in the eye for more than a few seconds. Her fashion sense is a further reflection of her confidence. Effortless and chic. Maintains a calm and cool demeanor—rarely do we see her lash out— although much of it is a facade, ultimately she has self-serving intentions.
Who we are...
Matthew Ramirez-Davis (Creator, Executive Producer)
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Matthew grew up in Glendale/Burbank, California surrounded by the art of filmmaking from a very young age. Providence High School Media Focus Program
was his initial start at creating pieces of his own and is now in his final year at USC's School of Cinematic Arts. Since the 9th grade, he's had the pleasure of producing, directing, and crewing on video vignettes, music videos, short films, documentaries, public service announcements, radio broadcasts, and print publishing.
Lizz Mullis (Executive Producer, Editor)
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Lizz comes from Arizona and Colorado but has spent the last two years in Los Angeles finishing her degree
at USC. While you will find most of her experience is in editing and photography, she has produced various USC shorts and even directed, shot, and produced a documentary about race and identity that has received attention from various community outreach organizations and festivals. She also just gave up eating inhumanely treated meat... so you know for sure she's very nice and considerate.
J.R. Thal – Writer
Although he was born in Southern California, J.R. was raised in Texas. Movies and television were always an important part of his life, probably starting with his love of Toy Story. Current inspirations include Jim Rash and Nat Faxon (The Descendants and The Way Way Back), Vince Gilligan (Breaking Bad and Better Call Saul), and Cary Fukunaga (Sin Nombre and True Detective).
J.R. is a recent graduate of the University of Southern California, where he minored in Screenwriting. When he is not writing, you can usually find him watching baseball or checking baseball statistics should there be no games at that particular time.
What We Need
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We want to be able to really pay our crew so this is not just another student
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for the people involved, and this way it becomes a project that isn't an inconvenience for them to work on. You'll notice this is one of the bigger chunks of our budget. As film students who have had a couple of years of experience in production, we have gathered up our own equipment over time. But we do need some help in making that equipment the best and also being able to focus on a high quality production design.
So the way for you to help us get there, is by sending money
our way. Also...
DID YOU SEE THOSE PERKS? Check them out, we want you to be a part of this project just as much as we are. I would donate my own money
to the project just for the perks, but, that'd be sad.
If we don't reach our goal...we're too far along to just stop here. We really feel that these funds are exactly what we need to make the project we want, so no matter the donation amount we will see this through to an end, as unpredictable as that will be.
That being said, we really need your help to give this project a solid footing.
Risks & Challenges
The thing with web series' is that there are so many of them. Literally, go on youtube and type in "web series" and you get almost 6 million results.
That's intimidating.
However, we feel that we have the creative vision that can really distinguish us from the other 6 million web series. We've had countless brainstorming meetings with our writers, all ending on the note that this is to be a series that creates a story that may sound familiar, but it hasn't been told in this way before.
We want to create a diverse cast who can express their talents, but also make a representation of how a relentlessly changing society can be in this new age. Not only do we want to challenge ourselves creatively, but also on a social and political scale; we're about creating a new realm for representation.
We've gone through what feels like hundreds of drafts all rewritten and tweaked in order to produce a story that holds creative depth. A story that is real. One that takes you through each episode and leaves you surprised to have reached the end. We're pushing for quality just as much as we're pushing for that uniqueness to set us apart.
Exposing what may be perceived as ordinary for what it really is.
Other Ways You Can Help
We know not everyone can afford to contribute even a small amount. Really, we know, some of us are those "poor college students" you're always hearing so much about.
But you can help by simply sharing the campaign. Whether that means talking about it to all your cool friends and family, or even better, digitally "sharing" it through any and all social media.
Help us get this project out there!
It starts with a campaign like this, but once we get going we're relying on you to help inflate the HYPE.
For now, stay tuned to this campaign to see additional video and updates on the progress and new people we add on to our team.
And...THANK you. From all of us. We really are more than grateful for your help in starting this project.