OUR PROJECT:
Turned
Towards the Sun is a feature length
documentary about British WWII hero Michael “Micky” Burn M.C. directed and
produced by filmmaker Greg Olliver. http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2348930
TRAILER:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XAZk5GoW33A
WHAT WE NEED:
$20k+ for finishing funds.
WHY WE NEED IT:
The film is done, edited,
and already available in the UK as of May 8 via Matchbox Films, but we still have a large chunk of
archival video licensing fees, music clearance fees and legal costs to cover
that will likely never be covered by income from our UK sales. We need to cover those costs ASAP, and before we can release
the film in North America and elsewhere. Anything we raise beyond our goal goes towards reimbursing friends and family who helped finance the film up to this point, and towards getting the film out to additional territories beyond the UK and North America.
WHY YOU SHOULD HELP:
This film needs to get out
there because of Micky Burn’s story.
It's as simple as that. He was a WWII hero who lived an incredible, complicated and inspiring life, and now we’re trying to
bring his story to you... but just need a little help getting it out there.
PERKS:
We have a few different perks for contributors like DVD copies and signed posters, but every single contributor, even if you give $1, will get the exclusive podcast with Brian Quinn and director Greg Olliver discussing the making of this film - as described in our video above.
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ABOUT THE FILM
If
the astonishing true-life story of British writer and poet Micky Burn MC had
been written as a novel, readers would readily accept it as invented. Born in
Mayfair in 1912, his father worked for the Royal family. He became the lover of
the communist spy Guy Burgess, and would initially be taken in by Nazism,
expressing an admiration for Hitler. In 1942, he took part in a daring commando
assault on the fortified French port of St Nazaire, where he was captured, and
he ended the war a POW in Colditz. He would latterly become a committed Marxist
and be credited with saving the life of Audrey Hepburn. American director Greg
Olliver, who has previously documented the life of rock star Lemmy, started
making this film in 2008, revisiting significant events and places in Burn s
life. Burn is presented here as a candid and witty raconteur, with a sharp mind
and vivid recollections. He died in 2010, which leaves Turned Towards the Sun
as a fitting eulogy to a remarkable figure.
Turned Towards the Sun was shot between 2008 and 2011 in the UK, Wales, France and Germany and
first premiered at the BFI London Film Festival in 2012 where it was nominated
for the Grierson Award/ Best Documentary.
It was produced independently through Greg Olliver’s production company Secret
Weapon Films with financing from friends and family only. It sat quietly on a shelf for a couple
years, as many documentaries do, and finally had an offer for distribution in
the UK via Matchbox Films – just in time for the 70th Anniversary of
VE Day. If you live in the UK you
can find it on Amazon or iTunes UK.
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Micky Burn with director Greg Olliver while shooting in Colditz Castle, Germany
.
Photo by Scott Van Osdol
DIRECTOR GREG OLLIVER'S STATEMENT
This film is about having one last chance to look
back on a long, fulfilling life.
Michael “Micky” Burn, MC has a story like no
other. I met Micky through a chance encounter and was soon taken by
the charm, intelligence and humor vividly on display in his storytelling and
the resilience and compassion of his spirit evident in his tales. He was
an old man living life quietly on the coast of Wales, but one with a personal
history that wove and wound itself around the defining moments of the Twentieth
century. With surprising candor and zeal, he opened himself to the camera
and its imagined audience; allowing us, now, a glimpse of his life remembered
from what would become its twilight.
Turned Towards the Sun is
a portrait of an extraordinary man who lived through extraordinary times.
In his story, we see our history and ourselves.
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Shooting in St. Nazaire, France. Photo by Scott Van Osdol
WHY ARE WE ASKING YOU FOR MONEY?
The process of filmmaking, and especially the process of making documentaries, can be an extremely rewarding, exciting and fulfilling art form, but the business of filmmaking can absolutely suck. As a director you wait and wait and wait till that needle-in-a-haystack of a subject comes along that is worth making a film about. You then literally spend years working on that film - traveling, shooting, editing, raising money, traveling some more, editing some more, waiting months to raise more money but when you can't find it you beg your family to help so you can then travel and shoot some more and then finish editing and then beg a sound mixer to work for cheap and a colorist to work for cheap and then finally you have a finished product ready to for the world to see. The film is literally sitting there on your desk on a DVD but you can't show it to the world until you find yet another chunk of money to pay for even more bills to license archival film clips, archival photos, music and legal costs. If you're not making a film about an already famous person, chances are
pretty good that you'll never get a dollar back of what you put into the
film, so the last thing you want to do is beg your friends and family to go deeper into that financial abyss with you. Labors of love can be blinding. When you're making a passion project its easy to care only about the subject and telling your story, and easy to forget that the reality is very few people get rich off documentaries, but instead lose money on them. Even though we finally found a distribution company in the UK to put out this film, we are still continuing to spend money on it, and will likely never see enough of a return to even finish paying our bills. Small films like this sell hundreds of copies, not hundreds of thousands like Hollywood films do. Thankfully crowdfunding is here to help fill that gap and help get projects like this over the final hurdle and into the hands of film lovers like you. Every dollar of your support will be greatly appreciated by all of those involved in this film. Anything we raise beyond our goal and beyond our immediate bills will go towards reimbursing friends and family who helped finance the film up to this point.
HOW BRIAN QUINN GOT
INVOLVED:
Filmmaker Greg Olliver
recently directed a TruTV documentary on the Impractical Jokers and had the
absolute pleasure of being confined to a bus for sixteen days with the Jokers
as they crossed the country on their “Tenderloins” comedy tour. Brian and Greg naturally became best
buddies and when Greg showed Brian a copy of Turned Towards the Sun and
mentioned he needed help getting it finished and out to the public – Brian
immediately wanted to help and is now a producer on the film.
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MORE
ABOUT THE FILMMAKER
Filmmaker
Greg Olliver is best known for co-directing, producing, shooting and editing the 2010 documentary “LEMMY” – about Lemmy Kilmister of Motörhead.
Greg recently directed a documentary on Blues legend Johnny Winter, an award-winning
psychological thriller titled DEVOURED, multiple TV, music, promo and commercial
projects.
http://www.imdb.com/name/nm1261206
www.secretweaponfilms.com
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Micky in St. Nazaire, France. Photo by Greg Olliver
MORE
ABOUT MICHAEL BURN M.C.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Micky_Burn
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/09/15/world/europe/15burn.html
FILM CREDITS:
TURNED TOWARDS THE SUN
Directed by Greg Olliver
Produced by James Dorrian, Nick Golding, Laura Morris, Greg Olliver, Brian Quinn
Associate Producers: Jeremy Mack & Scott Van Osdol
Original Music: J. Ralph
Cinematography & Editing by Greg Olliver
A Secret Weapon Films Production
In Association with Aplethora Productions
UK Residents can buy the film now via Matchbox Films
http://www.matchboxfilms.co.uk/