Hello and welcome! My name is Donavan Clark, a 3 year Los Angeles local and the writer, director and producer of Wednesday. In addition to being a filmmaker, I am an experienced film set gaffer and key grip. Wednesday will be my first LA-based project. My ultimate mission is to create intriguing and thought provoking stories and realizing them on screen and this is the best project to start that journey, read on if you'd like to know more...
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This campaign will bring to life the film Wednesday, the beginning of a series based on a mysterious female operative with a murky past. Wednesday marks her first task- to infiltrate the world renown terrorist group called the Ravens. The Ravens themselves are a metaphor for today's ISIS group and brings to the forefront the horrible deeds that such an institution is capable of. I aim to not only entertain an audience but to voice my viewpoint on such matters- conflict is inevitable and in our nature but we can still make great changes in the way we treat ourselves in order to make way for a brighter future for our children.
The Players
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STANA
Stana, the mysterious operative brought to the British
Intelligence Agency by an unknown party, is tasked with overthrowing
the most feared terrorist organization in the world- The Ravens. Very
little is known about her and even the reluctant MI6 don't fully
trust her. In order for this 6 year long mission to be a success, she
must first overcome the worst stage of it- the initiation. Will she survive?
And if she does, will that necessarily be a good thing?
Karli Hall is a young up and coming actress that absolutely impressed at auditions for Wednesday. Her calm, cool and easy going demeanor along with her raw quiet talent instantly won her the role of Stana. Director Donavan Clark had his eye on her from the second he watched her audition reel which showcased a calm, understated but powerful performance along with a much lighter comedic role, showing great range and flexibility. What attracted the casting director the most was her versatile take on the character and willingness to adapt performance to better suit the film and her uncanny talent in performing without the need for speaking. She is excited to be apart of the film and cannot wait to work with its team. She is a true gem and will without a doubt become a big name in this business. For now, she is ready to get down and dirty as the strong willed, silent Stana.
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VLADAMIR GERZA
An old, bitter, eccentric Russian mob boss that has seen all there is to see in warfare and more . Although he had innocent beginnings he was scarred for life when Americans brutally murdered his parents in front of him at a young age. He is a huge cog in the machine and is in charge of alot of the operations that go out of his "sector". He is a long time lieutenant of the "Ravens" terrorist cell and believes everything that he puts Stana through is absolutely necessary to ensure the Ravens legacy remains intact.
Primarily recognized as a military or technical skills character in film and television, Forest Baker was an accomplished East Coast stage actor in his early 20's. Born in 1948 in Wabash Indiana he attended Holy Cross College on a Track and Football scholarship graduating in 1970, taught college and received an MS in Biology at Villanova University in 1972 and an MBA from The Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania in 1975.
Known for playing heavy characters with intelligence and gravitas Forest returned to Los Angeles in 2015 to act in independent movie and television productions building credentials, raw experience and momentum as a day-player leading to supporting roles in major films. This is a work-in-progress.
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ALEXEI MIKAILOV
Alexei's military history makes him a formidable addition to the terrorist organization that employs him. He is a self converted, yet loyal servant of Vladamir Gerza and a firm believer in the "Ravens" cause. Throughout the film, he acts as right hand to Gerza, barking orders at Nikolai, guarding Stana, even maiming her himself at times, and making sure this torturous process goes unhindered. Alexei is quite possibly Stana's biggest obstacle as far as proving her worth is concerned.
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Devi Khajishvili is a Georgian actor born to the family of Nodar Khajishvili a Shotokan Karate Master and Nana Khajishvili a piano teacher. He is of a Georgian(Paternal side) and Russian, Ukrainian, Spanish and Iranian descent from his maternal grandparents. He is a master martial artist, a musician, a Texas Tech graduate and lastly but not least, a formidable actor. Once he stepped foot into the audition room, the filmmakers were hooked on his stature, confidence and raw talent. "You are ALEXEI!" exclaimed director Donavan Clark. His real life military and Soviet knowledge has won him the role over some pretty impressive efforts from other actors. We cannot wait to see how this man will electrify the screen as the ruthless ex-military, ex-mercenary, turned terrorist.
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CHECKOV NIKOLAI
The Albanian born Nikolai was a terrible child, growing up to be the scum of the Russian underworld. One day he bit off more than he can chew and ended up being indebted and eventually owned by Gerza. Gerza has made Nikolai suffer and has broken him in the same fashion that they attempt to break Stana, he is a pitbull to both Vladamir and Gerza, performing whatever inhuman tasks are asked of him which are naturally torture and mayhem.
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Greg Pierot is known for his work on Sweethearts of the Galaxy(2013) and Ninja Apocalypse (2014). Rare in most actors, Greg likes to play to his strengths which are tormented, shady, evil characters. He was immediately hooked on the script once his colleague Donavan Clark showed it to him and the character of Nikolai immediately jumped out at him. Coincidentally, his work in the audition room as a line feeder got the attention of his director and was easily cast as the maniacal villain. He very much looks forward to the brutal physicality that the role demands and is up for the challenge of bringing this man to life. He is in love with this career defining role and will push harder than ever to be faithful to his director's intentions.
BILLY HOLDEN
Billy Holden was once a famed local reporter, then catching a big break with a national network but ultimately leading him to the sharks. He was kidnapped after a journalism tour in Eastern Europe went sour and most of his partners were killed. When we first see him he's been imprisoned for just a few days. He's scared and confused. The only reason he'd been kept alive- to become the subject of the faceless woman's final test.
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Justin Phillip Vanden Heuvel was born in a small town in Ohio, but grew up in Central Florida. Justin studied Theatre Performance at Florida Southern College and then attended Wayne State University for graduate studies in Acting. In 2009, he studied abroad at Stanislavski's Moscow Art Theatre School, the home of the original "method acting". His film debut was in the 2012 indie film 'Little Shadows', wherein he starred as sensitive ghost-hunter & photographer, Jack Alva. In 2014 he co-starred in 'The Brittany Murphy Story' with Eric Petersen and Amanda Fuller. Justin came to director Donavan Clark, a man he had once met before on a baseball feature entitled "Undrafted", after hearing of his casting call. Even without this bias, Justin wowed Donavan as well as Greg Peirot with his sympathetic and panicked take on Billy Holden. It took only a short meeting to finally come to the conclusion that Justin was not only the best choice but the only true choice for this tragic role.
The Crew
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If you donate to this campaign, you will not only be aiding my career and my desire for storytelling but you will also be contributing to the skilled men and women that have agreed to be my crew for this film, some of which have already donated their time helping me shoot promotional materials. If my goal is met, I can pay them what they deserve, even hire more staff and make this film even better. Together, we can make Wednesday and the rest of this series possible!
I have gathered some of the most talented individuals I can find to bring this film and the rest of the series to life and I am still on the hunt for the freshest talent behind the camera to further improve the quality that Wednesday and every following title deserves!
So here's the deal...
We aim to raise $10,000, most of this (roughly $6,000) will go straight to the two day shoot to be scheduled later this year. As it states in the video, 10% of what we raise will be collected and donated to a number of Syrian refugee charities. The remaining $2,000 will go towards post production, distribution, festivals, and any other added extra expense that may rear its ugly head.
This is amount is just enough to get this first film going, if more is raised, we will keep it and factor it into the next installment to be shot next year!
SO LET'S DO THIS!!!
That's great, but what do I get out of it?
Well, there are a number of great and interesting perks for you to enjoy!
If you are someone who wants to throw us a few bucks to help out, we suggest you donate a solid $25, with this you not only get a special edition BluRay that includes just about EVERY special feature that has been or ever will be released about Wednesday but different versions of the films, commentary, insight into the future of the franchise and much more! You also get the "Wednesday File" (A booklet that includes all the files, scripts, notes, and future plans for the series) and a personalize, handwritten thank you from me the director! This is easily the best bang for your buck!
Wanna be a heavy hitter?
The one that you may notice first is the $2,000 donation, with this you will not only land a "walk on role". You will be cast in a major part in this series with the potential to be a huge influence on Stana and the rest of the cast members. Quite simply, this perk is the biggest deal and far beyond what other "walk on" perks that other campaigns will include.
The next tier is the $1,000 donation, with this there is the much coveted Executive Producer credit! That's right! With only one grand you get to strut on set and call yourself an EP! How cool is that!
It doesn't stop there, go on and read the rest of our awesome perk that we have, they range from wrap party and premiere invites to background extra offers! And of course, lower tier donations get you your usual items- BluRays, posters and T-Shirts!
The Budget Breakdown
$1,000 = Syrian Relief Effort
As mentioned in our pitch video, we promise to donate 10% of our funds to helping Syrians who are suffering overseas, desperately trying to find shelters and food. The least we can do is lend a hand in this effort.
$6,000 = "Wednesday" Principal Photography
While $10,000 will be our goal, our actual budget for shooting "Wednesday" will be aorung $6,000 or so depending on rates of equipment rental, locations, yadda yadda yadda.
$1,000 ="Wednesday" Post Production
About a cool grand will be donated to post production, the vision for this film is epic and we want it to look and sound epic so want to hire the best colorists and sound techs to make this thing a real winner!
$1,000 = Festivals
There are ALOT of film festivals all over the world that we would like "Wednesday" to be apart of, by the time we're done shooting and editing, we will have known ALL of them. We will get in, we will win and we will use your funds to get us there! Let's do this!!!
$1,000 = Yours!
We will use the remainder of the funds to give back to you via all of our awesome perks and special offerings!
$EXTRA = Franchise
Any extra money raised will be kept until the following year and used to fund our next installment of the franchise, whatever extra money we raise then will spill over to the following year and so on and so forth, THIS IS REAL!