Dear Investors and Pre-Investors-

I hope you are healthy and staying optimistic in what very well may be the darkest time in our nations history since September 11th, 2001.

I write to you now to tell you that all is well on the production, and we are still moving forward slowly but surely. Although we are optimistic, we are still remaining flexible with the current realities of what we’re facing, both as a nation and how it effects the current film market.

In light of recent events, and the difficulty of this year, we have decided and are now in the process of lowing the minimum raise to $50,000.

Please note, that this is not an ideal post-production and marketing budget. This is the minimum required budget to finish the film, and leaves little means for marketing. We recommend the ideal budget for maximum effectiveness and the ability to make an impact on the current market.

BARE-MINIMUM BUDGET

1. Picture Finishing — $21,000

-picture locking, full color grading, line conform, noise reduction, layback, and titles

2. Sounds and Finishing — $11,000

3. Deliverables / D.C.P (Digital Film Print) — $2,000

4. HD Back-ups, H.D.S.R (Tape Back-ups), and Digi-betas — $1,500

5. Film Festival Submissions (For 2021) — $2,000

-it is wise to have some budget reserved for festivals re-opening

-$50-$100 per submission

-this will give us the funding to submit to 10-20 of our top choices

6. Film Premiere — $5,000

-A film premiere is essential for trade reviews, awards qualification, and competing in the Hollywood market

-If we don’t have a physical premiere due to Covid 19, we will re-direct this entire budget into marketing

7. Marketing and publicity — $4,000

-A bare minimum for marketing and promotion.

-This will give us just enough for a small digital adds campaign in select markets, and/or a a publicist for the premiere.

8. 7.5% Wefunder Success Fee — $3,488

-The total budget before this fee is $46,500

-The addition of the 7.5% fee brings us to $49,988

TOTAL: $50,000

Even at a scaled down level, $50,000 is still a decent chunk of financing, and I can promise that we can deliver an incredible independent film at the price. At minimum, the movie will still be great.

The main concern here comes down to marketing and promotion. The new model that is working for filmmakers that are successful with their films requires them to spend more on marketing and promotion than they had to in the past in order to stand out from the competition and really achieve maximum impact. Like any successful business, you truly do need to spend money to make money here, and a suggested marketing budget for our project is and additional $30,000 — $50,000 just on marketing and promoting the film, which is universally accepted to lead to higher sales.  

The great news here, is that we’ve already reached a minimum raise that we can close at with Wefunder — $50,000 — the harsh news is that we have not yet have our ideal budget — $97,825 — and while we’re still open for investment for the month of October, I wan’t to push to make that a reality.

I don’t want to close our project feeling like we could have done better, or I left financing on the table, or sold the project short. If I was convinced that there was no more financing to be raised in our network, then I’d be happy and grateful to close with $50K, but right now I still believe our film can do better and that people would still love to be a part of our project.

That’s why — from now until closing — I’m offering an hour long zoom call to anyone who invests $500 or more. During that time, my knowledge and skill set is at your disposal. I’m happy to share what I know about acting, screenwriting, directing, producing, and/or any experiences that you would like to learn about or are just plain curios about. It’s truly your time, my mind is an open book, and I think it would be great to connect with each and every person that comes in at our project at a substantial level.

If you’d like to take me up on an hour long zoom call, simply invest $500 and email me at [email protected] to schedule a time.

Lastly, I want to open up the forum. If there’s anything you’d like to know or see or experience in exchange for your investment, please let us know by emailing us or leaving a reply in the comments. We’re flexible and we want everyone to feel a part of the project and the experience who invests. If it’s within our power to make it happen, I’m sure we can work something out.

In one of the most challenging years of my career, I can’t thank you all enough for the support and sticking by us as we relentlessly push forward. 

Sincerely,

-Cal Barnes