Asking for money is awkward, everything about it just feels weird. I think it’s because we’re always afraid that we’re going to come off inauthentic, in some kind of sleazy car salesman way. That we’re going to sound like we’re asking for a handout, rather than do the work ourselves. We’re afraid people aren’t going to see the work that we have put in, that we’re risking everything to do something we believe in. That they won’t see us working from dawn to dusk to build our sets, or they won’t know just how many times we’ve had to start back from square one when the locations we spent days and hours to get falls through.
The Glamor and the Grime.
One of the biggest misconceptions of film is that it’s a glamorous profession. I can definitely tell you it is not. During pre-production for The Out of the Woods Project, one of the biggest obstacles to tackle was building the cabin for the movie. Not only did we have to find a way to cheaply get all the wood for building, but we had to find a way to age the wood to create the old abandoned look that the script called for. Our set building crew found a way to do this using balsamic vinegar, and old coffee grounds. Over the past month our set building team spent their days literally elbow deep in a coffee vinegar mix, just to get the cabin to look just right. See what I mean about glamor being a myth?
The Obstacles
Making a feature film is a ridiculously tough task, and The Out of the Woods Project is no exception. With virtually no budget to work with we’ve had to get pretty creative in our approach to put on the movie. We’ve had to call in every favor that we can possibly think of and form a creative team who are passionate about filmmaking and (like everyone working on the film) will put in the time and effort without any pay. We’ve also had to deal with a few different visa issues due to many of our crew being from overseas.
Besides the obvious physical obstacles we face, there’s quite a bit of mental ones too. This is only The Initiative Production Company’s second feature film, and while having one down is a major accomplishment, there is still an ever looming question of: “Can we really do this?” We’re finding out that we can, but the question is still the mental mountain that we all face every single day.
Why?
It’s a simple enough question, with all of the sleepless nights and the never ending to-do list, why did we choose to pursue The Out of the Woods Project? The reason is that we have to. We firmly believe that we can influence the world around us and make real change in people’s lives through the stories we tell. With that in mind, how can we not push ourselves to the limit? If we’re going to make true on that mission statement, we need to explore new territory and get out of our comfort zone. We could just keep doing what we’ve been doing and stick to the film and acting courses, but if we have it in us to do more, then we can’t just sit around and wait for the next thing, we need to make it happen. And that’s why we need your help.
We’re not a huge studio that can back a project like this, we’re a small family that goes through every frustration, victory and tear together, pushing through every obstacle in order to get the impossible done. For the people we ask it’s only a few dollars, but to us it’s everything. This isn’t just our project anymore, it’s yours too. We’ve come too far to throw in the towel. Come create with us.
Please click on our website to find out more about The Out of the Woods Project and help us make a movie! And thank you so much for all the help and support you’ve given us so far!
by Greg Garofalo
-The Initiative Production Company
https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/launch-the-out-of-the-woods-project/x/13995458
