Support sought for mini-Blues movie
There are a lot of music acts engaged in crowdfunding – appealing for money online in return for specific promises to enable a project to go ahead. The Blues is no exception, with Babajack being one of several acts successfully going down this route in recent times.
Now in the US, Blues artist and actress Olga is seeking to fund a short movie soundtracked with three Olga songs.
We explain further by quoting below the words Olga has on the Indie Go Go website:
Who Are The People Making This Thing?
Olga is a blues vocalist and guitar player who developed her signature style through an extended tutelage under the pioneering female blues musician Jessie Mae Hemphill. Olga and Jessie recorded and participated together in Martin Scorsese’s ” The Blues” as well as Jessie’s “Dare You To Do It Again!” double album and documentary film.
Olga has released five albums of her own, “Now Is the Time”, “Kiss Your Blues Away”, “North Mississippi Christmas” and “Blues Babe.” In 2012, she released her fifth album “Whatever You Want”,which was written with Cody Dickinson of the Grammy-nominated North Mississippi All-stars and mixed and produced by Emmy winning producer Winn McElroy.
She has played with Chris Isaak, Los Lobos, Keb ‘Mo, North Mississippi All-stars and co-engineered the Grammy nominated song, “Monkey to Man” by Elvis Costello. She is also the founder and president of the Jessie Mae Hemphill Foundation, which honors the legendary and influential musician who served as her mentor and friend. Olga is excited to begin the process of combining serious visual art and her music to tell a compelling short story.
Declan Ryan is originally from Chicago but came to New Orleans Pre-Katrina to work on William Friedkin’s “Bug” and has never left. “Ulbert” 2006 was Declan’s first effort to direct, shoot and edit a documentary short which was accepted at 14 festivals and won 4 of them.
Since that first project he has now gone on to work on more than 50 Film & TV productions in positions ranging from lighting technician, best boy electric, gaffer, balloon technician, director of photography, producer and now back to directing. As a lighting technician some of his most notable projects are “Green Lantern”, “The Twilight Saga”, “G.I. Joe”, “Pitch Perfect” and “The CBS Super Bowl XLVII”, a crew whom WAS able to keep their lights on.
Declan has recently finished three personal projects “Shellshocked” – a documentary about growing up in the Murder Capital of America “Rainbows End” an award winning dark comedy short set in Ireland where a little luck can go the wrong way. He directed and was cinematographer on “It Is What It Is” a music video by Olga in 2012 which received 20,000 hits on Vevo and 228,000 on You Tube.
A list of currently attached cast and crew is at the bottom of this listing. We are proud to have them aboard. Check them out you may even know a few of them and may want to support them.
What is This Project and What the Hell Does Anam Cara Mean?
Anam Cara (Gaelic or Irish for “Soul Friend”) is essentially a mini movie set to three songs; “Nothing More to Say”, “Birds of Sorrow” and “Time for Somebody New”. Our intent is to use a strong wardrobe, impeccable production design, excellent camera people in conjunction with an entirely professional cast and crew of folks within the New Orleans film, dance and music community. We believe it is important to provide these hard working professionals with the tools and materials needed to do the best job they can do.
You as a contributor will be an integral part of providing these important elements. Basically this film is a part of YOU and couldn’t be done without YOU. It is the exact opposite of logging on to your favorite musicians site to be spoon-fed corporate approved material.
Film and music has reached a major changing point in the way they are being made. Since most of us can sit in the comfort of our home and listen to an entire album for FREE and watch a movie with as many bodies as you can fit in your living room for $5.99 its become a non-for-profit endeavor for the creators. We do this because we LOVE it and we do it because the fans seem to enjoy it. So be proud of your contribution however small or large, because without you this may never come to fruition. We appreciate you very much.
Why the 26,000?
“My boyfriend’s best friend’s band made a cool music video for $3000, why the need for $26,000?”
Kudos to them and yes we have done it in the past as well. But we are all adults here and it’s gotten very difficult to get Emmy/Academy nominated crew and seasoned professionals to work for free, eat bologna sandwiches and spend their own money on supplies. Not to mention these folks are our friends and peers.
The costs of building lavish looking functional sets, painting and decorating them is costly and requires a team of 7 people. Grip, Electric and Camera is another 10 to 12. The production staff is 5 plus, makeup hair and wardrobe is 6 and a cast of 15 dancers and actors. The rental on all the equipment, insurance, renting the studio, air conditioning and electricity is also hugely important. The list is actually much longer but we won’t bore you with details. Let’s just say it’ll cost nearly $3000 to feed these people for four days and our wonderful caterer is throwing in the labor for free.
We love our crew! We have been in the trenches with them for hundreds of hours and want to give them the foundation to do the best they can do.
Additionally, Indiegogo takes between a 4-9% percentage depending on how much is raised.
What Will I Get in Return For Helping Out?
Perks are one of the most fun parts of doing a project like this. Remember back when you could go into a record store and buy an album or a movie and the first thing you would do is pull out the sleeve, read the lyrics and look at all the great photos and artwork that came with it? The Perks you get for your contribution are similar and made in limited edition. We look forward to coming up with some really cool content to reward you for your support. And we won’t be insulted if you hock it on Ebay for triple the price because you deserve it.
Strapped for cash? We understand, Olga and Declan just went to grab a bite and talk about this project and had to split an $8 poboy sandwich. If you’d like to help and money is not an option than just spread the news about the fundraising campaign. Use the Indiegogo share tool or just tell your friends on Kickstarter, Myspace, Twitter, Google + and maybe even the REAL WORLD. Every little bit helps and we are extremely gratefull for anything you do to help us out.
In conclusion
We wish good luck to Olga with her project for the fundraiser and beyond.
Links:
The Indie Go Go page: www.indiegogo.com/projects/olga-anam-cara-a-musical-film
Olga: www.laolga.com
Babajack: www.babajack.com
