Last year I had the pleasure of working with an old college friend of a film he was making entitled ‘Even Gods’. You watch the award winning short film and see some of the photos over on FlixelPix. Funding a film regardless even without a recession can be a challenge but Manifesto films have come up with an interesting way to fund their next project entitled ” A Good Man “.
The Good Man is a film set in Ireland and South Africa telling the stories of two men in very different circumstances struggling with the question of how to do right (and the surprising impact they end up making on each other’s lives) is taking a different approach to indie filmmaking. It’s a community model:
- funding the film through a simple share purchase (there are 400 investments at £150 each, a total budget – small in film terms, but enough – of £60,000)
- shooting with a lightweight crew of sharp, local professionals in both Belfast and Cape Town
- giving all involved – investors, producers, cast & crew, and the South African townships in which we will be filming – a stake in the film, so that if the project succeeds, ALL benefit financially
As traditional sources of funding become squeezed throughout the creative industries, more and more new ideas and ways of making projects happen are being tried, and succeeding. We are very hopeful that The Good Man will be a great example of exactly this!
About the Film
Michael is a young Irishman on the way up; a wife and daughter he loves, good friends, a promising career. But everything begins to unravel when, through a simple act of thoughtlessness, he causes a stranger’s death in an accident.
Sifiso is a bright, sharp teenager living in an informal settlement in Cape Town. Hoping for a place at university, and a better future, he is inadvertently drawn deeper into the harsh struggles of township life, and begins to ask why the new South Africa looks so much like the old.
Worlds apart, both men find themselves faced with the same question: how to be good. And when their stories unexpectedly collide, their impact on one another’s lives is far greater, and more surprising, than either could have imagined.
The Model
As the Arts suffer a cut in budget Phil and the team are approaching things in a creative way. We would love to hear what you think of the idea or if you have any suggestions or feedback you might have on the model. It would be great to have some backers from around the globe.
To find out more and get involved, visit www.thegoodmanfilm.com
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