‘You are a 明星’ is about the interwoven lives of the lead characters- a journalist, a designer, a hacker and an entrepreneur; as small incidents reflect big changes. We are looking for your help in making this short film to a satisfying quality, while also being able to pay the crew.

About the project

We are making a 15 min black comedy short movie to be filmed in NYC, which would be showcased on the internet for free upon completion!

‘You are a 明星’ is about the interwoven lives of the lead characters- a journalist, a designer, a hacker and an entrepreneur; as small incidents reflect big changes.

Technology is affecting our lives in more ways than we can perceive; connecting people from different parts of the world, resulting in situations that didn’t exist in the human history before. In this particular instance we are telling a story about everyday people living in NYC through the above pretext. At the end of this film, you would be able to relate it with few perspectives- technology, relationships, globalization and entrepreneurs.

We would be filming for 4 days at locations in and around NYC with a small yet experienced crew and cast, all of whom have been working in film industry for more than 5 years; lending their services from leading Hollywood productions to indie features, commercials and award winning short films.

After filming in October 2013, we would take about another month n/a half for post production and VFX. Then there would be an online preview screening for our collaborators, after that the film would be made available online free for everyone else to watch and share.

http://trepanationfilms.tumblr.com/tagged/YAMX

Background

“A work of art is good if it had sprung out from necessity” ~ Letters to a young poet.

This project was conceived through the need to tell a story that would fit the dilemma of these time; where out of the box thinking is a necessity rather than a luxury and people’s hunger for recognition and uncontrollable urge to get noticed, can spring surprises not just for themselves but for a wider world.

What has also evolved with Human body over the years is our Brain- the most powerful and valuable component in the whole of Universe. Now it is evolving in completely new ways through the interaction with technology; our social, political and personal lives are not the same anymore and they would be even more varied in the future with the need for parallel entertainment- this story is just a reflection on that coming.

However, when it comes to necessity it is not just restricted to the origins of the story, it is an underplaying of the characters in the film-

Toby- A hacker, loves gaming, loves technology, loves sex, but his necessity is neither of them- it is being in control and to be the smartest person in anybody’s room!

Vicky- She is a tech blogger/ journalist; career means a lot, maybe even more than any relationship. New York to her is the only place where she can actually exist and that is not due to the lack of trying to live at other places. Her necessity is honesty, for now.

Andrew- Vicky’s boy friend, he is a graphic designer. His necessity is the desire to be the best sex experience that any women ever had! He does spend a lot of time researching on that subject.

Mr. Kwan- An entrepreneur; help us make the film to know more about him! ;)

We believe this is the perfect time to tell this story with these characters in the context of current developments in the world of technology, politics and entertainment- affecting people’s rights, privacy and relationships. This film is like a much needed light hearted social commentary on the society.

This film also underlines an important observation of the writer- that everyone, irrespective of what you do, where you are, who you are; your story can be told and you are a 明星!

Why we need your help?

Short films in particular are hard to fund, one of the many reasons being- even though there is distribution for short films, it does not amount to more than few hundred dollars in return, so there is hardly any way to make money from them. Short films can be used as a career booster for filmmakers, but most of all- they are for the dose of entertainment and social commentary which is hard to come through any other source and still have such an impact.

Sometimes these are made through grants from certain government bodies or institution or at extremely certain times funded by famous brands. However, these are not available for everyone; you need to be citizen of this and that state/ country, and you need to have a certain kind of blood type bla bla.

Most of the other times, short films are made through a combination of certain factors coming together; like putting your own money, which still does not amount to much, so you are still not able pay the crew or pay minimum wage, asking for a lot of favors from the shooting locations to everything you need to make the film. That is how we have made short films till now, though it was possible because of the logistics of the previous films.

‘You are a mingxing’ is a bit extensive in that sense; we would be filming around for 4 days in NYC, which really means weeks of preparations. We also need to hire extensive locations both interior and exterior; in one case a whole building for 2 days in NYC! And we want to pay the crew who would be spending a week from their lives in making this film, so they can concentrate on the job rather than worrying about other things.

Then the equipment- we are going to be capturing this digitally - which would save us money compared to shooting film, besides we would also be saving money in the post production. There are lenses, lights, jib, production design; crucial props and if we are able to raise enough money than a steady cam; which is more of a necessity than a luxury; since we have a lot of tough exterior scenes. All in, even if we reach our goal of $15,000; we would only be able to take care of the onset production crew, locations, equipment, catering and audio post. Money raised through Fairstreet won’t go towards the Visual post production- we would be using our own means and resources for post and VFX, besides working together with the crew to create innovative solutions on set to make an amazing film for all of you to enjoy.

All perks would be full filled before 1st December 2013 or before the film is premiered online- whatever comes first.

We will contact you regarding the size of the T-shirt for any other details, after this campaign is finished.

You can reach us by sending us a message.

“To shoot a film is to organize an entire universe” ~Ingmar Bergman

About Us

Leah Wagner- Actress/ Producer
Leah is a New York City-based actress. Recent credits include...NY/Regional: Loud & Clear (Broken Box Mime Theatre), Proof, Private Lives, Importance of Being Earnest, Best Friends. Film: Baggage (co-star Cheryl Ladd, Barry Bostwick), Laisse Tomber, Corn Dog, Nailed. Proud graduate of Northwestern University and the Royal Central School of Speech and Drama, London. Thanks to Avalon Artists, and to my growing family - Aidan and baby on the way! http://www.leahwagner.net
Rohit Bindal- Director/ Writer/ Producer
Originally born in a small town in India, Rohit is quintessentially global in everything he thinks and makes- Started his professional film career at the age of 20’ working as Lighting TD on Hollywood VFX productions. After leaving that job in subsequent years; he has been ambitiously pitching and developing projects while learning the trade after completing his MA in producing films from Royal Holloway, University of London. Directed a short film ‘Marty Unplugged (2010)’; distributed by Short International, then spent next few years in making an Animated short film and a feature film, the former of which kept on getting derailed because of reasons like ‘the earthquake in Japan’; not kidding. He finally made that animated short film as a live action short last year ‘Phil Was There (2013); being sent to festivals.’ In btw that time, while writing and working various jobs in VFX, post production, tech, media, digital watch keeper of human beings, selling shoe polish and jeans, testing for human gene mutation project, started- now couple of dissolved companies; ‘You are a Mingxing’ came to life!
http://stillpaint.tumblr.com/ | http://linkedin.com/in/roygbivk/ | http://www.imdb.com/name/nm3849907/
Thibault (Tibo) Travers- Producer
Tibo created his first film production company in France aged 20 and later enrolled for an MA in Film and TV Production at Royal Holloway University of London. He settled in London where he started working in the British film industry as 1st Assistant Director and Production manager. He has completed six feature films to date, as well as dozens of short films, adverts and promos. Tibo created SweetDoh Productions in 2011. SweetDoh have produced a series of adverts for the NGO Orphans In Need which were broadcast in the UK, US and in India (nominated for a Young Director Award). SweetDoh's first short film DELETING EMILY has won awards at DC Shorts in Washington and was selected at Encounters in Bristol and East End Festival in London, among others. Shorts International now distributes the film worldwide. More recently, Tibo has been working at the National Film and Television School with producer Chris Auty on the creation of an Entrepreneur MA, a project supported by Richard Branson and Patrick McKenna. Tibo is currently releasing two new short films and post-producing two others. http://sweetdoh.com/
Anthony Gurner- Director of Photography
Anthony is a Director of Photography that specialises in promos, commercials, short and feature film production. Known for a distinctive style Anthony has recently won the Best Director of Photography award at the Golden Egg Film Festival in New York, and shot the award winning short films “Sign Language” (Virgin Media Grand Prize) and “Deleting Emily” (DC Shorts) He is looking forward to early 2014 where he will be travelling to the Philippines to shoot his next feature film project. Current work can be found at his website: www.mranthony.co.uk

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