So I’m making a short film…
…and entering it into a contest to earn a grant from the Telus corporation.
Short version, I need your support: Telus will be awarding 5 films with grant money, based upon which one receives the most votes. I’m asking that you spend a minute of your time registering on their StoryHive website to vote for my film, Lust in the Time of Heartache.
Long version: I think you’re going to like this film (and yes, upon completion it will be available for free online).
Note: if you prefer, I’ve uploaded an 8 minute video which essentially the same as this post, you can watch it here.
I’ve made the occasional reference to what I’m doing in my spare time when I’m not writing or making YouTube videos; I’ve been working with my business partner (and some other associates) to set up a film studio, here in Calgary. Things have been progressing well, but we haven’t published anything that would have been of interest to you guys; that’s about to change.
Lust in the Time of Heartache is a dark meditation on the state of our culture and our love lives, combining elements of Film Noire with martial arts action sequences. I plan to do some videos in the near future exploring these two genres in detail, but to sum them up briefly (and to explain why I’ve chosen them):
Film Noire is the quintessential modern story: a story of a culture that’s lost its purpose, where corruption exists at both the highest and the lowest levels in society. The Film Noire protagonist struggles against insurmountable odds, not to overcome them (there’s always another enemy to fight), but as an expression of their own inner path to virtue.
Martial Arts films embrace the concept of physical struggle as an expression of inner conflict. The powers of the Samurai or the Jedi are a result of self-knowledge, and having an ideal worth protecting.
I think the complementary nature of the two is self-evident.
You’re all pretty familiar with my thoughts on our culture’s artificiality, its focus on style over substance (see my post “Do Not Adjust Your Set“), with Heartache my goal is to create an engaging and entertaining piece of dark cinema that puts these thoughts into a narrative form. We’re the story-telling animal, after all. Arguments will only get you so far – I want to create something that reaches out to the people living in this delusion, something that instills a bit of mortal terror into them for the choices they’re making in life, while also being life-affirming in a masculine way.
You won’t just be helping me out by voting on this, you’ll be doing something to help change the stories of our culture. I don’t need to tell you folks about what sort of agenda dominates the mainstream storytelling right now; getting Heartache out into the public eye is a step towards combating that narrative with a harsh dose of Red Pill Truth.
So help me get this thing out there by going to the Story Hive website, registering an account, and voting for Lust in the Time of Heartache; note that, while entry is restricted to Calgary residents, ANYBODY can vote on these projects. 1 minute of your time is all that I’m asking.
The following 2-minute promo video sums up the project, shows you some of the other people involved, as well as giving you examples of the martial arts that we’ll be doing. Thanks, folks.
EDIT: We just learned that my partner has some friends in Edmonton who are putting together their own film, which isn’t in competition with Calgary films; with the way voting works, you’ll have 10 total ballots, and can only submit five on any one project. It would be mighty neighbourly of you to put your other five votes onto their project, which can be located here.
Why do you need votes and not donations?
Ah, to clarify: there’s a $10,000 prize for the top five entries, as well as video-appearance on the Telus network.
I don’t like charity. I find that people who try and run on charity, wind up doing things for the wrong reasons. I may do a kickstarter later this year for something that you may find interesting, but even in that case, sponsors will be getting something in return.
To quote Fredo, “I like money,” but I don’t like money getting in the way of what I’m doing. Fundraising becomes a full-time gig. Believe me, I’ve met plenty of film-makers who run on the charity mandate. It’s ugly.
You may want to correct or re-do the sound on your associates’ first segments. The were difficult to understand.
@Kristophr
Not an option, unfortunately; we found out about the Story Hive thing 48 hours before the deadline, and all of the filming and editing had to be done over a 6 hour period. At this point it’s set in stone.
I’m going to have one of our finished projects ready to post soon, though – the pilot for a series where my partner interviews successful entrepreneurs.
Voted.
Sorry, I said Donations when I should have said “Funding”. Thanks for the correction.
Also, if you’re looking for story ideas. I always thought that that short film “Dennis” was actually worthy of a full-length feature. I was thinking something close to a mix between Dennis and the novel “Of Human Bondage” would do well, basically demonstrating how fem-centric culture induces self-bondage in males.
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