Making movies is what Sam Cutler-Kreutz lives for, half passion, half obsession, and what he hopes will someday be his career.
Sam is currently a senior at Bard College and in the middle of making his final college film. At 30 minutes+, he says it is by far the biggest project he has ever undertaken, and he is working hard to make it his best. This is the culmination of four years of learning at Bard and a lifetime of film making so far.
His aim is to make it so good that it will get into festivals next fall and help launch a successful career as a director.
Story Behind The Story
“Rocket Men” is about two middle-aged men who decide to build a rocket and travel into space. It’s a film rooted in his childhood love of the stars, mixed with his dream of becoming an astronaut. Sam says “One of my strongest childhood memories is lying on a blanket in the Princeton Battlefield, watching the sky explode around us during the Perseid meteor shower. This childhood wonder is an underlying theme of the film.”
The actors are cast, the script written, locations chosen, and the crew is ready to shoot. The aim, of course, is to make this film fantastic. The cost has been estimated at about $5000 for everything, including equipment rental, location fees, costumes, and props.
Raising Funding
Bard College students have to raise the money for their films on their own, as Bard provides none of it. This is an excellent idea, because it gives the students a view into the real world, where the likelihood of an angel investor providing everything they need is only a pipe dream. Their ability to cost and market their film has a direct bearing on their ability to get the project off the ground.
The fundraising method chosen for this project is Kickstarter, a very interesting service NewsBlaze has written about before. There, prospective investors can review the project outline and choose a funding level that suits their pocket, which ranges from the cost of a meal to the cost of the production. Investors receive various incentives, depending on their level of funding, and investors large and small are welcome. No money changes hands unless the project reaches its complete funding goal.
See the Kickstarter page for Rocket Men and consider making a contribution to the success of the film. Time is short, and they are currently in pre-production. Working throughout the duration of the fundraising campaign, scouting locations, casting, storyboarding, and doing production design, they will be ready to go as soon as funding is approved. Shoot dates are locked in for late January, and postproduction should complete sometime in May 2013.
Production Blog Will Document Progress
A production blog will document progress, as it happens. Look there for production stills, and selected video updates.
NewsBlaze reviewed some of Sam’s recent work, and it is excellent, pointers towards the quality we can expect in Rocket Men. See the Bard Holiday Greeting, for which the school commissioned him, as one example.
Review the Rocket Men Kickstarter page and consider contributing to the success of the film.
