Monday, July 9, 2012

Watch A GENESIS FOUND online for free!

Our first feature, A Genesis Found, is now available to watch for absolutely free online. I will be updating this entry periodically as new platforms go live.

YouTube (Ads Enabled, HD & Mobile Options)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JhjKkPkLiXk

FilmAnnex (Ads Enabled)
http://www.filmannex.com/movie/a-genesis-found/27451/

Please pass this news along to friends, and if you check out the film, feel free to donate here.




Synopsis:
In 1938, CCC cadet John Patton Jr. (Bennett Parker) found the key to our darkest secret–an anomalous skeleton neither animal nor man. Uncertain of its implications, Patton hid the discovery away from the world—though never forgetting what he found.

Seventy years later, his grandson Gardner (Elliot Moon) is forced to come to terms with his grandfather’s past, a man he never knew but in whose footsteps he inevitably follows. When his cousin, controversial documentarian Bart Thompson (Luke Weaver), arrives for a seemingly routine shoot, Gardner is eager to lend a hand. He soon learns, however, that Bart isn’t back just to shoot a movie–he wants to find the “discovery” their grandfather buried nearly seventy years before, and prove what he claimed was true.

As his skepticism fades, and the lure of mystery grows, Gardner becomes distant from his foundations, including his live-in girlfriend Kelsey (Elise Zieman). Losing himself to the adventure, Gardner is hypnotized by a single possibility—that this “discovery” could be a direct link to God.

The Nocturnal Third is going to Sidewalk!

In an interesting turn of events, the day we announced the next phase of Wonder Mill, we found out that The Nocturnal Third had been selected to screen at the 2012 Sidewalk Film Festival in Birmingham! Sidewalk is happening from August 24 to 26, and we're excited to experience the Fest once again. Several Wonder Mill collaborators have had a variety of films featured at Sidewalk in years past, all the way back to Lee Fanning's high school shorts being selected in 2004. We appreciate being highlighted by an Alabama institution, and we love that Sidewalk is helping to get exposure for Alabama indie features.

Check out the Sidewalk Film Festival's slick new website: http://sidewalkfest.com/

Of course, having The Nocturnal Third openly available is a conflict with our screening at Sidewalk, so we'll be releasing the film to streaming platforms several months after we launch A Genesis Found. Hopefully, we'll be able to organize a little meet-up at Sidewalk for all you Alabama indie filmmakers that we haven't seen or met in real life before! Also, don't forget to check out the official Nocturnal Third website, now featuring a handy Sidewalk "Official Selection" laurel.

That's about it for big announcements... I think. Thanks, everyone!

Ben Stark
Writer/Director, The Nocturnal Third
Producer, A Genesis Found

Sunday, July 8, 2012

Big Announcement: Wonder Mill, Phase 2!

Hi, everyone-

It's been a few weeks since we failed to reach our $6,000 Kickstarter goal, despite you awesome people getting us above $4,100! Never fear, however, as we had a contingency plan in the case that we weren't able to raise enough money to submit both of our feature films to Netflix, Hulu, and iTunes via Distribber.

Our goal for both A Genesis Found and The Nocturnal Third is for them to be as visible as possible. Therefore, the next best thing to being on top paid streaming platforms is being on top free streaming platforms. So, we've decided that over the next few months, we're going to begin releasing both films on various streaming sites, starting with YouTube. We'll also be submitting both films to various paid or curated sites, and we have a shortlist of film festivals that we think The Nocturnal Third will be a good fit for.

This means that if you enjoyed our films, you can now recommend them to any friends or family across the entire planet and they can watch them for absolutely FREE!

On YouTube, banner ads will be enabled on both films, so the more people that watch, the higher the chance that we get a bit of shared ad revenue. Also, since our content will now be entirely free to access from anywhere, by anyone, we'll be keeping our Paypal button active for any donations, or "digital tips". We accept Paypal donates via the button at the bottom of thenocturnalthird.com, or by clicking here. Of course, both agenesisfound.com and thenocturnalthird.com will still be selling DVDs which, for the time being, will be the only way to get supplemental materials like commentaries, making-of documentaries, and more!

Wonder Mill: Phase 2 isn't just about distribution for our first two features, however. It's also symbolic of our next step in production. While we're developing our third feature film - which A Genesis Found writer/director Lee is currently writing despite a very busy period at work - we also want to branch out to more immediate projects, including a return to short form filmmaking. This leads us to a really cool opportunity to branch out and collaborate with new screenwriters.

We would like to fund, develop, and produce at least one 5- to 10-minute short film within the next six to twelve months, but we need a script!

We are announcing an open call for short film scripts, pitches, or treatments to be produced by Wonder Mill Films and directed by myself (Ben Stark). The finished film will be submitted to film festivals, with a free trailer appearing online, and a limited paid viewing option. We still haven't ironed out the details of how - or if - revenue sharing would work, so for the time being this should be considered an unpaid writing opportunity. However, it will prove to be a great creative experience and will lead to some healthy exposure.

If you are a writer with a concept, if you have an existing script, or if you know anyone that might be interested, let us know! If you would like us to consider producting your 5 to 10 page screenplay, e-mail a short logline, estimated pagecount, and your contact information to wondermillfilms@yahoo.com, with the subject line "Wonder Mill Short Pitch".

Please do not send completed scripts in this initial e-mail. All submissions will be kept confidential, and of course, we will not move forward on any script without the written permission of the author. Our work generally tends towards character-driven genre works that reflect the region and personality of the South, but we'd love to take a look at any genres or styles.

We're excited to be getting more exposure for our work, and we're very anxious to get tinkering on another project as soon as possible. Thanks so much to everyone that's helped us get this far, and if you'd like to be involved in these projects, please don't hesitate to contact us. Again, our main goal is to grow as filmmakers, to share our work with others, and to meet new and interesting collaborators, especially in the South.

I hope this news is as exciting for you all as it is for us, and I thank you for your time and attention!

Wonder Mill: Phase 2...ENGAGE!

Ben Stark
Writer/Director, The Nocturnal Third
Producer, A Genesis Found