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Film Fans Organize Online, Take Tinseltown to Task Under Leadership of SciFi Filmmaker(Market Wire Via Thomson Dialog NewsEdge) LOS ANGELES, CA, April 7 / MARKET WIRE/ -- A group of international movie-goers announced today that they are backing filmmaker Jessica Mae Stover's fundraising project around her original motion picture, 'Artemis Eternal,' and are inviting other film fans to do the same. On the official site for the project, visitors can explore an interactive map of the movie's development, track progress and impact production by contributing funds of $1 or more. By relying on contributors to promote the website, reach out to local press and even create press releases such as this one, Stover has cut out the middleman, and allied with the audience to break ground on a new formula for film finance, production and exhibition. This film is being produced by Stover Electric productions. So far, via the web, the audience has independently raised 40k of the 100k of the total production budget. Names of these contributors to the film, dubbed "Wingmen," appear in the film's credits and on the website along with a link to their blog or online social profile. Patrons of the film also become a part of the story by working together in a variety of ways on ancillary projects, such as creating a 'The Story So Far' video chronicling the advancement of the project and philosophy behind what they call, "a renaissance in film." The 2-minute video, which can be found on the official site and YouTube, pictures worldwide supporters of the film telling the story of the venture to move the film forward intercut with Stover's own sound bytes. Stover cut her teeth inside the Time Warner conglomerate at a high-profile level and garnered recognition with a show on AOL that had a monthly viewership of five million. "Looking back," she says, "shadowing studio directors at such a young age, being a guest of major productions, learning how to create communities from the pioneers at AOL and working inside the machine in the studio and media conglomerate system in both traditional and new media is what prepared me to do this after I turned away from that track. It's been a long journey." Fundraising is nothing new to the web, but no one has yet to apply a communal funding model to a quality fiction film -- something that Stover has been out discussing with the student press, "The fact that a handful of filmmakers are attempting to find a new business model via the Internet should signal to you that there is a problem and a need to be filled in terms of the way we consume story and media. But the promise of the Internet as a great leveler is false. It's more difficult than ever to get your message out there. Collectively our team is here to take the hardest hits and knock some doors down because we have the ability to do it. Get involved in what we are doing, have some fun being a part of our story and learn from our journey so that you can do what you do better." The overall project for 'Artemis Eternal' began over a year ago and is noted for its advanced presentation, professional packaging and the involvement of high-profile crew members, such as a noted computer artist, Greg Martin. Stover herself is known for delivering independent, quality content via the web, past shows and her books, something that has earned her a valuable following. "The Artemis Eternal website represents us in every way possible. Thematically it represents the content of the film, emotionally it represents the teamwork aspect, historically and business-wise it evolves other case studies and technically and professionally it shows the level at which we are operating. Simplified, the story of the film is about questioning what society expects of you and what we accept as normal. Everything we're doing around the film fits and explores that theme." Filming is scheduled to begin in May. ABOUT THE ARTEMIS ETERNAL PROJECT: 'Artemis Eternal', a short, scifi-fantasy film currently in preproduction, is a professionally-led, community-funded, cross-platform project supported by an audience of patron Wingmen who proudly back quality filmmaking and artists free from Hollywood politics, and accept the challenge to create a better professional model for film production, distribution and exhibition. Visit www.artemiseternal.com to view more and become involved in the project. This release was written and paid for by the Wingmen of 'Artemis Eternal.' Image Available: http://www2.marketwire.com/mw/frame_mw?attachid=732130 Add to Digg Bookmark with del.icio.us Add to Newsvine Copyright ? 2008 Market Wire, Incorporated |