About this project
MOVIE SYNOPSIS: Ted's pretty sure he's just got a "skin thing" he picked up on his trip to The Caribbean, but his well-meaning friends, unhealthy coworkers and hilariously dysfunctional family members aren't so sure... and they aren't so helpful either. Adding insult to injury, Ted seeks out an Austrian Psychoanalyst with issues of his own who specializes in Disorders of the Paranormal to help him with his problems, and he might have walked out in the first session, but it's hard to stay away when the woman of your dreams is in Group Therapy with you. Even if she does have fangs and a penchant for blood.
WHAT'S INTRIGUING: We're all in denial about something, right? What if you found yourself hungering for your best friend's brains, or you noticed your skin was falling off in large chunks, and people started treating you like a freak. Inside, you'd probably be terrified it was something serious, and that you might, in fact, be undead, so instead of reaching out for conventional help you might first make up excuses for yourself - and others - and eventually you might just have to start coming to grips with reality. That was the original concept from which this movie was born.
A NOTE ABOUT OUR PERKS: We are happy to switch out perks for something you saw in a lower dollar amount package - so don't be afraid to ask - the answer is YES!
HOW IT CAME ABOUT: Anne Welles and Geoff Mattera were in one of their weekly Screenwriting/Filmmaking/What To Do With Our Lives brainstorming sessions in 2013, which were usually held in his basement in Fairfax, VA while his young children were napping upstairs, when Anne said she wanted to make a low budget (but good) zombie movie; she figured it should have one lone zombie in it. Also, she wanted it to be a comedy. Geoff said “what if the zombie doesn't know he's a zombie?” which really excited Anne. As they started thinking about how someone would not know he was a zombie, Anne was reminded of the beginning scenes in one of her favorite movies, “Joe Versus The Volcano,” and the idea was born that Ted would be a zombie among zombies, and able to live in denial only because his everyday life was so distorted it was hard for him to tell that something was wrong. Ted's name was sealed almost instantly, several other brilliant ideas were born in that session, and Anne took the ideas home and started writing.
Almost every week, Anne would run bits and pieces of her script by Geoff, who would give some input and provide a sounding board, but basically, the script felt like it wrote itself. It just flowed. It was exactly what Anne wanted to write and exactly what she wanted to shoot, and Geoff's notes were exactly what the script needed.
Before the script was even completed Anne had started making phone calls, and by the time it was finished she was able to gently get the ball rolling down the hill on the way to production. Currently still buried in pre-production, but with the movie already cast and almost fully crewed, Anne has stuck to her starting shoot date of May 1st since she chose it, sometime in the spring of 2014.
ABOUT THE WRITER/DIRECTOR: Anne has been making her own movies and loving doing so since 2004 (and has been in the business since 1997) and if there is one thing she knows it's that the key to a successful production is organization, and luckily, she's good at that. She's also good at managing a set, making the daily shots, taking care of cast and crew, working with actors, and caring about every shot and exactly what's in the frame; i.e. directing.
THE TEAM: Along with Anne, our team consists of Executive Producer Jack Foster, former Corporate/Financial Executive at Paramount Pictures, ProducersChad Horn of Bard Tales Productions, Harold Jackson III of American Filmmaker, Wendy Anderson of Wonder Films, Jeff Cook of Cook Studios, Christian Oh, Executive Director of DC Asian Pacific American Film, Inc, and Greg Thompson of Runaway Pictures, Associate Producers Jonathan Zuck of DC Dogs, Ron Newcomb of Opening Act Productions, Paula O'Neal of Crazy LuLu Productions, and Erynn Dalton of Infinite Abyss Productions, Director of Photography (with over twenty years experience) Brian Edwards, Emmy Award-nominated, multiple-award winning Gaffer Jack Foley, First A.D. Jill Rhyne-Grey of One-Eyed Horse Productions, Production Designer Betsy Muller of D.C. Public Opera, Sound Engineer Bradly Baerwald of Studio 51 Media, Celebrity Photographer Barry J. Holmes, Makeup Artists Nasreen Alkhateeb and Melissa Solis, both of whom have worked on The Walking Dead, Crisger Santley of Star Makeup Studios, and Social Media Strategist Christopher Logan, among many others.
THE CAST: Leads are Roy Huang (Joyful Noise), Kimberly Leemans (America's Next Top Model), Chris Attoh (Tinsel), Jennifer Sun Bell (American Reunion),Brittany Taylor Visser (Hairbrained). We also have Hemky Madera (Weeds), Tim Brennen (Sex Tape), Mark Irvingsen (Hollywood Vampyr), and Erynn Dalton(Blowback), among many others.
FUNDING: The biggest hurdle to making a movie is financing, but it is not insurmountable. With a production budget of $200k, we are currently seeking $250k in a capital raise, $60k in this Kickstarter campaign, and $20k in product placement deals in order to cover any surprises and also marketing expenses, which can be extensive. Every penny raised will be used toward the production of Zombie Ted and/or the marketing of it afterward. If we make our $60k goal in this campaign that money will be added to whatever we bring in in the capital raise and with product placement, and we will continue to raise money until the end of March; if we end up with less than $200k in total when we get to the end of March, our cast and crew have already agreed to take slightly less money if needed, and we will stick to our shoot schedule; since they are all working for very little money to begin with, we are really hoping we don't have to exercise that option, but the entire team is passionate about this project, and we will make it happen one way or another. If we had to shoot the movie and then raise funds again for post-production, we would also do that. But we are confident we will find investors, and that we will make our goals in this campaign!
PARTICULARS: We have a completed budget (the summary is below), breakdown, finance packet, one-sheet, the entire cast and almost the entire crew already signed on, and our shoot schedule. We are currently working on the shot list, locations, and other details.
THANK YOU: We are so grateful to each and every one of the people willing to click on this link and read our story, and especially to those who can see the passion that has already gone into this project and believe in it enough to donate to the cause. Please read more about Zombie Ted on our website, follow us on Twitter @ZombieTedMovie, Zombie Ted on IMDb, Lunatic Fringe Productions on Facebook, Google+ and MySpace, and Anne Welles on her website and on IMDb. And please consider donating to our campaign - EVERY pledge helps, so pledge at least $1 today to help us bring Zombie Ted to the big screen!
Anyone interested in being an investor (for a share in the profits/losses and a partial ownership of the Zombie Ted LLC) should contact Jack Foster, the Executive Producer, and inquire about an Investor Package. Jack can be reached at Jack@LunaticFringeProductions.com.
THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU TO ALL OUR DONORS!
STRETCH GOALS: $80,000... $100,000... $120,000
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