Hello to the Liberty fans! Liberty No. 5 and me, Jon Croft, will be attending AFM in Santa Monica for the first time in 2017. We are bringing a diverse selection of film projects with us, and we are very flexible with our product for the market's sake. Our objective is very clear. Not to sell but to find out WHO to sell to. This is even more important if you wish to establish a presence at AFM for years to come.
Since I got back into producing about six months ago, I have established numerous friendships with writers, directors, and fellow producers. Especially from the Tampa Bay area, which deals heavily in horror, action, and faith-based product, along with some drama. I have chosen to go with horror for now. But I am interested in the faith-based market, even if it is a tough nut to crack, because the market is quickly growing.
Here is my current slate.
1. The Demon's Head: (In Development) a Niche Horror Anthology with twelve directors and twelve 'beats' to one over-arching narrative. This project has been a ton of fun to develop, due to the nature of how we have structured our micro-budget anthology. $150-200k.
2. Floridiana: (In Pre-Production) a Niche Coming-of-Age Drama ready to
go into production. Palo Alto meets Paranoid Park. We have started
shooting a bit, but nothing on the feature. Only promo & marketing
stills. But we plan on shooting a tone poem as a proof of concept, and a
small promo trailer to raise awareness in the local community. This
project will probably resort to crowd-funding to continue building an
audience, and to get the casting portion of pre-pro for this
micro-budget going. $200-250k.
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| 'Floridiana' one-sheet (front). |
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| 'Floridiana' one-sheet (back). |
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3. LockJaw: (Finished) a Niche Horror show about a murderous ventriloquist doll being shopped around by my friend, John Borland, and I. We are hoping to license this out by the end of this year, with the production company's approval.
4. Let's Get Scary: (In Development) a Family Thriller. Goosebumps meets Krampus. A fun-for-the-whole-family movie about being safe and healthy on Halloween. We are also developing a children's book to help promote the film. A budget conscious $5mil production. Thanks to Nick Canning on introducing this project to me!
5. Pilgrim: (In Development) a Fantasy Adventure Tale with family undertones. Since this is a $20-25mil project with ambitions of blockbuster status, this project is being heavily developed to suit the marketplace. Particularly the Asian market. This means the culturally sensitive people will need to take a backseat on this one, and universal themes must enter the discussion. For a story made for the staunch Protestant in 15th century England in the source material, 'A Pilgrim's Progress', this will present a unique, yet rewarding, challenge.
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| 'Pilgrim' one-sheet (front). |
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| 'Pilgrim' one-sheet (back). |
6. Fear The Dark: (In Development) Written by Adam Minecci. A Paranormal Monster Horror set in the 80's & 90's. This will take some time to develop since its such a fun project. But it will also need to be a fairly high quality, $5mil mainstream horror, in the vein of Stranger Things, and The Conjuring.
7. They Had Black Eyes: (In Development) A Paranormal Horror set in small-town America. This story follows a myriad of victims who connect with each other while escaping monsters known in urban legend as "Black-Eyed Children" or "BEKs." $150k micro-budget to be shot as soon as some funds can be acquired.
8. The Family Fire: (In Development) a drama comedy short being developed into a feature, we are hoping to be shot after Foridiana. It follows a family who has a strong sense of nostalgia regarding their discussions over the fire pit. Breakups, comedy, and emotional catharsis ensue.
My true objective at AFM is to connect with people. I'm a creative strategic producer, so my objective will be different than many at this market. I'm not fooling myself into believing that people will be throwing money at us. AFM wants finished work. But the larger arc here is that a market is about relationships, and working towards common goals. So, I'm working at connecting on these common goals, and in the process finding out who I should bring my product to when completed.
Wish me and John luck!
