OUR WHY: “Louis vs Schmeling” is a 25-year passion project amongst our filmmaking team. The story of Joe Louis, a black man rising as a fighter and reluctant hero in a particularly turblent racial climate, and Max Schmeling, a German fighter who refused to become a Nazi, crosses racial divides and is particularly relevant to today.
Our team is comprised of a group of highly-accomplished filmmakers, with many years in the industry. Bill Duke, our director (and longtime actor, having co-starred in “Car Wash,” “Predator” and “Menace II Society, among numerous others) has lensed dozens of hours of classic television, and movies including “Sister Act 2: Back in the Habit,” “Deep Cover” and “The Cemetery Club.” Gilbert Adler, our co-screenwriter, is the veteran producer of “Tales from the Crypt” for television, and the features “Valkyrie” with Tom Cruise, “Superman Returns,” “Constantine” and more. Joel Eisenberg, also our screenwriter, is a writer and producer, known for “April Showers” and his acclaimed series of fantasy novels with Steve Hillard, “The Chronicles of Ara.” All of the men are longtime boxing fans.
The filmmakers have decided to crowdfund the “development” of this feature – and only the development as opposed to fully financing the project in this manner – for a very specific reason. In the world of Hollywood, studios will typically fund all or most of a project, including this phase. By doing so they will typically insist upon all decision-making, as only their money is entirely at risk. By you supporting us and donating to this project, we will bring our expertise and the “completed” development of this very special story to the financiers of the film’s production and post-production phases. This way, the story of Joe Louis and Max Schmeling retains its integrity and the filmmakers’ vision. Our effort to raise the development funds necessary to prep this project, with your contribution, will assist us in moving forward towards our full funding, by mitigating the risk of this amazing story becoming a “fictionalized” or otherwise questionable version of events.
We intend to honor the legacies of these two great fighters, and integrity is key.
“Louis vs. Schmeling” Feature Film
We are raising development funds. Here’s how it breaks down.
We have put a lot of planning into providing you with above average incentives. We hope you’ll be as excited about these as we are.
Look for even more to be announced throughout the campaign.
With funds raised over our $200,000 goal, we intend to also finance the “pre-production” phase of this film, in full or in part. Pre-production funds will allow us to move even further in the filmmaking process to where we will have the freedom to hire other team personnel. For example, we will hire staff in charge of costumes and makeup. We will also hire a line producer to prepare a full budget and schedule, which will allow us to place deposits on actors to reserve their schedules. Finally, we will also lock a formal shooting script. See below for how this breaks down!