Empowerment Art’s flagship film, A Paper Tiger Burns presents topics of great concern facing members of our society today: themes of LGBT discrimination, high school bullying, and minority otherization weave throughout a multifaceted story based on true events.
This startup nonprofit has been on a 5-year journey to develop and produce this international story for the big screen. Board members and film crew raised funds to travel to Colombia, South America to film in locations of real events that inspired the script, and followed through in completing an epic feature film without a production company’s support.
Join Empowerment Art’s mission by supporting the film on its final steps to reach a mass audience who may not otherwise ever know the story of the “other”.
Current phase: Completion of A Paper Tiger Burns and Early Distribution
Budget Overview to date:
Main Campaign Goals
1). Create the opportunity to submit to film festivals, our first step in getting the film seen. The good news is that many film festival submissions allow thrifty online submissions using a web link to the film! We need to maintain our Vimeo Pro account ($240) and pay the submission fees which typically range from $70-$100.
1st choice festivals to attempt first for a world premiere:
2017 Telluride Film Festival
2018 South by Southwest Film Festival (SXSW)
2018 Cartagena Film Festival
2018 Cannes Film Festival
2nd choice festivals we are looking at as well:
Chicago Social Change Film Fest, St. Louis QFest, Crested Butte Film Festival, St. Louis International Film Festival, Denver Film Festival, Nashville Film Festival, Miami International Film Festival.
Cost: $1,000
2). Help us prepare the film for a Latin American audience and improve all subtitles prior to distribution. We will employ professional localization services to translate the dialogue in English to Spanish subtitles and create subtitle tracks in the film. The service provider will also help revise the English subtitles we currently made only based on the early script translations.
Cost: $1,500
3). Complete the editing of the film! While this is actually completed (no worries on getting to see the film), it was done entirely on a deferred budget so that all of our most recent fundraising efforts could go to paying $10,000 to the music composition and recording. This amount will cover all of the budgeted post-production stipend (many months of labor and all facets of editing). Empowerment Arts will then be able to close the books on producing the film!
Cost: $8,000
Summary: Reaching this main goal completes the film and steps us into distribution through festivals so the film will be seen. This accomplishes our mission of empowering represented marginalized groups and lights the fire for creating cultural and educational influence!
Campaign main goal total: $10,500
Hatchfund Stretch Goals
4). Improve final audio mix in preparation for film showings and distribution. The one area we had to cut from our post-production budget was having additional work done on the audio mix (in addition to the regular editing process). There are additional audio cleanup and quality improvements that can be done in other programs such as Pro Tools or with additional plugins and professional skills. While the current mix is festival ready, it was the one area of potential improvement that was discussed in our pre-screening feedback, and would be worth an extra investment.
Cost: +$3,000
5). Design and print updated press kits, and create of an official movie poster. This will cover some creative services, materials, and printing costs.
Cost: +$700
6). Create a professional cinema file of the film. While we can provide a Blu-ray disc and create a free-ware export of the film in Digital Cinema Package format (it worked at our preview screening), it would be better if we have a post-production house create the DCP file from our master.
Cost: +$300
7). Kickoff educational outreach by helping our volunteers secure screening venues and create informational packets about the film and its topics for schools and social impact nonprofits.
Cost: +$3,000
8). Create international buzz with a premiere of the film in Colombia, South America. We filmed in locations all around Bogota and La Union and there is wild anticipation for the film across the country. This would defer some travel costs and localization of film and promotional materials.
Cost: +$5,000
Stretch Goals Summary
If we reached this stretch goal, we would have the film at its best and move forward with all of our early distribution plans that will complete educational outreach and get the film to distributors and partnering organizations who can take it even further.
Total Campaign Fundraising Goal: $22,500
Thank You: With your help, Empowerment Arts will be able to start our mission outreach. Since the founding of the organization in 2012, we have had the vision that unique films about marginalized groups would reach both those in need of empowerment and a mass audience who needs to know their story. The “three E’s” of empowerment are Egalitarian, Empathy, and Education. First, we have produced a film in collaboration with immigrants and the LGBT community to create an authentic story based on true events. Second, the story was produced as an effective narrative, that will convey the powerful story in a way that only cinema can. Third, we now can move forward with the step of educational outreach – people need to see the film and festivals and presentations are part of our initial plan. Donating to this campaign will help us not only improve the film and get it seen, but will help us take the third and final step into accomplishing the totality of our mission.