TO START A DOC on a subject close to their hearts, Media Process Group producers Bob Hercules and John McCarthy launched a Kickstarter site, to raise $5,000 for a trailer for their new doc, Appalachian Spring: A Green Story.
So far, $2,500 has been pledged. Hercules estimates the budget to be $400,000.
“The film tells the story of three ‘green’ inventor/entrepreneurs, who are inventing new, cutting-edge green product technologies and taking the products to market,” relates Hercules.
“The story takes place, ironically, in Appalachia Ohio — the very heart of coal country.”
Hercules, who says he feels passionately about a green environment, was introduced to the subject last August by national political advisor and former DNC chairman David Wilhelm, who is from Southern Ohio’s coal mining region.
“With all the lip service being paid to the urgent need to move to a green economy, this film looks at people actually doing the heavy lifting to move the country forward,” Hercules says.
SCREENWRITER/PRODUCER Vera Brooks is holding an online contest –- with a $3,000 contract as a the prize — to find a composer to score her low-budget feature, The Storm Within, which is expected to start filming in Chicago next March.
Composers are invited to submit an original piece of music created specifically for the competition. Brooks and Indiana-based musician/composer Zernul Shackelford will review the music and narrow the field to five finalists.
Deadline is Sept. 20 and finalists will be announced Sept. 30.
From Oct. 1-25, music fans can vote online for their favorite among the five compositions. The winner, to be announced Oct. 29, will receive a $500 cash prize along with the scoring contract.
The Storm Within tells the story of Lorraine Peterson, whose quiet home is turned upside down when seven guests are stuck at her home for the four days. Lorraine has no choice: she must face those she shuts out of her life and her biggest fears.
The GMC cable network recently optioned Brooks’ screenplay, Inspector 19, for feature production. The script had been a finalist in the American Black Film Festival in June.
Brooks produced more than 30 staged readings as co-founder and executive director of non-profit Scriptworks.
Contact Brooks at 312/802-8267.
Send news of your latest indie project to ruth@reelchicago.com until Indie Focus columnist Ed Koziarski returns from shooting a documentary in Japan this fall.
