“I realized I had a choice – I could either work within that [big media] system that wasn’t working, or I could come up with something else,” Stover said. “That’s the strategy behind Artemis Eternal.”
Stover elicits these contributions from donors she refers to as “wingmen,” who she says are quite diverse, including Democrats and Republicans, English speakers and non-English speakers, media professionals to students to homemakers and NASA employees. They are "visionaries and revolutionaries, open-minded, savvy and graced with a high spirit of adventure. Their digital tracks can be seen across the Internet; they come from all backgrounds and countries, and via Artemis have signed on to what is a declaration of film independence,” Stover said.
While Obama still accepted some money from special interests, Stover said, she does not because she is not trying to raise hundreds of millions of dollars. “It’s very pure,” she added. “We are getting rid of things that are ruining our beloved story telling process by getting rid of product placement, politics, media parent companies that own everything, from accessing the Internet, magazines we read and movies we see – things that make you cringe.”
So far, 255 wingmen have donated $40,000 of the $150,000 necessary to complete the film. An estimated 52 of those wingmen stem from the Northern Virginia and D.C. area, providing a major source of support for the filmmaker. Some donated $5 and do other “ancillary things” on the Web site, while bigger donors contributed $6,000, Stover said. She has gotten some financial backing from big name companies like Jet Blue.
About the Film
This sci-fi/fantasy film short features two friends in a “frantic battle of virtue and determination,” with one trying to triumph over the other. Stover predicts that the film will run about 12 minutes, which is a compromise, she said – she thinks it will run 10 minutes and her director of photography is guessing 14 minutes.
Filming in the D.C. Metro Area
Stover, who is a Northern Virginia native, uses the D.C. metro area as one of her staging grounds in making the film. While the exact location of the film’s shoot has not been disclosed as of yet, Stover said that it is within a few hours of the D.C. metro area. “I don’t write movies that look like California or L.A., so I began looking for places in the mid-Atlantic [to shoot],” Stover said.
The filmmaker knew she had to shoot in an area where she had support, whether that be the technical expertise and equipment she would find in Los Angeles or the family, friends and familiarity she has in the D.C. metro area.
In the D.C. area, she said it is easy to come to town and save a lot of money because she still has so many contacts here. “I love Virginia and, long-term, would like to shoot more movies here. I love the Shenandoah Valley. Even though D.C. is not a production hub, [shooting here] is pure strategy – some technical, some emotional,” she said.
“Right now, the film is fully prepped. Say tomorrow I lock in the budget, we could go into production three weeks later,” Stover said. “Once we are in production, we will have a two-week shoot, two weeks for post-production, in all about a month to put it all together. We are totally prepared to go into production immediately; we just need to lock budget.” She does not want to film in the winter, though, so she predicts that production will begin in the spring.
Stover said that now the project is dependent on awareness because people can’t donate money for something they don’t know about. “The audience has to meet us halfway. If they don’t contribute, we don’t make the movie,” Stover said.
“It’s a good time to come aboard if you’re a film lover or want to make a statement about media politics,” Stover added, because the Web site is about to do a re-launch and soon people will have to contribute three times as much for the same amount of recognition now.
Those interested in becoming wingmen can find information online at: http://www.artemiseternal.com.
Add comment