My partner in crime @vachemorte and I have been working on the biggest project of our lives for more than five years now!
THE JUJU GUM CONSPIRACY
This project has been a long time passion and it hasn't been easy. This was originally meant to be presented as a full length film. We started working on the script more than five years ago, @vachemorte has a studio so we had access to some resources but we had no funding.
In the past we have applied for grants and pitched shows in an attempt to get some financial backing but the amount of red tape and bureaucracy is mind boggling if you are not already connected. The biggest road block for that avenue is the loss of artistic freedom. We had our vision for this film and did not want people looking over our shoulders and questioning our decisions.
We decided to take a massive leap and do this thing ourselves. We didn't know how we we're going to make it work but we were determined. It was a long and sometimes arduous process but we finally have a finished result. The entire length is 2h15 minutes. After watching it and contemplating it's fate numerous times we decided it might work better as a series. We watched it again with that in mind and had an epiphany! It seemed like it was destined to be a series all along, in fact it works even better in installments :)
The Release
So here's the plan!
We will be releasing one episode a day starting on January 8th 2018.
These will be released on El Director's page @vachemorte
There are 21 episodes total. After all the episodes are released we will leave them up for one more week and then unlist the youtube links. Think of this as our film festival tour :)
Up until the release I will be blogging a series called: Diary of an independant film maker.
In this series I will discuss all the aspects of pre-production such as scriptwriting, casting, prop making etc. I hope this series inspires independent film makers and shows them that you don't need a lot of money to go out and make content. You just need determination and a little bit of ingenuity.
What is the series about?
At this point you're probably curious about the content, right? Here's a synopsis:
Everybody is chewing Juju gum, it’s the new sensation and it’s highly hypnotic ad campaign seems to be having some strange effects.
Created by a malicious organization called SOFIE, they targets three individuals using manipulative and highly unethical tactics to take complete control of their minds.
Cedric, a thug who is desperate for money is recruited by SOFIE to do their dirty work, Paul, a normally quiet and boring accountant is under attack and a mobster named Ivano finds his daughter missing. As these characters lives intertwine they must fight together to become free of The Juju Gum Conspiracy.
And of course this post wouldn't be complete without a short teaser :D
Potential for content creators
At the moment many users come here to look at crypto, art, fiction, blogs about life/health etc. then they log off to watch youtube or netflix. Imagine how many users we could retain if there was a broader scope of television and film content. Steemit is such an interesting experiment right now but we are beyond pleased to be a part of it and have a place to showcase our content without third party interference.
We have invited our entire cast of 80 actors, yes you heard that right 80 actors to join Steemit and watch it on the platform. We will also be promoting this on facebook and twitter in the hopes that we can snag a little more interest from content creators and the possibilities for distribution on Steemit.
If anyone reading this is a film maker or video content creator please get in touch with us, we have yet to find our community here and seek to build some connections.
I'll see you next week for: Diary of an independant film maker Part 1
Are you ready to chew the JUJU?
Julia <3
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this looks insane and cool!
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Thank you stellabelle! It's definitely insane and I hope cool? I've seen it so many times during edits that I'm a little immune to the insanity 😀
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Thank you so much for the resteem of both of our post, we need all the visibility we can get, so this is appreciated!!!
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OK, this is going to be strangely interesting! That preview is bizarre enough that I want to see this when it comes out.
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That's exactly what we hoped for, it's admittedly pretty Wierd but I think in a good way! I'll be excited to hear your feedback!
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Hi Julia and @vachemorte,
Nice to meet fellow filmmakers on Steemit. It has been a while... :)
I had trouble falling asleep yesterday night and was thinking of this post and how to reply to it. The teaser - which looks great! - made me think of a mix between early Peter Jackson (Braindead, Bad Taste), Japanese cinema (one movie that came to mind was the hilarious superhero comdy Zebraman (2) by the extremely prolific Takashi Miike) and, don't ask me why, the crazy 80s cult movie The Stuff. Believe me this is meant as a compliment.
I also like the 'diary of an independent filmmaker idea'. I worked on something alike months ago, when I was still working on my Spanish feature. I wrote two posts for Steemit back then, that I called 'diary of a microbudget filmmaker'. Then my project got cancelled and the diary too. Now I'm back to diary format again and talking about film but that's another story. Enough about me, though...
I am looking forward to the filmmaking diary. Might be able to chip in myself one way or another. I am also very much looking forward to the web series itself and love how the two of you eventually decided to change the format around and chose this special kind of distribution method. Am curious how it's going to work out. I also agree with you that there are definitely other possibilities with steemit and the blockchain and this will be a nice kind of test ride.
Best of luck with all and let's definitely stay in touch :)
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Umm I take the comparison to all those films as a huge compliment haha! As vachemorte said in his reply we are also massive cinema consumers and have tried to watch every darn movie under the sun and we have enjoyed all of these. Our inspirations definitely come from all over the place! I'd love to read you diary entries I will go back and take a look:)
I think we live in such an interesting time, we are not restricted by Hollywood anymore. We have control over release this is such a special and experimental moment and I am excited to see how it goes. I just followed you so hopefully I'll see more film content coming out from you as well!
Nice chatting with you in PAL as well, I'm sure I'll see you around again :)
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I'm always up for talking film and filmmaking. There was a time, back in college, when I watched about 10 movies a week, sometimes more. Now I'm glad if I get to watch one, haha.
I definitely agree that we live in interesting times and instead of letting other people control you - something I can't stand, haha - turning it around and experimenting with self distribution, like you guys do - gives you total control in a way. I love the experiment!
I will see what I can do considering film content. Film making is on the backburner right now. But - as I've done in my last three posts - I will probably mix up all my writing on here with plenty of film talk and references. I just can't help it ;)
Have a great day and talk to you soon :)
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I will let Julia answer to your comment but I will jump in to say that we are both fan of Takashi Miike for a long time. I had a copy of Bad taste on vhs back in the day (before lord of the ring first came out). Glad we meet fellow filmmaker and we hope you watch the series.
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I love Brain Dead (especially the Rat Monkey or squirrel monkey!). Bad taste is a good second and let's not even start about Meet the Feebles. Pretty crazy that the same guy got to direct the LOTR series, don't you think? I'm looking forward to Julia's reply and will definitely check out your series.
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This is SO exciting!!! I can't wait to learn more about the process you went through to produce this. It is inspiring to hear about talent people making the move to create a large piece like this - inspiring!! I wish I was in Montreal so I could help out. I'd get coffee or sweep up, or fetch Vachemorte's pants when he needs them.
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You'll hear all about it haha I already have a table of contents ready with all the posts I'm going to make :D We could have certainly used someone around doing ten things at once was pretty tiring. I am hyped to post this!
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Wow, that's amazing, looks cool from the trailer. You guys are really onto something interesting, exciting times here on steemit.
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Yes very exciting, I hope you tune in for the release!
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This post has been resteemed by @minnowsupport courtesy of @juliakponsford from the Minnow Support Project ( @minnowsupport ). Join us in Discord.
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This is so amazing Julia!!! I'm so happy for you! wow! 21 episodes? that's wild!!! this is WONDERFULLLLLLL! :D Congratulations!!!!!!!!!
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Thanks IT! I'm hoping it'll pick up some traction when we start posting it, it's kind if scary to release our baby into the wild!
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I can't wait for the release! Resteemed! <3
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Thank you rose! 1 month will fly by I can wait to see reactions :D
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finally got around to reading this. it looks outrageous and gory lol
i will wait with anticipation until january!
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It is quite outrageous and a little gory, not too much though! I'll be putting out lots of blogs about it until the release, I hope you'll enjoy it!
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This looks right up my street!!!!!!!! cannot wait!!! Looks like its gonna buzz the senses!!!!!
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I've seen it many times now and it's still buzzing my senses, lol, I hope it buzzes yours too :D
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The trailer definitely has me gripped!!!!!!!!
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Exciting and fun! Sounds great-- I will be looking out for it! Upvoted and followed. @dakini5d... PS-- they literally send signals from the microwave towers to activate the nano-tech in our addictive foods/drinks to make us buy them-- you could add that to your plot-line!
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Well it's already done so too late to add it lol but it's along those lines a bit 😀 thanks for stopping by I hope you enjoy the series when we post it!
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Congratulations! This post has been upvoted from the communal account, @minnowsupport, by juliakponsford from the Minnow Support Project. It's a witness project run by aggroed, ausbitbank, teamsteem, theprophet0, someguy123, neoxian, followbtcnews/crimsonclad, and netuoso. The goal is to help Steemit grow by supporting Minnows and creating a social network. Please find us in the Peace, Abundance, and Liberty Network (PALnet) Discord Channel. It's a completely public and open space to all members of the Steemit community who voluntarily choose to be there.
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This post has been resteemed by @msp-lovebot courtesy of @juliakponsford from the Minnow Support Project ( @minnowsupport ). Join us in Discord.
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Pretty awesome ! Excited for you !!!
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Thank you so much! I'm bursting that we are finally doing this 😀😀😀😀
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Nice post
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Well I'm sorry for totally missing your 5 years of effort, seems like I turned up just in time for the show/s!
The trailer works I'm keen for episode 1 😁
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Your definitely here right on time, we can't wait to release it :)
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Good luck to you guys!
I think that this statement is very on point, and hope your hard work has the desired effect!
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this post arting so awesome...@juliakponsford
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Thank you I hope you watch the series :)
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of course see your full series@juliakponsford
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Cool, I'm looking forwatd to it :):) Wow, respect to you guys for pulling this off without outside support!! I trust the community will back you up on this massive effort you have put in. Cheers :)
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Thank you it was very difficult but definitely worth it :)
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That teaser was insane. I like it :D
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Thanks! I'm so glad you enjoyed it!
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Hi guys!
Haha... love your teaser!!!!
I'm the first mannequin-blogger in the entire planet!
If you need me, just let me know ;-)
Big hug
Steemitri The Mannequin
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This post has been resteemed by @lovejuice courtesy of @juliakponsford from the Minnow Support Project ( @minnowsupport ). Join us in Discord.
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