Funding & Contributions

1. Funding Overview
2. Our Next Major Funding Campaign
3. Fight 4 Your Life‘s Budget to Date
4. Breakdown of Estimated Costs for Final Shoots
5. Contribute Now
6. Why Should I Contribute to Fight 4 Your Life?
7. Contribution Gifts
8. Other Ways to Contribute
9. How one studios has Made Fight 4 Your Life Happen

 

 

Funding Overview

We are constantly on the grind to raise the funds and gain the resources necessary to make Fight 4 Your Life happen.  Although to date this project has been primarily self-funded by head producer, Bryan Bachar, lots of other folks have contributed both monetarily or otherwise throughout its six (6) year journey.  We couldn’t have accomplished what we have without each and every person, each and every contribution.  It is absolutely vital we rally more troops in 2019 to gain the funding necessary to complete this project. 

Through our supporting community we have previously raised some additional funding by way of two crowdfunding campaigns.  Through direct person-to-person funding we have also managed to obtain further funds on occasion. 

Direct person-to-person funding means less exposure but can bypass all of the fees associated with crowdfunding platforms, such as IndieGoGo and Kickstarter.  If a direct person-to-person contributor writes a check it also means we don’t have to hand over fees to money payment systems like PayPal, which means more money goes towards the project. 

Crowdfunding platforms like IndieGoGo and Kickstarter have their fees, but they offer great exposure capabilities to a wide community of possible contributors.  The power is in numbers with crowdfunding.  Established platforms like IndieGoGo also offer additional levels of security, already having integrated proven online payment systems and requiring authentication from would be project campaigners so to help limit funding scams.  Trusted money payment systems like PayPal offer a convenient, more secure way for contributors to make their monetary contributions without stressing as much about their private information being exposed and/or getting ripped off. 

Hence, crowdfunding and the various online payment systems in place allow for safer, more wide-spread and streamlined funding capabilities for independent projects like Fight 4 Your Life, which is a great thing.  It makes sense to utilize such tools, in addition to somewhat more traditional direct person-to-person methods, to raise and handle needed funding. 

Fees or not, all funding is good funding!  You’ll find you can contribute to this project using just about any method you feel comfortable with.

Along our journey, we have also been provided countless, much needed resources, such as locations, food, props and costumes.   Without such non-monetary contributions we would not have been able to get where we are with this project.   To learn more about all of our contributors, please check out our Contributors Page.

 

 

Our Next Major Funding Campaign

We are always looking for new contributions, whether monetary or other.  It truly takes a community to bring a project of this size to life.  In May and into June of 2019 we will be holding our next major funding campaign, which will mainly be based on crowdfunding using one of the major crowdfunding platforms, all while still taking advantage of direct person-to-person funding as well. 

This funding campaign will be life giving for our final shoots, scheduled to begin in late June and wrap sometime in late summer/early fall of 2019, taking place periodically over those months.  These shoots will capture some of the film’s most fantastic moments, moments that tie integral plots together and provide all important resolution.  Challenging sets, demanding scenes with hundreds of people involved, heavy dialogue performances, formidable action sequences and non-stop on set and behind the scenes production duties all lay ahead.  So much goes into making our shoots happen, so much planning, scheduling and collaboration, so many resources, so much time and energy….

In order to successfully execute the scripted material we must raise the funding we have carefully determined is essential.  It’s the only way we can realistically wrap production in 2019 and finally be able to focus 100% on post production, staying on target for our Summer 2020 release (more on this below).  No money will be recklessly wasted, no resource taken for granted.

We are currently finalizing our budget for these final shoots and will soon be posting the final funding amount required to make them an absolute reality.  Expect our total funding goal to be posted by mid May, sometime before we launch our campaign.  Due to the great demands of our final shoots, a rough estimate at this time is $10K. The final total may be a bit less or a bit more, but we’re doing all we can to not make it more. 

 

 

Fight 4 Your Life‘s Budget to Date

To date, we’ve been able to keep Fight 4 Your Life‘s total budget to under $20K.  With this meager budget we’ve managed to still bring our script to life:

• Having NOT cut corners when it comes to overall story, continuity and performance.
• Having followed professional guidelines in regards to filmmaking industry standards and bylaws, in addition to common workplace practices, despite this being a non-union and overall unpaid project.
• Having shot at upwards of 80 locations.
• Having had the involvement of more than 400 dedicated cast and crew members of varying talents and skill sets, ranging in experience level from professional to semi-professional to just getting started.
• Having accomplished scenes that called for as many as 150 or more cast actors, in addition to pulling off scenes shot at live events where we managed the cooperation of thousands of attending participants.
• Having successfully executed various challenging cinematic sequences that called for high caliber stunt work, as well as demanding fight and dance choreography.
• Having fulfilled ambitious scripted visual/digital effects and special/practical effects sequences throughout production, involving green/blue screen, fake blades, firearms and other props, miniature sets, make-up, lighting, costuming, rigging/wiring, smoke machines, pyrotechnics, false sets, specialized camerawork with steadi-cam, crane, aerial and dolly equipment and more.
• Having maintained a solid production quality throughout the filmmaking process by acquiring and properly using professional camera, lighting and sound gear, as well as by showing respect to costuming, make-up, art design, setting, props and all other filmmaking elements.
• Having managed to capture cameos and promotional footage with sports legends such as Oscar de la Hoya and Mike Tyson, as well as with celebrity personalities such as radio/MTV veteran Sway.
• Having earned the cooperation and support of various renown athletic, entertainment and artistic entities such as, but not limited to, the California Boxing Hall of Fame, RocNation Sports, HBO Sports, Sacramento Kings/Sleep Train Arena, the Cow Palace, Oracle Arena, UFC Hall of Fame Mixed Martial Artist Urijah Faber’s Ultimate Fitness, Sacramento Film Commission, Samira’s Network, Sacramento Comic Con and Silicon Valley Comic Con.
• Having gained tons of support from Sacramento Area and San Francisco Bay Area businesses, media outlets, academic institutes and their athletic, entertainment and creative communities.
• Having made good on our agreements with cast, crew and all other supporting service and amenity providers.
• Having continued to be 100% transparent and communicative with our supporting Fight 4 Your Life community, answering all and any questions sent our way and doing our utmost best to regularly provide project updates via this website and/or the various F4YL social media profiles.
• Having upheld our promise to get this project done with respect to everyone who’s given their time, energy and/or resources to help see it finished, no matter our personal struggles, no matter how difficult or how long it takes.

 

Yes, our budget may be on the low end.  But we’ve made it work to the best of our abilities without sacrificing quality or story.  And all the while the core members of this project have continued to hold down day jobs in order to ensure the show can go on….but we need some help!

 

 

Breakdown of Estimated Costs for Final Shoots

 

A temporary, estimated breakdown of costs for all remaining shoots, from greatest to smallest, includes:

• Location fees = $5,000-7,500
  • Warehouse/Large Event Space for 7-8 days
  • UPDATE:  We have locked in our location space for our final “ring shoots”, as we call them.  In cooperation with the NCVA (Northern California Volleyball Association) we now have access to a huge facility that will allow us to house our much needed boxing set.  The space is ours from June 28th-July 7th, 2019 to execute our shoots.  Although we’ve taken care of the warehouse/large event space itself.  There are still many other aspects of this location’s shoots that must be funded, such as lighting, set design, props, meals for cast and crew, permits, insurance, additional production gear and much more.
  • We will still also require funding for additional locations that are needed for our “interlude shoots”, which will be what we finish with, in terms of photography.  We also have a few pick-up shoots that will require some location fees. 
• Meals/Snacks (craft services) for cast and crew = $2,000-$2,500
  • Breakfast for morning shoots =
  • Lunch for day shoots =
  • Dinner for night shoots =
  • Craft Services for all shoots =
• Travel costs = $1,500
  • Round Trip Flights for featured out of state cast members =
  • Gas Fare for long distance travel to shoots for cast and crew =
• Insurance costs = $600-$1,000
  • Liability Insurance
  • Equipment Insurance
• Gear rental costs = $600-$800
  • Camera Rentals
• Hair and Make-Up = $500-$750
  • Special Effects Make-Up
• Actors fees = $500/TBD
  • Minimal fees to ensure actors can be there
  • Minimal union fees for union/SAG actors
• Costume/Wardrobe costs = $300-$500
  • Boxing uniform alterations
  • Time period costuming
• Art Design/Graphic Design costs = $300-$500
  • Set piece printing fees
• Set costs = $250-$500
  • Boxing ring set piece rentals
  • Boxing ring rental
• Prop costs = $100-$250
  • Weapons for time period shoots
• Crew fees = $0-$3,000/TBD
  
  • We would like to pay something to our crew for these final shoots, if possible, to ensure they can be there and focused as needed.  They’re dedicated but have to eat.  Anything would really help us solidify a much more controlled and functional schedule.
• Permit costs = $0-$300
  
  • May require permits for certain shoots in certain public areas
• Additional costs = $0-$300/TBD
  • Just to be prepared, accounts for various unknown costs

 

As you can see above, we have many costs involved for our final shoots.  Some of these costs may be less, some more.  Some we may be able to extinguish all together through generous contributors.  Really, much of the costs are to be determined (TBD) as we continue to communicate with vendors, locations, cast, crew, etc.  Again, we will be posting a more accurate, final calculated budget soon.  But you can count on much of the estimated breakdown above being fairly accurate based on the figures we’ve gathered, past experience and knowing what resources we currently have at our disposal.   

If you are interested in joining the fight as a contributor or investor of some sort and would like to know more, we’re happy to discuss in detail our budgetary needs.  We welcome you to reach out via the form below or via our contact page. 

Understand we’re always in motion, already making certain shoots happen.  You do not have to wait until our next campaign to contribute.

 

 

Contribute Now

If you would like to make a speedy monetary contribution to the Fight 4 Your Life film project please fill out the form below with the requested information and a small message regarding your contact, whether due to making a monetary contribution, or, to discuss something else in regards to funding.  For example, if you would like to make direct monetary contribution via check or money order, skipping the PayPal fees and putting more of your contribution towards the actual project, your message should explain that.  You can also discuss making a non-monetary contribution, or, to inquire about other funding / investment opportunities in regards to Fight 4 Your Life. 

If you’re only wanting to discuss contributing and/or other funding / investment opportunities at this time feel free to reach out via our contact page instead of the form below.  But either way works for us!

Upon pressing submit on the form below you will be rerouted to a secure PayPal page to make your monetary contribution by way of signing into your PayPal account or by debit or credit card.  If you are only using the form below to contact us at this time and are not making a monetary contribution you can simply leave the PayPal payment page.  You can expect a prompt reply to your message from the one studios crew.

You’ll notice that the requested amount in PayPal is $5.00.  Don’t worry!  You can contribute whatever you wish, whether more or less than $5.00.  Once your contribution has been finalized we’ll be contacting you as soon as possible to let you know the details of what your contribution gets you.  Please see below to learn more about our contribution gifts.  The F4YL community greatly appreciates your support!

Note you can also make a monetary contribution via the Contribute button found at the bottom of every page and post on this site, such as the one below. 

Just to be clear, if you would like to discuss taking your involvement in F4YL a step further by possibly becoming an investor, or, by helping with our ongoing funding campaign, please contact us via our contact page, or, send us a message via the contribution form below.

 

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Okay, Why Should I Contribute to Fight 4 Your Life?

Be a part of something.  JOIN THE FIGHT.

It’s been a long road.  Nevertheless, our cast and crew remain dedicated.  The determination is there.  The game plan is set.  Now it comes down to having the funding and additional resources needed to make it all happen so we can not only finally wrap photography, but wrap it right, allowing the story to be told the way it was meant to be. 

The community behind Fight 4 Your Life has been patient, to say the least.  We made everyone a promise from the start this project would be finished, no matter what.  Well, it’s not quite there yet.  But we’ve never stopped pushing….and we’re so close.

Fight 4 Your Life will be completed.   When that day comes our loyal community will finally get what it’s been waiting for….a cinematic adventure created for all the world to experience. 

With your help that awesome day we’ve been striving towards can be sooner than later!

Sure, this may seem like just another hopeful indie movie project to many people who would, perhaps, rather not take a deeper look inside.  The genre and style might even strike some folks as maybe unappealing, not worth their time, let alone their money!  We all have our own likes and opinions, after all.

But fantasy can move.  Action can inspire.  Movies can open minds.

Think outside the box.  Consider the value of entertainment as education. 

We’re confident the positive messages and themes this story embodies will affect viewers beyond what may be expected, just as the eccentric, yet relatable characters, unique story structure and energetic style of this film will both surprise and engage minds.  As much as Fight 4 Your Life is meant to entertain audiences, it is also meant to stir up thought and emotion.  This is why we feel this project is worth contributing to. 

Fight 4 Your Life is a positive work of art that not only provides enjoyment, but also, in various ways, evokes discussion and teaches.   In its own unusual approach it touches on serious realities of struggle, connecting fantasy with the real world.  

 

But what if it never gets finished???

Look around this site.  Look at the huge community behind this project.  Look into the backgrounds and portfolios of those team members involved.  Think about the time that’s been put into everything you see, the relationships that have been made.  Ask yourself why we’d put so much into something just to quit…risking our good reputations, potentially diminishing the trust of so many people and wasting so much time and resources.

Then check out our social media pages.  Look at our comments.  Ask us questions.  But don’t limit your questions to us.  Ask the community questions, even those who have nothing to gain by talking us up.  Some might be in the same boat you are, with more questions than knowledge.  Some folks may choose to talk about how long it’s been and nothing more.  But those who have truly been a part of this project know who we are and what we represent…what we’re about.  And we’re confident no one that knows anything about us and this project can deny our work ethic, our sincerity and our drive, nor that the film is real and happening.

We have the ability and experience to get this movie done.  But please realize this project is a collaboration.  We have more than one person behind it all, in case something tragic was to happen to a core team member…heaven forbid.   Backups have been made and worst case scenarios have been discussed.  This film is being completed, one way or another, no matter the challenges that may continue to be thrown our way.  But that doesn’t mean we don’t need your help. 

 

But what if this just isn’t for me….I mean, it’s not like it’s my project…

We get it.  Your time is valuable.  Your money is your money.  You have to want to help.  You have to believe in something to take part in it and make it happen.  It’s got to be something special though, right? 

We hope the story, characters, community and all the other elements that make up Fight 4 Your Life are that “something special” to you.  If the project’s not your cup of tea then there’s nothing more we can say or do to convince you to join the fight.  But think about it…

Wouldn’t it be cool to know you helped make a unique, original piece of art come to life?  Wouldn’t it be beneficial to be a part of a positive, proactive community of people, growing your network?  Wouldn’t it be exciting to be able to look forward to seeing your project on screens of all sizes?  Because Fight 4 Your Life isn’t just the work of the one studios crew.  It’s everyone’s who contributed. 

 

Still not convinced?

We’re totally transparent and are more than happy to do what we can to back up our claims.  More material from the film will be released throughout 2019 and 2020 further proving this is a legit film. 

This project may have taken a long while but it’s getting completed.  Far too much has been put into it to go otherwise.  Your money or other contribution(s) will not be wasted.  You will have something to show for your help when it’s all said and done.

Every cent given to this production goes towards this production.  This means production costs such as equipment, such as food for cast and crew, such as locations, such as permits…..you get the idea.  This DOESN’T MEAN the director is spending the funds at bars and strip clubs, despite what shows like Entourage glamorize.  :)

For a more transparent breakdown of what your contribution will go towards, please review our estimated cost breakdown for our final shoots above.

 

 

Contribution Gifts

 

Just some of the possible gifts you can receive as a contributor are:

• An original F4YL wallpaper to jazz up your desktop or mobile device.
• A shout out in the credits of the F4YL feature, which you’re helping create.  This includes a thanks credit on the project’s official IMDb page.
• Your very own F4YL Movie Poster….maybe we’ll even have it signed by the star of the film himself, Brandon J. Woods.
• An official Fight 4 Your Life graphic tee.
• A digital download of the original soundtrack that is being produced for F4YL.  NOTE: This soundtrack will not be available until the film’s overall completion in post production, as it’s still being produced!
• Your very own part in the film!….okay, you’ll be an extra.  But still!……LIMITED TIME ONLY, as once everything is shot your opportunities to be an extra are over.  Contact us!
• Tickets to the Fight 4 Your Life Sacramento and/or San Francisco Bay Area premiere(s).
• Original F4YL artwork by creator Bryan Bachar.
• Meet and greets with cast and crew.
• Official memorabilia from the film.
• Lots more!

 

 

Other Ways to Contribute

Putting aside the money talk for a moment, please also note we can always use your help in any way you can give it!   That means if you cannot give monetarily, we are grateful to receive other important contributions that will help us complete this project…..

• Meals and snacks/craft services to feed our cast and crew during shoots
• Gear to help execute our shoots with top quality
• Costuming and wardrobe to aid in bringing our story and characters to life
• Locations, locations, locations!
• Props
• Set dressing/pieces….boxing ring accessories, barriers, chairs, tables and lots more
• Truss lighting
• Hair and make-up so our actors fit the bill and our scenes uphold what the script lays out
• Special effects help
• On set VFX consulting
• Power/Electric services
• Transportation services
• Animal talent….we need a horse and a llama….or a monkey….just ask!
• Printing services…paper, clothing or other
• Media coverage to help spread the word
• Your network to get the word out about the film, its upcoming shoots, funding campaign and more
• Your help in preparation for shoots
• Your time on set as crew
• Your time on set as an actor, whether supporting and/or background
• Behind the scenes coverage to help document the journey
• Post production help by way of VFX, sound design/editing, music/score composition and/or more
• Original graphic artwork creation for various purposes, including our closing credits sequence
• COLLABORATION
• Pretty much anything helps…..you’d be surprised!

 

Whether by giving time, advice, skills, location access, media coverage, spreading the word or other, there are many different ways you can contribute.  Heck, if you’re a musician or band you can even contribute your music to the official Fight 4 Your Life soundtrack.  So, don’t be afraid to holler at us so we can talk about what you can do to join the fight!

 

 

How one studios has Made Fight 4 Your Life Happen

 

How We Got It Off the Ground and Why We Did It This Way

Funding can be the most difficult part of any project, filmmaking being no exception.  No matter how captivating of a story you might have, or, how much people, and you, may believe in your movie, and/or YOU, without gaining proper funding it just doesn’t happen.  Many films take years to gain enough capital to get off the ground.  Some never do at all.  

We, the one studios crew, went about jumpstarting Fight 4 Your Life by rather nontraditional means at the time of development/preproduction for this film back in 2013.  We didn’t wait to have all of our budgetary needs gathered up front.  We put together as much money as we could and just ran with it, hoping for the best with an optimistically ambitious mindset….realizing too that things were likely going to be really, really tough.  After all, there’s a reason, many reasons, filmmakers get financial backing figured out before they begin to make a film.  Positive as we were, our combined experience and knowledge, as well as that of the others who gave us advice, kept us grounded enough to not charge in blindly, foolishly expecting unrealistic results and setting ourselves up for crushing surprises for every step of our journey.

Although we scheduled our butts off, we didn’t plot out a finite schedule that would call for us to shoot the entire movie in a consecutive span of dates, one single go, because we knew we’d have to break it up for many different reasons, mainly due to funding and availability.  And, frankly, despite our best efforts, we just weren’t ready to shoot some of the stuff in the script.  We were yet to lock certain locations, cast certain actors and even fully develop certain scenes due to the rush to get this film off the ground before our lead actor, Brandon J. Woods, left us for his fast approaching PhD program on the east coast.  We understood we were setting ourselves up for a harder path to follow, to say the least.  There was just no way we were doing this project without Brandon, period. 

So we adapted and pushed forward.  But pushing forward was our most difficult decision to make at the time since it was obvious staying with Brandon would further limit the speed of our production timeline, especially if things went awry during his leg of the shoots.  Our handicaps were already plentiful, but he was/is Fleet Blackwood. 

Besides, we could always regroup after Brandon’s hectic shoots were done and take our time making the shoots happen that didn’t involve him, right?  We we’re just going to have to do this thing how it was thrown at us if we truly wanted to get it done, especially if we wanted to get it done with Brandon.  The extra bits of struggle and sacrifice would be worth it….

You may be shaking your head if you have filmmaking experience. 

Look, it all sounded like a decent plan at the time, considering what we were working with.  We were determined to start.  If we hadn’t Fight 4 Your Life would have likely never happened.  So we took the plunge.  And overall the initial shoots with Brandon went very well.  We simply ran out of time with him.  Then he was gone.  Then we regrouped, setting forth to raise additional funding in preparation for the next round of shoots. 

So began the long stretch of production to keep Fight 4 Your Life alive.

 

The Long Haul….Dealing with Our Limitations

Now, did we expect for the project to take as long as it has to shoot?  Absolutely not.  And the production length is definitely not something we’re proud of. 

As much as we stand by the fact we’ve done our best with what’s occurred along the way, much of which was outside of what could be expected and was honestly uncontrollable on our end, we take responsibility and fully realize the added troubles caused by such a long production.  The core members of this project have felt the repercussions heavily, as have others…really, the entire community in some form or fashion.  Regardless, we’ve pushed on, continuing to earn support for this film and maintaining the trust of our community through proven progress and regular communication.

In spite of us not fully comprehending how long Fight 4 Your Life was going to take, we did plan for time to be our friend on this project.  Once we understood we were going to have to spread shoots out due to funding, preparation and availability we stopped putting huge amounts of stress on ourselves, or others, to meet a predetermined date that we really had no way of guaranteeing.  Considering our many limitations only made us cherish the lack of a hard-nosed time constraint that much more.  We stayed loose with it while also pushing ourselves to keep moving forward so not to drag too much in respect to everyone’s time and to keep up the positive energy. 

In a way, utilizing an elongated, relatively non-definitive production timeline was our method of somewhat controlling the process while doing our best to grasp that we actually had very little control otherwise without a larger amount of funding.  We would be relying more on passion to drive folks to do their part(s) in this project, trusting in the dedication of the community of people involved.  Without that passion for this project, pushing folks to stay patient and dedicated to F4YL, the chance of people staying aboard for the long haul was very unlikely.  All we could do is communicate our situation with absolute transparency to our team members and hope our casting and crew choices wise.

We’ve definitely had some bumps with cast and crew along the way, as could be expected once our production timeline suffered additional setback around the 2 year mark.  We all have things going on, after all.  But overall the belief in the project and the understanding of the often rough filmmaking process have kept 99% of folks on board, even some who have moved out of state since the start of this project. 

For those few people who have had to sadly depart the project, it’s usually been the case of simply having too much on their plates to continue to make time for this film past what they initially signed up for, which is totally respectable and understandable.  We’ve just had to adjust and carry on under such circumstances.  Even on several rare occasions when an important supporting cast member had to step away from the project, adding more setbacks to the film, all we could do was push forward.

Before any unforeseeable slowdowns to production began to happen though, we saw the big picture.  Everything that is already hard about filmmaking was going to be that much harder because of how we chose to make this film.  This is why it was so important that we approach the process on a united front with our community.  We didn’t have the money.  We soon were met with the tough truth we also didn’t have a clear finish date.  But at least we still had the story. 

Not to come off all high and mighty, because we totally respect that people need to get paid, but we put great value in and held strong to the resolution that Fight 4 Your Life‘s story would not be persuaded by cash, nor would it be at the mercy of those who would demand the cash in order to do their part in the project.  Everyone was on the same page….we were doing this for the love of it, to show what could be accomplished when a community of people came together do create something they believed in and didn’t half ass it.  Everyone would benefit from the process by way of the end result, it being something of quality.  It wasn’t going to be about money.  It was about the art, networking and growing.

Those folks who understood what F4YL represents and could afford the commitment put their trust in us and joined the fight.  Those who, perhaps, understood, but couldn’t afford the commitment, didn’t join but still usually gave us their blessings. 

 

A Passion Project: Respect for our Cast and Crew, Transparency and Clear Communication

It’s important to note we’ve always respected the crafts of our cast and crew, and always will.  We are them too and pay our bills with our hard-earned skill sets.  Some folks look very negatively at projects that do not provide pay to cast and crew, feeling as though they are simply exploitative.  We’re in total agreement that it’s very important to be paid for your work.  And, sadly, there are many projects out there that will take advantage of people’s skill, time, energy and trust.  We have experienced such exploitation ourselves and stand firmly against it. 

The one studios crew is helping to raise up the creative community through our work, Fight 4 Your Life being a prime example.  We take transparency very seriously.  It’s transparency that we feel separates exploitation from honest passion projects.  There is nothing wrong with committing to a non-pay project, as long as you know it’s an unpaid project from the start and there is no promise or guarantee of make-believe money.  Once money is on the table and it isn’t paid then that’s a whole different story. 

Once someone is asked to do more than what they’ve necessarily signed on for, that too can be considered exploitation, as well as manipulation.  Our setbacks have definitely meant more careful and clear communication with our cast, crew and additional supporting community members.  We explain the situations when and if they arise and it’s up to them whether to stay on board or not. 

We’re not perfect.  There’s been times when things happened and our shoots ran longer than expected, for example, which is a common occurrence in filmmaking, even if unpleasant.  But through clear communication most often than not folks have cooperated. 

We can honestly say we’ve never forced anyone involved in F4YL or any of our projects to attend shoots or do any other task in regards to a project.  It’s important to us to do what we can to work with the greater group’s schedule and capacity.  That should be a given.  But you’d be surprised at how things can go when emotions and stakes are high.  Sure, we can be diligent.  You have to be to get anything like this done.  But always doing our best to be up front with everyone involved at least shows we respect our collaborating community, which tends to allow us to clearly explain our reasons for diligence.  We don’t like to waste people’s time, especially our own.  If we’re pushing to get something shot it’s for a good reason. 

We only ask if someone commits to any aspect of a project, having been communicated with properly before hand, that they please do what they sign up for.  That’s all we can ask.  But we can never demand anything from essentially a volunteer who isn’t being paid.

So, we hope you understand where we’re coming from with this dialogue and do not see this project in a negative light.  It’s a positive production that has brought many people together.  Everyone aboard Fight 4 Your Life is aware of the fact it’s a passion project, first and foremost.  Yet, the amount of people committed to seeing this project done shows how much people believe in it.  There have been people outside of the core members of this film that have been aboard from the very start and are committed to seeing it through until the very end. 

 

If Money’s Made, Where’s It Going?

Our purpose for this film isn’t about money, but if any substantial money is to be made those persons who have worked so hard on it will surely be compensated.  It would be great to at least make the money back that has been put into it, not only allowing for the next project to get a head start, but also allowing one studios to continue to take the steps towards becoming the film production company we aim to be. 

Head Producer, Bryan Bachar, has made it a point to inform all major players in this project that if such an instance occurs there are details in place that will dictate where proceeds go and how much goes where, all depending on how much is made.  A tier system, it’s the most secure and fair way of doing things just in case.  We want the community who’s work on this film with us to be paid.  That would be wonderful!  This is why we’ve put strong consideration and a lot of time into ensuring we have such a system in place, so to hopefully exclude any negative money issues from the equation. 

Regardless of our best intentions with any possible future income from Fight 4 Your Life, it’s very important to reaffirm that by way of signed contracts no compensation from any possible monetary success of this film is promised or guaranteed to anyone involved in this project.  These contracts have been put in place to assure legal safety for everyone involved, especially the project’s core members, whether the film makes a profit or not.  The last thing any of us wants is to be attacked legally or otherwise over miscommunication or misunderstanding.  Again, it’s all about transparency.  We hope our efforts are rewarded for everyone involved…although the biggest reward will always be having a completed project.

 

At least we would maintain a level of clarity knowing we could actually get stuff done without the daunting requirements of large amounts of money for every shoot and meeting strict deadlines hanging over our heads.

Would we recommend going about the very important filmmaking aspects of funding and timeline/scheduling, as well as other elements that make up the process, in this way?  No, not exactly….not to the extent we did.

It wasn’t our desire to make things more difficult, or, to be rebels just to be.  We just figured out we couldn’t be conventional if we wanted to get this thing rolling….if we didn’t want it to be one of those projects that never get off the ground, dependent on the mercy of investors and loan lenders.  Simply put, we had to do what we had to do or Fight 4 Your Life would likely have never been.

Our goal was to create a project of a notable larger scale, not limiting our story due to the many constraints most industry reps would warn you about.  Our experience, our hard-earned resources and the shifts in both technology and the industry itself told us it could be done.  It wasn’t going to be easy, nor has it been, but it was possible, as many other filmmakers have shown in the last decade, and fewer before.  And through extreme dedication we’ve proven ourselves capable, having brought this project to life….well, nearly. 

Our methodology has worked.  But it has also come at the cost of elongated time.  That old time vs money trade off has played a huge factor in the production of this film.  From the start we figured our timeline to finish Fight 4 Your Life would be extended a bit, as touched upon.  And we were willing to deal with such in order to accommodate our funding means and the schedules of all involved, most of whom have devoted themselves to this project pro-bono due to their love and belief of the story and project overall.

We just didn’t anticipate some of the additional challenges we have been faced with along the way to the extent they have occurred, all of which have slowed down production that much more.  Some of these unforeseen and mostly uncontrollable obstacles include, but aren’t limited to, key cast member health issues and relocation, cancellations or rescheduling of vital locations by venues and/or organizers, cast and/or crew availability and negative financial fluxes for those key production runners responsible for the overall progress of the project.  Regardless of such hardships, we’ve pushed through, piece by piece, and are now set to finally wrap in 2019. 

It goes without saying we could have went about the production of this film in more efficient ways.  We understood from the beginning that having a budget up front was the better way to go, as the risks involved in extending a project’s timeline are many.  We knowingly took those risks head on because of the situations presented to us at the time.  Hard decisions were made.  The rest is in the past. 

We’ve learned.  We’ve grown.  We’ve utilized our resources to the best of our abilities, having made something unique come to life and bringing a community together while doing so, all dedicated to seeing this project completed.   There’s merit in that.  We hope you can agree.

From all that’s been explained to this point, it’s not wrong to state even the most resourceful of productions can’t succeed without actual monetary support.  Through our struggles we’ve experienced this enough first hand to realize the only way to get this project’s photography wrapped this year is to get additional financial help.  We had aimed to fund this film mostly ourselves and have done so to date, having maintained as minimal of a budget as possible.  And trust we’ll continue to do so.

Time is of the essence, however.  We cannot expect our loyal community to remain loyal forever.  Everyone has priorities.  Everyone has opportunities they must take hold of.  Uncontrollable circumstances, life changing events, come about everyday.  Life moves on.  Hence, it’s imperative we complete this project now while we still have the support and willing availability of everyone required to finish.  

In the grand scheme of things our funding needs aren’t much.  But they’re more than what we core members of this project can contribute on our own at this moment to more efficiently and effectively complete photography.  So, we’re in a position where we must campaign for additional funding while continuing to fund as much as we can on our own. 

Once wrapped we have a strong game plan laid out to complete post production within a year’s time, with minimal costs involved, just as with photography.  There are certain elements of post we will require help with outside of our core team in order to stay on track and bring the film to life.  Some of these elements, such as visual effects, take a lot of time and skill to accomplish, which is why we’re gauging a solid year of post, allowing our collaborators enough time to balance this project with others they may have on their plates, especially since many of them will be working pro-bono or for reduced rates.  The visual effects aspect of the post process, among others, is why we will definitely require some further funding moving 100% into post. 

But post production is a much more controllable situation for us in regards to both time and money, even with the demands of visual effects and other key elements, like music.  We are editing the film internally by way of our experienced core team members, who are completely focused on this project, meaning we are not relying on outside collaborators who might require payment to continue their work, or, who may need to halt work on this film in order to work on projects of a higher priority for them.  Fight 4 Your Life is our highest priority. 

As we’ve slugged through photography, we’ve been working on the edit of this movie as much as possible, which has allowed us to properly understand and dissect the material we have, as well as better prepare us to execute the gathering of the material we still needed, or need.  In some cases, the logging and editing of our video, audio and graphic assets along the way has also allowed us to realize where we may require additional material for the sake of the story that we hadn’t originally planned for.  Furthermore, this task has informed us when scene/segment reshoots are necessary, unfortunately.  Rest assured our reshoots and the pickup shoots of additional material have been kept to a minimum.  Such labors are regularly part of film productions of any size and budget.  But that doesn’t make the added work any easier, nor, does it tend to please cast, crew and everyone awaiting a project’s completion. 

So, upon wrap, we won’t be starting at step one for post production.  Wrapping the film will simply mean we’re able to focus 100% on post, where as before we’ve been going at it as well as we could in consideration of all the work that goes into finishing shooting the film.  Photography is, and must be, our main focus until we’re wrapped, plain and simple.

We hope to raise enough capital with our next major funding campaign to take care of what we need for both the remaining shoots and the post process ahead.  That would be ideal.  Our extended team members and collaborators willing to aid us in visual effects, sound and music would love that. 

But one thing at a time.  As explained, the edit of this film is in our control.  Worst case scenario our core members are capable of achieving solid VFX, sound and music work also.  We are just realistic to the fact other, more specialized professionals can get such work done faster and even more successfully.  Bottom line….right now we have to get this film wrapped.  And we need some help to do it.

By way of past funding campaigns and our more involved community we have been quite fortunate to have contributors outside of our core team throughout our journey.  These vital resources have limited our actual capital needs as much as possible.  Our budget has remained very, very reasonable considering the scale of this project and all we’ve accomplished.  But whether it’s food for your cast and crew, gear or costume rentals you just cannot go without,  unavoidable travel expenses, necessary location fees, permits and insurance, or, that unexpected circumstance that pops up at the worst possible time, there are simply too many costs involved in making a feature film of this ilk to totally get by on favors and unconventional methods alone.

To date, Fight 4 Your Life has primarily been funded internally through one studios, by way of its core members, most of the weight falling on the shoulders of producer/director, Bryan Bachar.  We’ve dedicated much of the last six (6) years of our lives to this project.  It’s been nothing to take lightly, having consumed much of our personal cash flows, in addition to insane amounts of time and energy.  We’re not complaining.  We signed up for this having researched all the warnings and gone through the mud enough to know what to expect.  We simply are stating facts. 

But we’re fortunate to have dedicated cast and crew who sometimes help out as well.  For example, actor Kaveh Rezaie has bought lunch and snacks on several occasions during rehearsals and actual shoots.  Thank you, Kaveh.  Thank you to all! 

No matter the size of monetary contribution, every bit counts.  We highly value every single person who’s contributed to this project and are happy to put them on blast.  For a long list of all of our monetary contributors to date, check out our Contributors Page.

We hate asking for money.  We’d rather ask you to join the fight.  That’s what you will be doing by contributing monetarily to Fight 4 Your Life.   You’ll be joining the community, the family, the fight.  You’ll be a part of something….something everyone involved feels is pretty darn special.

If that’s not enough to get you to join the fight, with you maybe being a more practical person who doesn’t want to throw hard-earned cash away on “good vibes, dreams and maybes”, then it’s good to note that you would be aiding a project that is actually getting done.  This alone is something to have confidence in since many projects are never even finished.  Sad, but very true.  Sure, you may now ask, “How can you guarantee that this film will be finished?”  To that, all we can say is we hope our work speaks for itself. 

 

 

In addition to our everyday efforts to raise additional funding for Fight 4 Your Life, we here at one studios have held several crowdfunding campaigns via social media outlets IndieGoGo and Kickstarter.

But it’s about the bigger picture, right?!  No one campaign can be the only campaign.  Each campaign is just a part of the whole.  Plus, we see positivity in our past crowdfunding campaigns because with each one we’ve raised more money! 

 we will be holding another crowdfunding campaign via IndieGoGo beginning in April 2019.  More info is to come.   So, please keep your eyes and ears open and feel free to ask us questions as to how you can help and/or about the details of the campaign.

Some basic info is that we really need help with funding for certain visual effects in the film.  We have a seasoned visual effects artist willing to help us that has worked on big names like The Matrix, Sin City and The Chronicles of Narnia.  But how much he can help really depends on how much we can afford, as the guy is a pro and has to eat!  We, of course, respect this very much and want to do our best to raise the funds necessary to get him fully on board.  He’s a pretty cool dude!

We are nothing but honest and would love to talk more with you about the funding of this film and opportunities for YOU to become a part of the team.

Good stuff ahead for our humble project.  Check out our current Contributors Page to see how many others have already joined the fight.  Let’s put your name on there too!

Thanks for your interest in and support for Fight 4 Your Life!

 

– The one studios crew