Tag Archives: Angels

A New Day

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A new day approaches.

We are in preparations to launch Episode 4 of “They Live Among Us.”

Episode 4 picks up where Episode 3 left off – Ted, a lonely park ranger, encounters a frail young woman atop the Hollywood sign, on the verge of suicide. Being the romantic that he is, he falls in love… only to discover that she is a ghost.

He seeks advice from Buer, who is having troubles of his own, for Lucian and Beliala have risen. Buer’s plan is to return to Elysium through acts of grace; Lucian yearns to take it by force. Beliala longs for Elysium, too… and Buer’s touch.

Caim has returned to his warehouse home, only to discover that Serfina has fled, once again, to the streets. He searches for her, flying above the streets of Los Angeles, and lands nearby. He finds where she lives… and discovers Rocco there.

Soon, we’ll all once again be in this world of fallen angels, suicidal spirits and the humans that they love, all struggling to find grace in the place known as the City of Angels. I look forward to seeing you there. Reach out in the dark; I’ll take your hand, and together we’ll walk through this Paradise Lost.

To see stills of Episodes 1-6, please visit our Pinterest page. And so we may continue to keep bringing you this rich tapestry of gothic supernatural romance, please subscribe to our YouTube channel, where you can also view episodes 1-3.

“The mind’s its own place, and in itself, Can make a heav’n of hell; a hell of heav’n” ~ John Milton, Paradise Lost

Ladies and Gentlemen of the Jury…

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It’s been quiet on the They Live Among Us site… quiet, because I’ve been a busy little Creator.

Episodes 4-6 are wrapped and in the post process. The dailies are lush and gorgeous; the work brimming with love, anguish and rage… I can’t wait for you all to join us as the story continues.

In the meantime, a fundraiser of a new kind is being launched. Inspired by a chance encounter during the shooting of 4 – 6, a t-shirt design has been commissioned and graciously provided to us by David Taylor aka @SciFiCommons.

Ladies and gentlemen of the jury, here it is *drumroll please*:

I am hooked on this design; however, I’d love to hear your thoughts in regard to the copy. Below is a little poll I’ve created, to help me make my decision. Please, gentle readers, consider taking a few seconds and completing this poll:

Golden Hour Approaches

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Golden Hour approaches. The moment of reckoning, when our IndieGoGo campaign ends. For those just now tuning into this site, my name is Anne Lower. That rhymes with “Flower.”

I am an independent filmmaker living in Los Angeles.

I made the move to indie film b/c I felt myself creatively castrated by the studio system. I was tired of the cookie-cutter approach towards storytelling, and as a female filmmaker, I encountered resistance in others to placing faith in me. So, I decided to make my own project.

I wanted to write about social issues: addiction, violence against women, the sex trade industry, isolation, poverty and corporate greed. And, as a resident of a city where millions live, but few know their neighbors, I decided to create a world of outsiders… I decided the ultimate outsider would be a supernatural being. And so the world of “They Live Among Us” was born.

Part gothic romance, part urban horror and part film noir, TLAU tells the story of supernatural beings –  fallen angels and spirits, and the mortals they love. Set against the backdrop of Los Angeles, it explores a grittier side of the city. The mean streets. Raymond Chandler meets Stephen King, in a place known as the City of Angels.

Going indie means that you have to acquire your own funding. And so, I turned to crowdfunding.

We are trying to raise $600 / per minute for our little dream project. Many films cost close to 1 mil per minute. If you want to see what I can do with little, please watch Ep 1-3, which we made this for 12k combined.

For the next installments, I must improve sound and lighting, and the safety for cast and crew. We have to have insurance… and we have to have permits. LA is a very expensive place to shoot in! But the city is a character in the story – an integral one at that.

I am so grateful to all who have donated! And I am asking others to dig into their sofas, their cars and their pockets. $15 goes a long way!

I am so grateful to be surrounded by such a generous and talented cast and crew. I love them all. Every one.

Going indie means that you have the freedom to come work from the heart – and the soul. And that’s what I’ve done! I even Tweeted non-stop for 72 hours last week – without sleep – to share my dream project with you. And, I tweeted Naked. 🙂

Working on 12k meant we encountered some dangerous situations. Here was 1 night I wrote about for Film Courage. I also blogged about that night, about what it was like to work with such personal content and raw emotion.

Take a look at the articles. Watch the episodes on my site. Listen to my interview on Cutting Room Floor.  For your amusement, take a look at the Tweet-a-thon vids. All made in fun, all for the love of  “They Live Among Us.” And don’t forget to read about my encounter with a possible real-earth angel.

Then, visit our IndieGoGo campaign, and please consider making a donation. By doing so, you’re joining our tribe.

Pledges begin at $1. If, at this point, you don’t want to pledge… I’d like to know why! Email Me . We have had over 12,450 referrals to our campaign. If each of those people pledged $1 we would now be beyond goal… and I’d be blogging about the script, the story and the characters instead of raising money.

Thank you for all of your support of this dream project.

~ anne

It’s Official!

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WEBSERIES CREATOR LAUNCHES 72 HOUR TWEET-A-THON

LOS ANGELES, California (January 12, 2012) – “They Live Among Us” writer/director Anne Lower is preparing for her upcoming 72 hour Tweet-a-thon, as part of a crowdfunding campaign, to raise capital for her series.

Sponsored by the Office Hooky Chat (#ohchat), Lower will issue live Tweets and recordings, interacting with Twitter account holders around the globe, taking questions about her project.

 “They Live Among Us” is a web-based series that follows the lives of supernatural beings – fallen angels and spirits – as well as the mortals who love them. “I wanted to write about social issues,” Lower said, “but I knew that if I delivered didactic content, no one would listen. So I created a world in which one fallen angel tends the homeless, while another loves a battered prostitute. My goal was to create thought-provoking and entertaining content that would make people think.”

Office Hooky Chat founder Jay Donovan adds “#Ohchat launched 2 months ago with 4 people chatting with each other.  Its growth and reach is staggering.  Since inception, #ohchat has reached nearly 400,000 people with 4 million impressions. I felt that the combination of our reach, and of Anne’s entertaining online presence would result in a really unique event.”

The Office Hooky Chat at #ohchat is a fun, lighthearted Twitter chat where people can enjoy Office Hooky responsibly. #ohchat is moderated by @OfficeHooky two times per week, every Wednesday and Friday.  @OfficeHooky is the Twitter handle of Office Hooky, a transmedia brand that provides escapist fun through fresh, original content.

To participate in the Tweet-a-thon, people will log into their Twitter accounts beginning Wednesday, January 12 at 10 am PST, and search the hashtag #ohchat. Lower has pledged to go without sleep, issuing round-the-clock Tweets and posting videos of her hourly experiences on the “They Live Among Us” YouTube channel.

Lower (@princess_scribe)  is trying to raise $18,000 to fund the next three episodes, each of which has a running time of 13 to 15 minutes.

To find out more about the “They Live Among Us” Indiegogo campaign, visit the project website at http://theyliveamongus.com .

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Film Courage

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I’ve written a great deal about the experience of “They Live Among Us” from a writer’s perspective; I’ve written in-depth about the characters, the world, the conflicts and dilemmas.

Today, you can read about the production. My article “Going Indie Takes Courage” just went live on the Film Courage site.

I detailed our Martini Shot day, from start to finish. It began, as any other day, filled with hope and promise…

 

Click here.

Enjoy!

We Did It!

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WE DID IT! Happy New Year to all! May 2012 be YOUR year. We set a lofty goal yesterday – to reach $2000.00 in funding for TLAU Episodes 4 – 6, and we not only succeeded, we exceeded! That’s a great way to ring in the New Year!

Let’s give a giant cheer and a shout out to our first wave of 2012 TLAU backers (in alphabetical order):

Gary Anderson

Katie and Matt Armistead

Reed Boyer

Marneen Lynne Fields

James Gale

Sandra de Helen

Christine Koehler

Marilyn Lower

Liza Martz

Pattie Mulderig

Katia Nizic

Liz Ross

Seth Ruffer

Paul Singleton

Don Shirey

Seth Ruffer

Thanks to each and everyone of you, WE MADE GOAL!

We’ve still got quite a road ahead of us… but we are definitely off to a start.

Next goal? We need to double this amount by Thursday, January 5. Can we do it? YES! With your help.

Here’s a couple of ideas for you – throw a TLAU fundraiser! Are you a great cook or chef? Have a fundraising soiree! Do you frequent a local restaurant or pub? Talk to the owners and see if they will host a fundraising night, donating 30% of sales to TLAU. Are you involved in theatre? Have a staged reading of plays, and donate the proceeds… the possibilities are endless!

Check back later today, when we’ll be announcing our first TLAU Contest! Oh, is it a goody!

Remember, it takes a village to produce a film, and we’re so happy to have you as members of our tribe. So let’s make goal, and have some Bloody. Sexy. Fun!

xo

anne

Winds of Change

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I’m viewing the final cut of Episode Three, Let’s Do Lunch. The launch was delayed by Santa Ana winds, which roared through L.A. like one of King Lear’s storms, downing trees and triggering massive power outages some of which are just now being resolved.

It’s an odd feeling, watching something that you have crafted, come to life. I created this world… and yet, I find myself worried for those who live in it.

I want to tell Jimmy to go easy; to savor this time with Beth, for there may not be another. I want to hold Alex’s hand and lead him out of his dark state. His deal with the devil may prove to be too much for him.

I long to stand with Peg, all alone, in the dark, and help her to find her way out of that horrible place… and I wish that I could give Ted comfort. I want to ease his pain, the unbearable isolation of being all alone…

…instead I plunge headfirst into pages, into new chapters of these character’s lives. I walk the lonely streets with Caim. I know the depth of pain that resides within his heart. I watch Serafina as she returns to the only life she knows, as she once again dances to the beat of her tortured tango with Rocco. I’ve been away from my characters during this final push-through to post, and I long for them to wrap me in an embrace.

 

Giving Thanks

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Happy Thanksgiving to all.

I am thankful for the amazing love and support for this little dream known as TLAU. I am grateful for my team, and for my glorious cast. They are, all of them, beautiful people inside and out.

Episode 3 will be released next week. Until then, enjoy an interview with TLAU creator Anne Lower released today on Curve Wire.

An Interview With Writer/ Director Anne Lower | Curve Wire.

The Torments of Love

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“But that afternoon he asked himself, with his infinite capacity for illusion, if such pitiless indifference might not be a subterfuge for hiding the torments of love.” 
~ Gabriel García Márquez, Love in the Time of Cholera

It is a bitter moment when we learn the hard truth of life, that the course of love never runs smooth.

The world of They Live Among Us is peppered with supernatural beings – who suffer from painfully human problems.

Episode Two, Fall From Grace, introduces the central story thread that will bind all of the characters together – the story of the star-crossed lovers, Caim and Serafina.

The story is emotionally evocative; the images painfully raw. We follow Caim, seemingly indifferent to the world around him, as he wanders through the mean streets of Los Angeles. And then, his countenance changes. Shock washes across his face as he discovers Serafina in her present incarnation, hardened by life on the streets, clad in disturbingly provocative attire, frail, like a rag doll.

Her lover Rocco approaches her. He is a like a wild animal, ready to spring upon his prey… and spring he does, his fury unleashes itself upon her. The fight is brutal. It is painful to see a person disassociate, to move so far away from being human; I am tempted to avert my gaze… but I do not.

Caim appears, and rescues his love. He is so gentle as he ministers to her wounds. What torment it is for him to find her fallen so low. He can no longer afford indifference; this time, he will not stand by and watch as she is destroyed yet…

…and yet, he is only half of this equation, for Serafina’s choice is the sum of the whole. She can stay with Caim, a complete stranger, who tells her that he only wishes to take care of her, or she can return to Rocco. The choice for her is not as simple as it seems, for Rocco’s love is the only kind she has known. What draws a woman to a man who drains the life from her, who resorts to verbal and physical assaults, who treats her as offal? Serafina is so far removed from being the Chosen One. She cannot even imagine the possibility of who she truly is – and who she can become. She may, however… if she is strong enough.