Tag Archives: supernatural

The Stakes are Raised

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This weekend, once again, I will walk through the streets that pave the dark, fantastical world of “They Live Among Us.”

Lovers will come together; others will be torn apart. There is a heightened sense of danger, of peril. Serafina has left the safety of Caim’s home to return to the only night she knows. Caim is faced with a decision – to let her go, to let her lead this life… or to take the risk of trying to save her – a gamble that could end her life. Buer encounters old acquaintances. Jimmy searches for Beth. A John is in need of comfort for the night. Lives intertwine.

I begin my journey Friday, in a little place known as the Paradise…

The mind is its own place, and in itself,
Can make a heav’n of hell; a hell of heav’n – John Milton, Paradise Lost

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

The Final Stretch: It Takes a Village

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We’re at the final stretch of our campaign to crowdfund Episodes 4 – 6 of “They Live Among Us.” We have 5 days to go, and a little over $8,000 to meet goal.

Several people have asked me about crowdfunding. They want to know “What’s in it for me?”

“Well,” I tell them, “a lot!”

By crowdfunding a project like “They Live Among Us,” you are providing employment for cast and crew – around 30 people. You’re also investing into the local economy, for we must rent locations and equipment, as well as purchase props and wardrobe.

But beyond that, what you are also investing in are the artists themselves. You are investing in their dreams.

Filmmaking is an art form; the ultimate expression of this art is the indie film, for it is created from the heart and the soul, as opposed to being driven by commerce and profit.

Can you imagine a world without art? I cannot. What if there were no music, no dance. What would our world be like without expression? Dismal does not begin to describe it…

Art is an integral part of society. Film brings us together; it connects us through the shared human experience. It teaches us empathy. It reminds us that we are not alone.

Herman Melville once said: “We cannot live for ourselves alone.  Our lives are connected by a thousand invisible threads, and along these sympathetic fibers, our actions run as causes and return to us as results.”

This quote beautifully illustrates the nature – and the impact – of crowdfunding. Strangers, coming together, connected by a common goal – to support the vision of artists. Making the world a better place, one project at a time.

“They Live Among Us” is more than a gothic film noir, a tale of fallen angels and the mortals they love, for it addresses social issues. It speaks about addiction, poverty, isolation and corporate greed, set against the backdrop of Los Angeles. The supernaturals who populate it struggle with very human issues.

Filmmaking is the most collaborative art form around. It takes a village to make a film – and members of the tribe to fund it. Our pledges start as low as $15. One  week’s worth of lattes.

So please, take a look at the episode on our IndieGoGo page, and consider making a donation to TLAU.

 

Tweet-a-thon 2012!

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Today marks the launch of the TLAU / #ohchat Tweeetathon2012.Sponsored by the team at Office Hooky, I will be Tweeting live from @princess_scribe 24 hours a day for the next 3 days. No, I will not be using scheduled Tweets. It will be me, HRH, live and in the flesh.

We’ve a lot of fun planned: Q & A sessions, some games to play, and of course, Naked Tweets every day.

All of this is being done to raise funds for the next 3 Episodes of “They Live Among Us.” The script is locked down; the cast and crew are chomping at the bit. All that’s holding us back is a mere $15k in funding.

So swing on by! To participate, simply follow #ohchat – and be certain to use this hashtag with all of your Tweets directed towards me, so I will know that you are in the session. I’m Princess Scribe, and I’ll be wearing high-heels, a tiara, and a smile.

Here’s the schedule:

 

Hour Activity
10:00 – 11:00 Hello and about the Tweet-a-thon
12:00 – 3:00 Open topic Tweeting / Guest drop ins
3:00 – 4:00 Naked time. Naked truth about Indie filmmaking.
4:00 – 5:00 Campaign Updates; encourage all to watch Ep 1, 2 , 3 (Day 1 – 1 Day 2 – 2 Day 3 – 3)
5:00 – 7:00 Post viewing Q & A / TLAU cast/crew drop in
7:00 – 9:00 Hashtag games revolving around cinema titles – mashups, less ambitious titles, incongruous sequels, etc
9:00 – midnight Open topic Tweeting
Midnight – 3:00 Daily drawings Hello and Tweet-a-thon for UK / EU
3:00 – 4:00 UK / EU Naked time.
4:00 – 5:00 Campaign Updates; encourage viewing
5:00 – 7:00 Post Viewing Q & A
7:00 – 10:00 Open Topic / Games

 

 

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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Episode Three: Let’s Do Lunch

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In Episode Three, Beth gets the chance of a life time when Alex arranges for her to audition for an A-list power broker, and Ted, a lonely park ranger, comes to the aid of an ethereal young woman on top of the Hollywood sign.

With Justin Baker, Jessica Nicole Webb, Erik Kowalski, Allen Marsh, Marcia French, David Stanford and Kendra Munger.

Original score by Brent Heflin McHenry.

“A Story Forever” courtesy Mike Peralta.

To learn more about the legend of Peg Enstwistle, click here.

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.

 

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.