A Case Study
Narrative | Dramatic Features
Film Name: Here Comes Frieda
Genre: Science Fiction
Date: May 2020
Director: Robin Takao D’Oench
Producer: Victor Gallo, David Lavine, Robin Takao D’Oench
Writer: Screenplay by David Lavine; Story by Victor Gallo and David Lavine
Cinematographer: Dominick Sivilli
Production Company: Ripple Effect Artists
Budget: $25,000
Financing: crowdfunding + direct funds from Ripple Effect Artists – a not-for-profit arts organization
Shooting Format: Digital
Screening Format: Digital
World Premiere: Official Selection at Hollyshorts; Rhode Island Film Festival; Crystal Palace International Film Festival: and Boston Sci-Fi Film Festival
Awards: N/A
Website: https://vimeo.com/460348118
indieactivity: What is your film about?
Robin Takao D’Oench (RTD): HERE COMES FRIEDA is a film about what the future might look like a couple of decades from now. It’s a tale of a young woman who holds the winning ticket to a lottery promising a better life – but which ends up turning her life upside down. The film is set in a world ravaged by climate change and class division – though we explore those themes subtly rather than beat the viewer over the head with them.
Tell us about the festival run, marketing, and sales?
Robin Takao D’Oench (RTD): We’ve just recently begun HERE COMES FRIEDA’s festival run. The film had its world premiere at the Rhode Island International Film Festival’s Vortex Festival – a subset of RIFF that showcases science fiction and horror films. We’ve also recently screened at HollyShorts and the Syracuse International Film Festival; with additional festivals to come in 2021. Additionally, we are set to premiere only on DUST (watchdust.com) in early 2021.
The Official Trailer for HERE COMES FRIEDA directed by Robin Takao D’Oench
Give the full Official Synopsis for your film?
Robin Takao D’Oench (RTD): The year is 2040. Earth has become a desperate planet consumed by a barrage of extreme weather patterns. The more fortunate members of humanity have escaped the planet to a low orbiting habitat called Upper Paradise. In an act of goodwill, on the eve of every major storm, the citizens of Upper Paradise hold a lottery for the people of Earth. The contest, hosted by the congenial Yvonne Bala (Sarita Choudhury HUNGER GAMES: MOCKINGJAY Part 1 & 2) offers one person from Earth safe harbor with a new life in Upper Paradise. Lily Lamont (Ellie Wallwork DR. WHO, CALL THE MIDWIFE), a young blind woman living alone in a decrepit tenement, finds herself winning the lottery ticket; but when she prepares to escape to Upper Paradise’s greener pastures, she discovers a sinister plot hiding in the shadows.
Development & Financing?
Robin Takao D’Oench (RTD): HERE COMES FRIEDA began when producer Victor Gallo and the not-for-profit arts organization joined forces to make a film in which the subject of climate change was a theme. Victor quickly engaged writing partner David Lavine to devise a short fable, not about “climate change” per se (neither Victor nor David are fans of films that are too on-the-nose about their messaging), but one in which the story itself simply took place in a world dealing with the consequences of our present climate inaction. Upon creating the broad outlines of the story, Victor and David brought director Robin Takao D’Oench on board.
Among producer Victor Gallo’s passions is to help bring more diversity to the film business. Victor has been working professionally for twenty years and since the beginning of his career, he’s been struck by the relative homogeneity of the film business, both in terms of class and race. At the very beginning of Frieda’s development, Victor set out to launch a film apprenticeship program for young people of color or from disadvantaged backgrounds. Five young people from the NYC area (ranging in age from 17 to 20) were brought on as apprentices to shadow the filmmakers from development (including scheduling, budgeting, and casting) through production and post. The aim was to provide the apprentices with hands-on production experience, shadowing department heads and the production team throughout production; to provide the apprentices with their first on-screen credit, and to provide them with their first professional relationships (in a relationship-driven business) by working side-by-side with filmmaking professionals. The program was a huge success, and Victor plans on doing it again with the production of his next film.
The financing for HERE COMES FRIEDA came together via a combination of crowdfunding and funds from Ripple Effect Artists, the principal production company behind the film. Crowdfunding was done through Seed & Spark and netted $16K or the film’s $25K budget.
Production?
Robin Takao D’Oench (RTD): Production took place in New York City in September of 2019, after having spent the summer casting, scheduling, and raising funds for the film. Principal photography took place on location at The Andrew Freedman Home; a sprawling arts complex in the Bronx, and the plates for VFX were filmed at Be Electric Studios in Brooklyn.
Upon completion of production “life got in the way.” Meaning, director Robin Takao D’Oench and producer Victor Gallo had to postpone post-production due to already-scheduled feature film and television work (gotta pay those bills!), so editing didn’t begin in earnest until late 2019. Editing was completed in late February 2020…just in time for the pandemic!. Because of the confusion and shutdowns at the beginning of the pandemic, completion of post-production once again slowed down, but we managed to remotely complete music composition, sound design, VFX, and color correction by May of 2020.
Festival Preparation & Strategy?
RTD: Director Robin Takao D’Oench had prior experience submitting a film to the festival circuit (his first film TADAIMA had an extensive festival run), so he took the lead in submitting HERE COMES FRIEDA to festivals. The strategy was simple: What film festivals would we like to go to? What film festivals had screened Robin’s previous film? And what “genre” festivals (since our film is sci-fi) would be most receptive to our film. We built a list based on those criteria and submitted it accordingly. There really was no PR involved – this may sound pretentious, but we thought we’d let the quality of the film speak for itself (also, we didn’t really have money for PR!).
The Release?
RTD: HERE COMES FRIEDA hasn’t been released yet. It’s so far screened at three festivals with more festivals to come in 2021. The film will have an online release on DUST (watchdust.com) in January 2021. DUST has an audience of 2 million subscribers.
Advice from the Filmmaker?
RTD: I’ve got two pieces of advice. The first is, no matter what setbacks you suffer through the development of pre-production, don’t quit. Do not quit. We had financing and scheduling setbacks in development – my response was simply to power forward. “Oh no, we have less money than anticipated!” Continue apace, and resolve to find the money no matter what. “Oh no, we’ve lost a cast member or department head at an inopportune time!” Continue apace, you’ll replace them with someone better. It sounds simplistic, but a “never say die” attitude really goes a long way – and teaches you that no matter how daunting a problem looks when it first arises, 99.9% of the time, it’s solvable.
The other piece of advice is that if you choose to crowdfund, you have to accept that you have to make crowdfunding a full-time job, otherwise the likelihood is that you’ll fail. You have to reach out to people literally daily. Numerous times. You have to be on social media all the time (I hate being on social media, and yet was filming Facebook Live videos every few days asking for money). You have to be annoying, in short. It’s only 30 days of your life, but you have to make crowdfunding YOUR LIFE for that span, or the chances are that you’ll fail. You cannot raise money by crowdfunding if you’re afraid to ask people for money. So you have to set those fears aside.
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