EMPLOYEE OF THE DEAD: Greenlight This!!!

Hey Folks, Today I am back with another Greenlight this article and this is one I have been mega excited to shout about. Crowdfunding… Yes, as supporters and promoters of all things Indie Cinema, we see Crowdfunding campaigns popping up all the time, but how do you know if they are worth your time?. Thats where Off The Reel comes in as we aim to feature some of the campaigns we feel are worthy of your attention and hopefully (should the mood take you), your support too.

***Click any Pictures in Post to got straight to Crowdfunder Page***

Today we are looking at one such crowdfunder that is just kicking off over on Indiegogo. We are talking about Aaron Truss directed Employee of the Dead, A horror comedy with a truly stacked cast including Tracy Beaker herself, Dani Harmer (As I wrote that sentence the bonkers nature of Tracy Beaker fighting off Zombies was not lost on me).

Q Cumber Films are a highly driven and creative production team based in the UK. Some of their Previous works include (K)nox: The Rob Knox Story (ITVX), Cult of VHS (FrightFest) and Pareidolia (FrightFest).

I had the distinctive pleasure of meeting Director Aaron Truss and a few of his team through the Romford Film Festival and even had the honour of doing one of my sit down interviews at the Lumiere Cinema (in my second studio Screen 6) for their short movie Pareidolia, which was a pinch me moment because I got to interview Graham Cole of The Bill fame. If you know me, you know I get a kick from interviewing actors from The Bill (don’t judge me)

You can check out that Interview HERE

WHAT IS EMPLOYEE OF THE DEAD?

One night in 2008, a group of students got together to film a zombie movie at a Sainsbury’s supermarket in Bromley. They didn’t have permission, they only had until dawn, they were old enough to know better and young enough to do it anyway. That night began a chain of events that set best friends, Aaron Truss and Joe Acres, on a creative mission just at the edge of their ability and always on a shoestring budget. Almost 20 years and half their lives later, they’re finally coming back to where it all started. Back to supermarkets and zombies.

After sweating away at the script and sharing it with lots of excited friends at film festivals, the team are pleased to welcome to the cast CBBC’s Tracy Beaker herself, Dani Harmer along with Mission Impossible hard-man, Sean Cronin, comedy actor from BBC’s Detectorists, Paul Casar, and dynamite newcomer, Ellie Rae Winstone. There is also a planned special appearance from Nicholas Vince, known for his performance in classic 80s horror flick, Hellraiser.

There is an unbelievable amount of good will baked into this project, but we can’t do it without you! Please check out our videos, our story, all the perks, and every way you can get involved. We want to bring you all along for the ride and finish this story that’s been almost 20 years in the making.

HOW CAN YOU HELP? WHERE IS YOU CONTRIBUTION GOING?

Despite all these great promo videos, we actually haven’t begun production on the film! We simply wanted to shoot some proof of concept scenes just for you! Contributing to this film is not just a case of digital or physical perks but ACTUALLY being along with us for the ride! You know how it is with crowdfunds, ‘Thanks for the money, we’re off to go and make this film – speak to you in 5 years…’. With Employee of the Dead, you’ll be on the journey with us with updates, messages, photos, exclusive content and the chance to see first hand what it’s like to make a zombie comedy with Dani Harmer and the team!

Our goal may be £50k, but that’s only our starting goal. On any film production, money begins to disappear quickly – you’re looking at the daily rate of the cast and crew, locations, costumes, props, catering, transportation, cast and crew accommodation on location, equipment, visual effects, practical effects, gore stunts, stunt co-ordination, editing, sound mixing, mastering, score/original music, grading, DCP creations, festival submissions…the lot.

ARE THERE ANY PERKS TO TEMPT ME?

As you may be able to tell most of the script on this article has come direct from the Employee of Dead Indiegogo. But on this section I wanted to chime in a little bit and give a little of my thoughts. I have given to Crowdfunding in the past on Numeorus occasions, yes it always starts with the berst intentions. However not all of those projects have come through to the final project. I firmly believe when we are talking about Aaron and his team at Q Cumber Films, this is a project that not only will get made, but for these guys has got to get made.

You can see by all the effort put into the promos on the Indiegogo and by all the social media posts, This is a project that is powered by Love and Passion. Love of the story and the passion fro the craft. This is exemplified by the fact that these creators have a vast network of other creators who are more than happy to get down in the dirt to realise this movie. I dont have to sit here and name names, you can just take a look at thier social medias of spend some time reading throught the campaign. This Independent Film has the very real chance to break out of its Indie boundaries and do something very special, in my opinion.

Lets take a little look at some of the perks you can get involved with:

***Click any Pictures in Post to got straight to Crowdfunder Page***

These are just a few of the perks on the campaign that I picked out, so please by all means head over and look at what the team are up to, check out there promotional videos and all their social media content to see if Employee of the Dead might be a good fit for you… And hey if it isn’t, why not just give it a cheeky share because you never know which one of your network might just be looking for a project like this to throw down a quid or two.

Also keep an eye on the Off the Reel UK website and our Youtube channel as I will be dropping an interview with the team behind the movie soon.

Kevin Haldon

Kevin has been reviewing and just generally talking about movies into a Microphone or written onto a page for about 15 years now. It was time for hime to finally put himself back in the thick of it and bring the world Off The Reel. you can expect Reviews, Interviews, Festival Coverage, Yoututbe Content and much much more as he chips away at the industry and brings the talk off the reel.

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