Thirty-Something

Well, I don't mind saying that my head is spinning.

In the past week I had a few different people all ask "Why don't you start a blog?".  I'm not sure what made them say this, but the more I thought about it, the more I thought it could really help.  I had to try and so here it is.  A blog.

My name is Larry Longstreth.  I'm 30 years old.  I've got an animated pilot in production, a live-action feature film on store shelves across the country, a second feature (this one, a documentary) in post production and set to be sent to distributors any day now, an animated web-series we're trying like hell to keep alive via Kickstarter, a feature film script being passed around out west for potential sale, and a small, low budget, horror film that I'm currently seeking investors for.  Things are good. Things are in motion. I'm absolutely broke, but the future seems brighter every day and every day as my concerns that maybe it's all been for nothing slowly dissipates.  I've gotta keep the faith, of course.  Sometimes I have hard days, but for the most part, we're getting there.  I'm getting closer and closer to where I wanna be.

 

Larry in "Twenty-Something"

Now, I originally intended to spend all summer working and meeting with investors in order to fund a $200,000 film called "Brothers Grimm: Pest Removal".  (This is the part where annoying people who haven't read your script tell you the idea has been done before)  I had sent the final draft to a producer friend of mine out west and he told me "Don't make this.  We think there's a chance we could sell it instead."  What am I gonna say to that but "Go for it"?  So, Grimm has been passed around a little and there's a hint of interest but who knows where it will go, if anywhere.  Until whatever happens happens, I can't sit on my ass.  So, I finished up another script in order to keep on filmmaking.  This one a much smaller-scale, localized horror film called "The Murders of Brandywine Theater".

"Brandywine" is about a ventriloquist who's puppet may or may not be coming to life and murdering the people who bully him.  The film exists in a vacuum (meaning, it feels as though it's cut off from the real world) like, say, "Little Shop of Horrors", so it's easy to keep the budget low and the cast and crew small.  Actor Dian Bachar ("Southpark", "Baseketball") has verbally agreed to star but there's nothing signed yet.  I went through all the great and annoying trouble last year to start up a little business called "Eddy Spaghetti Productions", and I just recently finalized the investor and pitch package for "Brandywine".  I hate asking for money.  Despise it.  But, I wasn't born rich so it's just a part of life.  The investor hunt has begun.  The good news is that my feature film "The Long, Slow Death of a Twenty-Something" had, of January 1st (only 3 months after release), grossed $28,000.  Since "Brandywine" is only gonna cost $15,000 to make, I'd say we're in a pretty good position to raise the money.

Dian Bachar

Meanwhile, there is, of course, our MMORPG-based cartoon series "Four Tanks and a Healer".  Now, the Kickstarter page has been a ton of work.  (see it HERE: http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/fourtanks/four-tanks-and-a-healer-0 ) I've done everything I can think of and more.  I've practically begged people to help spread the word and I've contacted every website I can think of.  Still, it's only at like $2,600 of the $45,000 it needs to become a show.  Man, talk about a pain in the ass.  I believe in "Four Tanks" (which is co-owned by 4Reelz, LLC out in LA) and that's the reason I haven't given up on it.  It's unbelievably depressing how hard this has been.  First, we shopped it around to places like G4 and other networks and even had some real interest!  Then, we hunted for investors to make it a web-series and after only about 2 weeks of hunting, we decided to go with a pledge site like Kickstarter.  The problem is this:  How in the hell do we get it SEEN by people?   Once somebody with any sort of fan following or name power plugs it, we're sure it'll light a fire... but HOW?  I do not know.  But I won't stop trying.

 

A scene from "Four Tanks"

I won't bore everybody with tons of semantics about everything we're up to, but we've also got a post-apocalyptic cartoon in production called "Captain Wilcox vs The End of the World", and a cross-country comedy documentary about how messed up Americans are called "Before the World Goes Boom".  At the bottom of this page, I'll be sure to share the links to all of our works.

Hope you enjoy, and I promise the next blog will be less of a commercial for our stuff!

til next time,

Lar

ps...

Here are the videos: