The Flight of the Flamingo

Hi there, thanks for stumbling upon our project. I assume that most of you just Googled ‘awesome things I should throw money at’- apparently that’s the quickest way to our IndieGoGo page…

My name’s Nick Hilton and I’m the writer/director of this movie.  I’m a student from the UK (therefore a member of a reprehensively privileged group) and also the editor of the film website The Clapper Bored. I’ve spent a number of years writing, somewhat obsessively and with varying degrees of success, about film and also making a handful of my own shorts. One of the last shorts I shot was called The Samurai and I did it with a young man called Phil Arntz, who happens to be one of the most talented, young cinematographers in London.

Phil is originally from Germany but has been in the UK for a number of years and speaks better English than 99% of the people I know. He also happens to be a whizz with cameras, shooting on anything from DSLRs to large chip camcorders. He’s only been in the game for a couple of years now but has left people twice his age for dead. Please don’t let jealousy stop you from donating!

Our project is called ‘The Flight of the Flamingo’ and, despite the elliptical title, is an anti-gangster film about a group of young men who steal dogs in order to ransom them back to the owners. On one specific job, however, things don’t exactly go to plan and they end up with a dog they can’t get rid of and two armed goons on their tale. It’s a dark comedy, set in London and though it’s definitely influenced by the British genre movies that have gone before, it’s a very different spin on that formula. Think Guy Ritchie meets Julian Fellowes at a cocktail party hosted by the writers of Mad Men, where Woody Allen is playing jazz clarinet in the corner, with Marty Scorcese on tambourine. That’s pretty much it.

So how are we going to spend your cash? To put it simply: equipment rental, cast and crew fees, catering, locations, props, transport, marketing, festival entries… The list goes on. We will always try our best to do things as frugally as possible, we won’t be wasting your money on corporate trips to lie out on the Lido in Cannes. We also won’t be purchasing anything- so all the money that you donate to this project will go to making this film the best it can possibly be, not furthering our future careers.

As all good filmmakers know, everything, except sound, is important, so a considerable portion of our budget is going to be spent making sure that the film we make is at a professional standard. (I'm kidding about that sound part, if you haven't already noticed) We're looking to rent out a great set of lenses, which will give the film a beautiful look on Phil's FS100. The rest of the money will be spent on securing something like a living wage for our cast and crew and ensuring that no one starves to death on set. This is the 21st Century after all.

Your involvement is absolutely priceless (see our list or rewards for further details). As a blogger, I know the value of social media and interaction. Even if you can’t kick any money our way, please share the project with your friends and family via Facebook, Twitter, tumblr, Google+ (if anyone’s worked that one out yet)…etc. Yes, this is a funding campaign but we’re also looking for the exposure that will ensure that we can round our team off with more great people. So if anyone is friends with Carey Mulligan then I have a script and an out-standing dinner reservation for her.

Please get in touch with us if you have any questions about the project and how you can get involved. I’m, usually, a very responsive and friendly emailer so drop me a line at [email protected] or, if you’re totally modern and cool, contact us on Twitter. The project is @FlamingoMovie, I’m @TheClapperBored and Phil’s @PhilArntz. Are we young and trendy enough, yet?

Thanks for taking a look at our campaign and even more thanks if you’ve been able to send some money our way. I appreciate every donation more than I can express with Microsoft Word. If there were a virtual hug program included in the Office bundle, I’d be utilising it right now.

Nick Hilton,

Writer/Director

Would you like to help me make a movie? By doing so you'll be taking an active role in making a feature film and you'll probably feel awesome about yourself.

It's going to be fun, so why not take a look at our fundraising campaign and watch the video: The Flight of the Flamingo on IndieGoGo!

Thanks and just shout if you have any queries!

Cheers,

And, as always, remember to KEEP FOLLOWING!

So, today we did our promotional shoot for The Flight of the Flamingo. We've shot a scene that happens towards the start of the film and, together with cast and crew interviews, we're going to use this as the fulcrum of our IndieGoGo and other fundraising campaigns.

It's coming to the point where we're going to have some really neat looking stuff to show you. Yep, we're shooting a promo on Sunday and we'll hopefully have something for you to eyeball a few days later.

Are we awesome? Almost.

Please follow this blog for updates and, if you're on Twitter, follow The Clapper Bored and Phil Arntz.