"CITY OF SIN" 12 SHORT FILMS IN A YEAR

I knew I would only need to do one inexpensive "CITY OF SIN" film to see if I could continue with this. The first "City Of Sin" film is "CALL GIRL" I decided to make it with almost nothing and fast. I got support from a small group of online backers who believed in me to get this City of Sin project rolling. 

Call Girl was an experimental film that was shot over 24 hours. One evening, and one all nighter. I wanted to see if I could shoot again without a crew, and pull off a film in a month. I also wanted to see if I could be happy doing shorts for a year to learn more skills, get more disiplined, and hopefully build an audience for bigger work too later. Conclusion?

CAN I MAKE AND RELEASE A FILM IN A MONTH?

Yes!  I got off to a slow start because of the Xmas-Jan holidays, but once I got the idea for the film, cast, raised a little money, it then rolled. I need deadlines in life. I might not hit them exactly, but without them, I might have been editing for six months! Waist of life! Been there, done it! And kills your spirit as an artist.  If you are preparing a sci fi short full of effects for a Hollywood concept pitch, I get it! it takes time. Character stuff with no SFX, you can move. That's the disipline TV drama works under. 


EXPERIMENTING

I was using CALL GIRL to test out this approach. With a little more money, better sound kit, I can build with this film a month thing. But do I want to continue with making shorts every month? No! Not as my main focus anyway. The work and doing the film a month is not the issue at all. It's doable. I love working! I wasn't stressed. if anything, I have felt more alive and creative than ever. In fact, if I had a better sound recorder on the shoot, I would have finished the edit in 4 days instead of 7. 

My biggest concern was could I hack making short films at the expense of character driven stories? Could I be happy doing this? If you are not happy in your work, especially where you can't pay yourself for years, you're screwed with building anything long term. You can hack it for years if you love what you are doing. 

LONG FORM CONTENT

Breaking Bad

I'm probably a bigger fan of TV serials than movies today.  Blockbusters bore me. A 24-48 hour series, rather than 90 minutes in a movie does it for me.  Unless it's a character driven movie, but most movies today are not character studies. They are roller coasters. TV is where it's at if you like character driven stories. You get to see a character flesh out over dozens of episodes. 70-90 minute movies really are the minimum time limit to do good character tale. Or a three hour "Jackie Brown" or "Boogie Nights". 

I could do a web series but I don't want to do a web series with the same characters for years. Not unless I grow an audience and get a real budget to keep the actors coming back for years. It's a little fragile and scary when your brand relies on your lead cast over a long period of time. Unless you are paying a lot of money. However, that's not the real reason long web serials don't attract me at this time. I just like moving from one genre to the next. A Call Girl story, A bounty Hunter film, whatever. As long as there's interesting characters. It also lets me test out what characters, story has the potential for a future series. Like a pilot. 

I like plotless films where you just hang out with extreme  characters in their world. Like "Taxi Driver", "Shame", "The Wrestler" "The Cuckoo's Nest", "Bad  Lieutenant", "Lost In Translation", "Easy Rider", "Boogie Nights"  and too many others to mention. The type of films we used to get. Even classics like "The Godfather" have very little plot. For me, plot is overrated. 

Which is probably why I like my film MISSION X best, even though it has a TON of flaws. But you get to just hang out with these guys for 90 minutes. When I started writing CALL GIRL over 24 hours, I realised I wanted to explore that character and world. I wanted a bigger window into that world. Not for a whole series but 70-90 mins at least. Not a short film 29 mins. But I had set up this monthly film concept, so I thought I would try it.

As I got writing, and shooting, I hated wrapping the film up with a a plot driven route for the short film format. I like characters talking, fleshing out other sides to them. So I only needed to do one short film to fully test myself out. That's why I made it so cheap and fast. I'm not going to burn away people's money and time with highly invested experimental work. Like I said, move fast, break things! See what works, so what does not. 

I could have made a more character driven story in 30 minutes no problem. But then it becomes a moody visual piece where you don't really get the characters talking to each other. So if I am going to do that, then it shouldn't be 29 minutes long. It should be like 10 mins. And besides, I feel my strengths are having characters talk to each other. I need to get back to that. I like going from theatre like set pieces, to cinematic scenes. I need to do features for that. Short content can also spin off from that.

CITY OF SIN WORLD

I still believe in the CITY OF SIN route, the branded destination for all my work. Nothing will change there. I'm building on this as planned. But after doing this first short film, it confirmed to me 100% that the short film route is not for me. Saying this, I also have no desire to make one feature film every year or two. This experience and the SCREEN experience confirmed to me that there's no reason I can't make 4-6 films a year. Even if I double my shooting and post schedule, I still move fast. 

Joe Swansberg recently shot seven features in the one year. I would say around one every three months is my goal. They take much longer when you are submitting to festivals, taking that usual route. Then you have to promote them all individually. But that's not what I am doing with this project. The films get made, and they get shipped via CITY OF SIN. And each project helps each other, as the CITY OF SIN brand as a whole is promoted. I will try and build my audience all around this universe. 

SHORT FILMS

I still might continue to do a short film a month, or when I feel like it. But these will be made for like £100, and be 5-10 minutes in length. Shot in my local city here. On an iphone, 5D, whatever I have access to. I want to keep creating and releasing content, so that fills that gap. CITY OF SIN can have features and shorts. In fact, one of my past films MISSION X is perfect for this. It's an urban set feature, so I'm uploading it to the site for free next week. I will also share new pics and behind the scenes video of the film.

The main focus now is getting these features going. I might make CALL GIRL into a feature. But my goal is to hit New York and Las Vegas this year to work with new talent and some names. I'm also going to try and shoot and share video as I try to pull this off week by week. I know how important it is to sell yourself too to make it happen. This could be a little series on it's own. 

Thanks to everybody that has supported and promoted me with CITY OF SIN. Nothing has changed with me building on this. And I will probably still do small shorts too, but the features are the main focus for CITY OF SIN, then hopefully a full series in the near future. 

David
http://www.cityofsinworld.com

MOVE FAST AND BREAK THINGS!

I like to move fast and break things cheaply, because I can quickly define and distill the approach that works for me. Life is too short and cash is to scarce to make huge mistakes over long periods of time. I'm allowed to conclude that, because I have the experience of making all these mistakes I talk about. I don't just pull theories out of my ass. That's my approach to this long term CITY OF SIN project because of my past experience. 

You can waist YEARS of your life in this business pursuing money for projects, before you have even learned to be a filmmaker. And in this new world, you can also spend years on projects, and you still have to fight for them to get seen. For me, it's better to be prolific and drip out a body of work over the years. Even if it's flawed, as potential fans could get what you are trying to get to with time, money, and experience. My best work is way ahead. At the moment, I'm really just learning how to juggle so many things, and learn new skills for the journey ahead. 

I would rather be the type of person that gets things moving with work that is flawed out of the gate, than wait around and dream with those perfect masterpieces in my head that never leave my head. The more I do it on a regular basis, the more skilled I will become. If I am making several films a year, I'm learning a lot of skills fast! But that's not why I do it. I need to create. I just have to do this shit! And I want to be good at it in every area one day. 

Ok i'm off to break something else!

http://www.twitter.com/davidpbaker

http://www.cityofsinworld.com

"CALL GIRL" RELEASE

CALL GIRL SHOOT

I always try to push this micro-no budget filmmaking approach to the edge, so my first "Call Girl" short shoot was just too ambitious for a 20 minute film. Basically, I tried to shoot the whole film in one evening and through to the early hours. 

It would have been possible if I had started early in the morning in that day, but most of the film is set at night, so I had to go back for another full evening the following week. But at least people could see I had started. I had some images, so I managed to raise a small amount of money to shoot another evening. The whole film took about 20 hours to shoot. That's still very fast by filmmaking standards for making a 20-25 minute film. 

I knew this first "City Of Sin" debut film would be the toughest, as I was working with around half the money I needed, but I felt it was important to get this first film rolling no matter what. I had a great cast who were fully behind it, so they helped to make it fun. I also have to thank the small group of online backers and retweeters for helping make it happen. 

Vanessa-May Dolphin & Stephen Brady "Call Girl" 2013

This first film will have some flaws, be a little rough around the edges, have some minor sound issues, However, I have started! I would rather be the type of person that gets things moving with work that is a little flawed out of the gate, than have those perfect masterpieces in my head that never leave the gate. I have started the ball, so I'm not going to stop. I'm confident each film will get better through the year. 

"CALL GIRL" RELEASE

I had hoped to finish the edit by last night, but once again, I sometimes aim too high. The story for this film didn't even exist just over two weeks ago. Writing it, casting, raising the funds, and shooting in this time frame is not bad. So I'm cutting myself a little slack. Especially when the beginning of this month was a little slow to get rolling because of the holiday period. 

This experience has proved to me that I can come up with a fresh idea, shoot, post, and release within a month. I will hit the release date with the next film. If I had £250 more in the budget, "Call Girl" would have been released today. Simply because that's the cost of a sound recorder I used on SCREEN. Without that, my sound has taken double the amount of time to sort out. 

Next months goal is to also get one of those H4N recorders. I also want to try and get my own camera in the months ahead. If I have the kit, I will be unstoppable. I'm determined to make this work. I know how to move faster each month, because of the lessons learned on this one. It's doable. 

I enjoy creating this way, so I'm continuing with it. This first film could help roll the others. I already have a couple of sponsors interested for the next film, and hopefully people that see the film might give a $1 or few to help fund the next. 

The film will be finished by this saturday. It gets released to backers first. The next day, it flies out there to the web! Anybody can see it sunday. No bullshit! I want to build an audience for my work, so this is how I want to do it. I enjoying creating this way much better. This approach ticks a lot of boxes for me, so I plan to give it at least 12 months to see how it goes. 

BEHIND THE SCENES

I will get better with social media, and all my behind scenes content as the months go on. This goal is just as important as the filmmaking, because I know people also follow and support people. However, because I shot so so fast on this first film, I could barely get any behind scenes footage. And because my edit deadline is so tight, I have barely been online in the last week. 

My plan for next month and the future films is to get a crew member that solely deals with all this type of content for me. I give them details what to shoot, questions to ask, and then I will drip out all that content.  I'm learning it all as I roll with all this. I will get the hang of it in the weeks, months ahead. 

I will release some behinds video this weekend, after I get the edit of the film finished. I will also get some cast interviews released. I had no crew. 

Ok that's enough for anybody that is listening to my shit. I hope you are all doing well. I look forward to a little twitter time to see what's happening with everybody else. 

Thanks for reading and thanks for all the support

All the best

David

http://www.cityofsinworld.com

https://twitter.com/davidpbaker

"CALL GIRL" SHOOTS!

I'm attempting to make and release one film every month under the "City Of Sin" brand. Basically urban set stories in various cities in the UK, then USA, and eventually Europe. For the moment, my focus is purely on one film at a time. "Call Girl" is the first film in the slate. 

"CALL GIRL" 

Chloe works as a Call Girl in the city. She has worked for Ray for the past five years. She wants a change. Technology and attitudes are changing the world, so she wants to evolve and move with it. She also has problems with a stalker who is beginning to creep her out. She considers one last job that might solve her problems in the "City Of Sin". The film stars Vanessa-May Dolphin & Stephen Brady. With support from Paul Reeves. 

SHOOTING WITHOUT A BUDGET

When I announced I wanted to try and get the ball rolling on this, I got a few people offering paypal donations to fund the first one. I started moving with it, but when I called in the pledges, less than half actually materialised. It was christmas and new year, so I fully understand January is not a good time for people. I know people can have good intentions, so I understand. EVERYBODY is looking for money. 

However, I had already got the ball rolling based on pledges, so I still had to move because I had taken money from people that did donate to me. In turn, it was a VERY tough shoot, as I only had half the budget I needed. I needed a full weekend shoot, and I shot about 14 hours for a 20 minute film. 

I am a guy that makes films for nothing. Even on the other side of the world. I always push myself, but this time it was really pushing it with so many scripted scenes with lots of dialogue. Despite this, I have 80% of the film shot, but I need to shoot another evenings worth in the city flat this weekend to make it work. I need to raise exactly £300 ( Just under $500) If you can help, check out here. 

If I can do that, I can still deliver the film online by the 31st. ( 30th  Jan for backers) I also have some potential sponsors interested for the next one or two films, so this first one really could get the ball rolling. And of course, I'm giving "Call Girl" for free, so hopefully people might donate a little after they see it to fund the next one.

If I can get three or four films done, I'm in a better position for a spring kickstarter campaign for the US shoot, or I could go back to some investors that were interested. They just want to see I can make and release a film a month. Either way, my goal is to keep it simple. Shoot and release a film a month! 

After making three features over years, I now want to experiment, be a lot more prolific, and completely use the web-mobile devices to get my work to people. If I build an audience like many youtubers do, then I will also extend some of these films, have characters we saw before cross into other stories.

BEHIND THE SCENES FOOTAGE

I didn't really get any behind the scenes stuff on this shoot, because we had so little time. But I have a good bit of time scheduled for it if I can get the reshoot done. I also plan to bring somebody on all the next films, just to focus on shooting all the behind scenes content for me. I do know how important that is, as I do believe people like to see this too. If I build this like I believe I can, then I guess that is a story on it's own. I also want to promote all the people that work on my films in many ways. If I promote them, they in turn promote the latest film and the "City Of Sin" site.

SHARE "EXPERIENCE"

I have done three features films. but I also learned so much this weekend. I am setting up a section in my City Of Sin website to share a lot of the stuff I learn. Not to share advice, just to share how I am doing it. People can then decide for themselves if they can take anything from it. The small successes and failures that lie ahead. The arrow above points out where this section will be soon on the Rebel Mouse page on my website. 

CAN I DO A FILM A MONTH?

I think I can do a film a month, and I can see the potential for these characters and stories to go further too, but I just need to get this train rolling. I really feel this is the new way to do it for me personally. I can build something special and unique here. But of course, we all need support at the start. 

I NEED SOME BACKERS TO FINISH "CALL GIRL"

If you want to donate to help finish "Call Girl", check out the perks  on the website. You can get a credit in the film, on IMDB, or you can even APPEAR in the film from ANYWHERE in the world. You could also sponsor the video section. 

BACKERS EXCLUSIVE CONTENT

I will always share most of my content with everybody, but I also want to show backers some videos first. There's a couple of videos online at this minute at the EXCLUSIVE ACCESS area on the website and on a sub page below that. CONTENT FROM FILM Backers should already have the password I sent. 

Thanks for following my project. Many thanks to my cast and Robert for the commitment to the film. They were all great! 

David

http://www.cityofsinworld.com

David Paul Baker
https://twitter.com/davidpbaker

Vanessa-May Dolphin
https://twitter.com/V_M_Dolphin

Stephen Brady
http://www.facebook.com/digbreamer?fref=pb

Paul Reeves
https://twitter.com/Paul_A_Reeves

THE 1ST CITY OF SIN FILM

Ok! I don't have a pot to piss in! (UK expression for ) I barely have a dime in my pocket! 

However, that's my secret weapon! When you're back is up against the wall. When you have no comfort zone, when you are done with waiting for permission, you move your ass! if you can't find a way, you MAKE a way! 

If you really are a filmmaker, you just do it! As little as 4 years ago I was cleaning car parks in MacDonalds. I had no money, no connections online at all, and that last time I made a film was six years before. 

Now I have two features, two US names attached, and three more interested. (They are watching how this pans out) And have access to a lot of new talent in UK, USA, and Europe! I'm back to the way I did it in the past! Roll my sleeves up, make it happen! Get the ball rolling! You can't just move if you are after $100,000 or more, but that's EXACTLY why I make films so cheaply. So I'm not trapped. 

FIRST "CITY OF SIN" FILM

THE FAMILY (Previous blog post here) 

Thanks to a very tiny group of people that believe in me, I have around £700 at this minute. Possibly more on the way. And access to a LOT of resources. SCREEN was shot for about £2,500. That was a 90 minute movie. City Of Sin films are 30-40 mins in length.

Ed Burns recently shot his 90 minute feature "Newly Weds" for 9K. Before anybody pulls me up on it, yeah yeah I know delivery, post costs etc. However, my films are being made for the web-mobile. I will be COMPLETELY outside the industry. Until I make this a success anyway.

If you really are a filmmaker, it's your job to make it happen with almost no money. Just like Rodriguez, Nolan, and countless others did before digital technology. If our script costs a lot more, then we pull out cheaper screenplays we can make. For me, making shit happen is REALLY important today. 

THE FAMILY is not an easy crime film to pull off with no money. I could play it safe and go for a small two hander story in the city for the City of Sin debut. However, since it is the debut film. It needs to pack a punch! 

I have NEVER played it safe. I'm terrified! That's exactly why I need to do this film. Not just a film, but the spark to a creative business. If I had a budget, there's no fear at all, But at this level, its scary. But it should be or what am I really doing!

Backers will get access to behind the scenes video of me making this happen. Every 7-10 days. I will post shorter videos and pics to  my social networks. Time to move!
CITY OF SIN on REBEL MOUSE 

https://www.rebelmouse.com/CITYOFSIN/

SCREEN

I have a couple of distributors interested in SCREEN. Straight for VOD release! ( It's a $4000 film) Trying to squeeze them for a price. If they don't do the deal, I will do VOD myself. However, a couple have woke up to the fact this could have sequels, or even a remake. That's why I am also moving with this other project too, it's then easier on me to play the waiting game. 

I'm currently building up global horror blogs at the minute. It's why I am done with this old way of making a film every two years. My new way is a film a month, then get it to the world fast to build the audience. Life is too short! You can follow updates for SCREEN here. https://www.rebelmouse.com/SCREENMOVIE/

CITY OF SIN VLOG 6

Talking about the style of the films I will do in City of Sin, and how I won't be using the platforms that other films are on. Although I probably will have a vimeo version too. On a whole though, my goal is to do something that's different




If you want to help me make this happen, please check out my kickstarter campaign

http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/114736918/city-of-sin-universe-0

https://twitter.com/davidpbaker

THE CITY OF SIN FILMS

THE "CITY OF SIN" FILMS

What kind of films will I be making? Violent exploitation flicks?, soft porn? No! That's lazy filmmaking! There's a new type of filmmaking I want to do. I'm going to make films that reflect the real world, and in a way that we don't usually see because of rating systems, advertisers, brand partnerships. Exploitation films were made with the promise of a bare ass, sex, or a bloody scene every few pages. That alone won't work in our world today. 

The web gives us the freedom to legally break away from rules, but the only filmmakers that take FULL advantage of that freedom is the porn industry. They are the real outsiders, and most of them should be, because they make crap. Crap that has the biggest market in the world. Ironically, they can't advertise like us conventional filmmakers. However, they are better at promoting themselves, simply because they are forced to innovate, and even more so than ever because their business model has collapsed.

Until a few years ago, I wanted exposure to Hollywood, Festivals, TV, itunes, Netflix, stores, you name it. Just like every other filmmaker. Who wouldn't! But as the web has evolved, I see the new exciting opportunities that are becoming available to us. However, you can't really be a disruptive rule breaker if you still want to gain acceptance and approval by the industry. 

You can't carve out your own niche if you are waiting for that permission. You can juggle both for sure, but if you decide to take a fresh path, that should take most of your time. This new path I want to take is a little scary, and it's even more scary when people don't see your vision for it at the start-up seed level. However,  what's REALLY scary to me is the thought of getting lost in a mass global sea of sameness, and everybody is screaming for attention. Because the less your work is different, the louder you are going to have to scream! That's terrifying and certain death for me! I want to evolve into another type of filmmaking. Free from the rule makers. 

City of Sin is about something different. I want those same freedoms the porn industry has, but not to make porn, but to make the type of work we never really see. Sex and violence is part of our everyday world. All the vices that people fall for will never go away. It's obviously the reality of life, so in order to the reflect the world in an honest way, I also want to work outside the restrictions. 

The industry usually does a good job of filtering, because they have advertisers to think about, ratings systems. There's a lot more freedom when you are writing a novel. 50 Shades of Grey didn't do too badly. You see nothing, but readers obviously saw everything! (Which is always the best in my opinion, when it comes to sex, violence, and horror in filmed or text stories. Suggest things, let the mind take over! Let me back-track though, I don't endorse that Fifty Shades of Grey shit! I don't want make that sort of crap.

My point is, with regards to "sex", our online world is saturated with soft and hardcore obscene sick porn. The demand for light and hardcore exploitive content will be around as long as human beings are on the planet. However, some areas of the porn industry have been reversing and making softcore work. They know there's a market for consumers that don't want to filter through sick and illegal degrading muck online. Even when it's for free. When you have pushed it to 11, the only way forward is back!

PG 13-MOVIES-HORROR-ACTION-BLOCKBUSTERS
PROTECT THE YOUTH-PROTECT OUR INVESTMENT!

Hollywood is so busy pretending to protect us with their fake moral bullshit stance. They get behind the PG13 ratings, but not out of any moral angle. They don't give a damm about protecting the youth. They know our children have access to anything online at home. They only give a damm about making sure they cater for the youth, because that is where they get their money from! They are the biggest exploiters of the youth market. 

Hey, that's fine, they are not selling drugs, but it is a big deal to me when interesting work does not get made like in the 70's. No studio or top indie would fund or distribute a "Taxi Driver" today, that's why Paul Schrader is also crowd funding. With a long term audience building plan, WE can carry that torch on and make bold interesting work. 

To build some clout, we might have to do more sensational work to get through the noise, but that's the way it was for the greats too. Coppola, De Niro, Nicholson, Scorsese, John Sayles, Ron Howard, and many other all came out of the Corman school of filmmaking. 

HOLLYWOOD YOUTH
Hollywood sells the youth a ton of shit outside the movies, from toys to sugar. That's why Hollywood makes me feel older than I am, as it mainly caters for the infantile or the teen youth market. That's not me being cynical, that's me just stating hard facts about how corporate business functions.

Anyway, I'm not on a crusade here, haha, I'm just a filmmaker that wants to make FRESH work. I sometimes feel that's frowned upon, especially when I see people plugging the hell out of Hollywood corporate crap. I see clearly now that a REAL indie spirit is the niche. But the niche can be huge for me. 

My point? I hear it all the time from some stars. They talk about the fact that Hollywood is obsessed about the youth market. It's clear to see why. This world is all about the money. Well, I see a HUGE global market for the older generation that is being ignored. The 21 and up market. I want to cater for them with City Of Sin. Not because I want to make films for markets, but because I don't see the films I want to see out there.  

SEX, VIOLENCE, BLOOD!
I won't be making wildly violent films, or films that have graphic sex scenes. That's not what I am about, and that alone will not make your work sell. That's very easy and very lazy. As for sex, we can see anything online, so that's not a draw anymore on it's own. You still need intelligent and well made stories as part of the cocktail. Stories that really reflect the times. I am inspired everyday by the times we live in, but most of my ideas would never be made because they would have to be toned down.

The best violent films for me are the ones where you think you saw bad shit. Emotionally and psychologically violent! The same with the horror, the stuff that screws with your head. The same goes for sex. The more you suggest, tease the audience, pull back, the more the head takes over and fills in the gaps you don't blatantly show. 

If it's done right, the violence, horror, sex, suspense, will leave a bigger impact on people than the artless stuff that is full on in your face. Thats what the content of City Of Sin is all about. The films will be a cocktail of extreme stories that reflect the real world, but not dumb exploitation films that are just purely sold on the sensation. If that kind of sensation is your main selling point today, you're dead as a filmmaker. 

When you can see anything online, It takes skill to make the audience do the work in their head. These will be smart character driven films, laced with a modern day approach. Sure their will be sex and violence, but only because the very extreme stories have situations that reflect the real world. I hate some of todays filmmakers that go, "Look, I have two stars fucking for real in this movie!" Do they think anybody gives a shit! That's lazy and exploitive to get attention. That's not my approach. 

PULP FICTION

On a whole, I am not even out to make sensational films just so they get attention. It's just the way I see the world anyway. Our world is pretty insane. The world is still obsessesd about all the old vices of sex, money, power, fame, stuff. It's the human condition and it will always be that way. So my very high drama stories will reflect that. But in a way that is not hitting you over the head with a moral message. 

They will be contemporary stories, but they will have a 50's-60's pulp attitude about them. Made fast, cheap, strong character concepts, but original from the mainstream. Shows like Breaking Bad don't preach to you, they just show you the world and let you decide for yourself. It's what I loved about Kubrick's movies too. 

Many brit personal movies are so obsessed about hitting you over the head with a patronising message. That's bad filmmaking. With City of Sin, I let you decide about these characters. And characters that you will probably feel guilty for liking, because, you might see yourself in there in a fantasy life! If you can't humanize your characters, despite all their flaws, that's bad filmmaking.

In order to do this, I need to pull away from the conventional channels. I might start off with less extreme stories so I can show them on channels like youtube, just to get a foothold, but my goal is to get my own video platform for City Of Sin. Which I have already looked into, and its possible. They can still be watched on computers, and all the mainstream mobile devices. Paying adults that are 21 upwards. 

My goal is to bring something fresh to the industry. If the devil offered me a deal tomorrow that I could not refuse. You will be a Hollywood star filmmaker, you will win oscars, you will have fame, money beyond your dreams. "You're kickstarter will hit $100m! However, you must agree not to do fresh work, just be a player. I would honestly would have to reject it. 

Hey, if I build City Of Sin and I get offers for other more mainstream work too, I would jump at that on a freelance basis with filmmaking and acting. It highlights my profile and helps fund my main work, just like my heroes like John Cassavetes done well. But my main focus is about building my creative company.

I want to leave the planet doing something different in my profession. I want to influence others that it's not just about explosions and CGI, or indie indie naval gazing angst. That's why I also have to take the crowd funding route too, as this is too risky for investors in their eyes. I got some investors interested but they just wanted to start monetizing right away. They have no real vision about community building with the work first. So it has to start grass roots style. 

I want to use the full power and freedom that the internet has given me. If you like the sound of what I plan to make, please make a pledge to City of Sin below. I promise to do my best to do something different. 

Thanks

http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/114736918/city-of-sin-universe-0

PS. My simple point is, films like Taxi Driver, Trainspotting, and many more, would NOT be made today. That's an industry I don't want to be part of. The real world is ugly, and if our filmmaking does not reflect that because of advertisers, corporate agendas, then we don't have a real film culture. 

VEGAS PENTHOUSE MASSACRE!

Six films will be made for the City Of Sin world if I reach my kickstarter target. They really are like mini movies. They are all character driven stories with some very messed up individuals, but they are all wrapped in strong genre concepts. 

I'm going to make films for adult audiences.  Here's the latest pitch below. A film that would be the first to be released over the web with within the City of Sin universe.

"VEGAS PENTHOUSE MASSACRE" is the story that would be the first film to be released from the "City Of Sin" World. I'm a huge fan of grindhouse movies, but I also like intelligent high tension character driven stories. I have one here! If you took Hollywood, indie art films, grindhouse, and porn flicks, and put them into a blender, then served. That's close to what you will get with my City Of Sin films. I promise you, I will blow you the fuck away with them!

VPM is about a gang of armed men who storm a corporate party in Vegas. The gang leader wanted to strike at the CEO of the company at the most vulnerable time. He has all his business associates, family, friends, and children at the companies 25th anniversary. He even has his pets there! 

The evil gang leaders plan is to expose the companies evil deeds and broadcast them to the world via the internet. The only way he will get them to confess what they have done, is by threatening to kill and torture every man, woman, and child at the party. He will kill them all, unless they don't come clean with what the company has done over the last 25 years. 

This will be a strong character driven film, but also an edge of the seat exploitation thriller.

MULTIPLE PLATFORM STORY TELLING

A lot of video and picture teasers will be dripped out a few months before the film is released. These teasers will be created to build anticipation, mystery, character development. Example

• Video from TV news reporters outside the hotel when they get news of the assault that has taken place
• Footage of the gang in Vegas preparing two days before on phones. They want the world to see this footage
• CCTV footage from the hotel room roof.
• All the people in the party take video/pics before the party and when they are stormed. They leak content online as they plead for help from all over the huge penthouse
• CSI footage after the party
• Footage from characters at the party days before this happens, so you get to know them before these horrible events.

All this footage will be shot and dripped out to the City of Sin social media, website, app, to help expand the story and to promote the movie. This is the type of footage that really has the chance of building an audience. This is my approach with all my City of Sin films. 

My campaign is not going well at the moment. That's not because my work sounds bad. It's party because I never got off to a good push at the start, for many reasons. (Full-time job didn't help) And in turn, people follow the crowd. If they don't see a lot of backers, even if it looks great, they stay away. 

But believe me, I am going to make great work. There really isn't a great deal of rock and roll spirit in filmmaking today. I don't need the mass crowd, I need a small group of individuals that get what I am trying to do. Once City Of Sin is launched, I will start to grow a new type of audience that way. 

Back me, and I promise you, you won't regret it! You will be glad you did. I'm ready to create a new type of story telling, and a prolific amount on it. I have spent the last few years in training to get to this point. Now it's time to go to the next level.

APPEAR IN "VEGAS PENTHOUSE MASSACRE" (New perks!)

I will have 75 people for the party scene in VPM. 25 of these people will be professional actors. I have 50 positions left for people that want to be in this film. You won't just be an extra, you really will be a character in this film. You will also get to shoot phone and picture footage that I will use in the film and promo campaign. 

This perk was $400 each, but I have created some lowest cost offers. First come first served basis. 20 roles at $110 each, then the same again at $200. Then 10 final roles at $400. You obviously have to get to Vegas yourself. Kickstarter link ( Your credit card will only be charged if I make my kickstarter target)

This film would be shot in the penthouse over a long weekend. I would need you for two days. So if you came to Vegas for a long weekend, you could appear in the film and have some other fun in Vegas too. 

I already have three top hotels offering me suites for an extremely low cost, so I can do this film no problem if I meet my target. I have shot in Vegas before in some of the biggest locations. I shot in the stratosphere tower, The Stardust hotel, numerous areas with a large crew. Today, so much easier! 

I am confident this film and all the others will get a buzz across the global web when made and launched. You can be part of history by appearing in "VEGAS PENTHOUSE MASSACRE" You will all get some signed merchandise at the party too.

BE IN "VPM" ANYWHERE IN THE WORLD

I have a few spaces for people who can appear at the party, from anywhere in the world. If you are interested, send me a message about this on the kickstarter site, or my links below. I can explain how I will do it, and how you will appear.

The City of Sin slate of films will start in Dec. The Vegas shoot between February and March. 

Check out the campaign below if you want to be part of these fantastic films.  

http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/hardcoreindie/city-of-sin-universe

https://twitter.com/davidpbaker

CITY OF SIN: VLOG 4

How can I make "City Of Sin" for $50,000?




Check out my kickstarter campaign below. 

http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/hardcoreindie/city-of-sin-universe

https://twitter.com/davidpbaker

"CITY OF SIN" STORIES
The first six stories will be a mixture of various dark genres. They all have pretty extreme characters, criminals, call girls, killers. An ensemble of lost souls, but characters we can forgive because we can see ourselves in them if we took the wrong turn. Here is a sample of one below. This is an old chestnut but with a fresh angle and twist.

TITLE: SOLD OUT
GENRE: Black comedy
It's the only comedy film in the slate. A very funny story but the main character is not trying to be funny. We are just watching a man in meltdown trying to redeem himself. He's stuck in this ground hog day like prison. I'm a HUGE fan of Jack Lemmon and his dark comedy films. "SOLD OUT" will have that type of playing it straight comedy.

I pitched this story "SOLD OUT" for the "City Of Sin" world to (Actor, Stand up comedian)  Kevin Pollak  "The Usual Suspects" "Casino" "A Few Good Men" "Comedy Central 's Top 100 Stand-ups of All Time"

He loved the concept! He's interested in the project. He said I could use his name, and deal permitting, schedule, he's interested if I get the project funded. I'm mainly using new talent, but it really helps me get launched if I can bring some names on board too. 

CONNECTING VIA TWITTER

I have been a fan of Kevin, especially since he embraced the web and built his online Kevin Pollak Talk show from nothing. He's perfect for this role, and he gets where it's all going with the web.

I connected with him on twitter in February 2009 when I first created an account. He had just joined and was tweeting funny tweets on the night of the Oscars. He got the idea for an online talk show, and within weeks, it was up and running online. It was amazing to watch it all come together from nothing. 

A group of us helped tweet it out at the grass roots level, and I exchanged a few messages with him. I almost got involved with one of his talks shows for the Cannes film festival, but I never pushed any pitches or scripts on him. It's not how I approach the work at this time. I have just focussed learning my skills. I'm doing a marathon in this biz, not a sprint! If you get all that right, talented collaborators will follow when the time is right. Names and new talent. 

However, over the years since then, I really did come up with a part that I could see Kevin in. Every time I saw him on the twitter timeline, or on his online talk show, I saw Nicky Angel! Which is very odd, because I had no intension of trying to get a full movie like this made. Like most of my stories, they come to me fast, and I file them away. Some of them were not suitable for features, but I wrote them anyway just to get them out of my system. 

Like I said, I have never pitched him anything, until yesterday. Because I feel the part and the timing is right. I could just see him in this role. When I decided to dedicate myself to this City of Sin world, this 30-45 story came to my attention again. It made sense in this type of world of content I am trying to kickstart. A world full of varied genres. 

MULTI PLATFORM
All my stories in the City of Sin have a way to travel across other platforms within the story. The web plays a big part in the ending of "SOLD OUT", and Nicky Angel promo videos. We could have a lot of fun with it, and there's interactive elements where an audience, or extras can be involved. 

"SOLD OUT" 

A story about a Bill Hicks like character who can't get on TV anymore because of his rants about the world. He's broke, so his agent gets him a deal in Vegas to play to a mainstream audience. He's also good at doing movie star impressions, but he saves these lighthearted skits for friends at parties. He's encouraged to develop these for the Vegas act. 

15 years later, he's still there, but only in body! All he does is skit like entertainment for the masses. His shows are sold out every night, but he's spiralling!. He's the Elvis of comedy who has literally done a deal with the devil. He now wants to break his contract to redeem himself. 

The devil will not free him from the contract, so he has to come up with a plan to try and free his soul. He has a plan to do a live show on the internet. It will either kill him for good, or free him from the contract and himself!

I NEED THE SPARK TO START THIS WORLD

This is just one of the stories in the City of Sin. If you want to help give birth to this universe and stories, check out the kickstarter campaign. Various cool perks are on offer. You can even appear in this world or this story or others as an extra. I will share very brief pitches of some of the other stories this week. 

http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/hardcoreindie/city-of-sin-universe

CITY OF SIN PROJECT VLOG (2)

I'm currently raising the finance for "City of Sin" on Kickstater. You can see my page and video pitch on the link below this video. These extra videos will expand on many other areas about the project. PS Correction in video graphic. ( Perk is $25, not £25)

PRIVATE VIDEO CHANNEL 
If my campaign is successful, $25 backers will get access to my private video channel. I will upload a mini doc web series every week. This will chart every aspect of this grass roots approach to building the City of Sin universe. The first video will start one week after the campaign, and every week after that. I will have this channel for at least 1 year as I shoot in the UK and US. 

Any level of support is extremely appreciated! Even a $1 backer, because that also means I probably have a supporter that will RT me too at the big end push. The more people I have doing that, the more chance of success. So if you have $1, or can RT, it's very welcome.

Thanks for watching

Next video tomorrow

http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/hardcoreindie/city-of-sin-universe

https://twitter.com/davidpbaker

CITY OF SIN PROJECT VLOG (1)

WHERE THE IDEA CAME FROM FOR CITY OF SIN

I'm currently raising the finance for "City of Sin" on KS. You can see my page and video pitch on the link below this video. These extra videos will expand on many other areas about the project.



Next video tomorrow

http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/hardcoreindie/city-of-sin-universe

https://twitter.com/davidpbaker

CITY OF SIN: BLOG POST 2

CITY OF SIN (VIDEO CHAT)

I chatted with my friend Oklahoma Ward a few months ago about "City Of Sin" I will expand on every aspect of it all through this campaign, but I just thought I would share this video for the moment. 





I am scheduled to have a longer chat with him and Nicole Alonso this week. We will talk about City of Sin, but we will also talk about their movie CRAWL BITCH CRAWL. Also, about SCREEN, and some chit chat about when I was in Tulsa last year.

I had a brief acting role in CRAWL BITCH CRAWL, during the period I stayed with them to get SCREEN made. 

If you want to know more about CITY OF SIN, check out my kickstarter campaign. 

http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/hardcoreindie/city-of-sin-universe

I am giving previews of my current movie SCREEN for the $1 perk. If you buy the $1 perk, or any perk, you will then have access to the private "updates" section. This is where the video link and password is located. 

Thanks

David

CITY OF SIN: BLOG POST 1

I just launched my new campaign late last night for my new project CITY OF SIN!

THANK YOU to everybody who has backed it so far, and to those who have promoted it! It's at $872 at the moment, so very happy it's got a push at the start. I'm a VERY positive person but it ALWAYS amazes me when anybody backs me with any amount, or Retweets me! I always hope for the best, but I never assume anything in this life. So I feel very positive that it's moving. 

I plan to do videos, live spots, and daily blog posts to really get across the full vision for this project that I want to do. I want to clear up EVERY single area before the end of the campaign. I thought I would start with the $1 perk offer with SCREEN. A few people asked why I am giving it for $1. Some get it, some don't. Those of you that know kickstarter well, will get it. To clarify,

I'm offering pre-release previews of my current horror film SCREEN. I am basically using this film to help get my next project rolling. Which is what I always do. I have it on kickstarter for my CITY OF SIN campaign. It's on the $1 perk. If you pledge, you get to see it NOW. 

"SCREEN" on $1 perk

There's many factors to making a campaign successful. I will do lots of wrong things on this campaign, but I do know the importance of having "The Crowd" The more people you can get behind you, the more potential "promoters" you have. You can't do it on your own. That support is crucial to the success of crowd funding. 

Offering my movie for $1 hopefully attracts people to check it out. If people like it, or at least see my potential, then hopefully they might increase their pledge later, or share my campaign to their social networks. I couldn't afford to buy that sort of help, so offering a preview of my film for $1 is a GREAT deal for me. I'm an unknown filmmaker in a sea of content, so if you can get people to even watch your film today, and then shout for you, It's a no brainer! 

I made SCREEN with a lot of help and resources. I had under $4000 to make it, so I also want to show potential supporters what kind of film I can make for very little. $50,000 looks low for this ambitious CITY OF SIN project, but it's more than enough to make this project happen with the way I work. If I have cash, it's then easy for me to hustle resources, deals, and sponsorships worth four times this amount.

It's my job as a filmmaker to solve problems with an entrepreneurial approach. Any clown can spend money! However, we all have a baseline for a particular project. $50,000 is mine for CITY OF SIN $150,000 is comfortable, but I don't do comfortable. It's a bad discipline. SCREEN should have cost $100,000, but I would still be talking about making it if I took that approach. Action is the key!

If you want to see SCREEN. Pledge to the $1 perk on my kickstarter page. All backers will then be able to access the private "Updates" section. The link to the HD video stream of SCREEN is there. The password is also there. 

BLOG POST 2 coming tomorrow.

Thanks

David

http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/hardcoreindie/city-of-sin-universe

https://twitter.com/davidpbaker