What is "Development?"

Right now our project is in “development,” the first of five general stages of the filmmaking: development, pre-production, production, post-production and distribution. For the sake of my parents’ anxiety, I’ll specify that we are WELL into the late stages of development. Development is where general planning for our short film happens: coming up with an idea, work-shopping the story, writing the script, composing an aesthetic, setting up a plan to seek funding, and thinking how we might distribute.

For this project, once the basic idea was formed, the story and script came together rather quickly, but the financial strategy went through several stages of revision. As I’ve said before, short filmmaking in my experience is not exactly a profit machine, and since I’m funding this short with contributions from mostly friends and family, I didn’t want to put forth any investor plan listing out a certain return on investment because suggesting a probable return seemed disingenuous. I do see this short as a possible ending to a feature length project (something that I am currently developing in my spare time), so I discussed the idea with my produce of treating the investors of the relatively inexpensive short as first in investors for the feature, but the points distribution of two different properties was unmanageable.

Further complicating issues for my poor producer was that I always wanted the short to somehow raise donations for Parkinson’s disease research in addition to rewarding my investors. After several other financial strategies that were nearly impossible logistically or unfair to the investors, we decided to try and make the project a fully non-profit endeavor. Although this might have been the obvious option now, I was excited about it because it seemed to be a route that allowed us to achieve all our financial goals for the project. It gives the donors an immediate tax deduction upon contributing to the budget, allows the production to stretch that budget further with contractors and merchants, and allows us to donate our proceeds to PD research.

However, deciding to be a non-profit venture was not without its own set of challenges and logistical hurdles. Should we try to form our own 501(c) or try to join an existing non-profit? If we join one, how much percentage of our donations are we willing to give up? Should it be a film based non-profit or a PD related non-profit and if so would they even want to be associated with our short film with its admittedly contentious story?

I have long been a huge fan of Michael J. Fox (my siblings are children of the 80’s remember) and read his book Lucky Man years before my parents were diagnosed with PD. I respect and have been personally affected and positively reassured by the positive and hopeful message that he and his foundation emanate. I knew before we decided to be a non-profit that I wanted to be involved with the Michael J. Fox Foundation even if it was only donating whatever proceeds we could raise with the film. I know that the MJFF utilizes all of its available funds for research (something I respect) and wouldn’t be able to contribute financially to our short, nor would I want to take away funding from the MJFF with my project, but I was hoping (perhaps naively) that they might have a mechanism for sponsoring projects like mine or even some networking resources to point us in the right direction.

I heard that one of my friends from school (University of Virginia) was working for the foundation at the time, so I contacted Katie Peabody at the Michael J. Fox Foundation. It was about 4pm EST on Friday, and Katie had just come off the Foundation's huge week of meetings with their various councils and boards. She was running on about forty-five minutes of sleep, but still, she brainstormed with me for a couple of hours about how we could do this.

Finally she says to me, “I have an idea, but I’m going into the subway and will have to call you back.” I figured she’d call me back after the weekend, but in 40 minutes Katie called me back after having spoken with a member of the MJFF Patient Counsel with his own PD related non-profit foundation, who was very interested in my project and potentially willing to sponsor us with non-profit status from his foundation.

Now, we are in the final stages of finalizing our agreement with him and his foundation to become a fully non-profit venture, and when that occurs or short will move from “development” to “pre-production.” Stay tuned…

Utilization of Funds

The project, AN ENDGAME, requires a production budget of $29,825  to fund the entire production process. The budget numbers on the next page cover all expenses needed in order to deliver a final cut of the entire film.  AN ENDGAME may potentially be released on several platforms, which include: home entertainment, Video On Demand, and online media sites.  AN ENDGAME will also be submitted to top tier and second tier film festivals to gain awareness of the film.  The festivals will also be used to help market the film and to gain as much awareness as possible.  A major goal is for the film to be used as a learning tool to bring awareness to Parkinson’s. It may potentially be used by schools as well as other organizations to raise questions about the true nature of Parkinson’s, what it really is, and what people who suffer from it must endure.  

Ethical Statement

While it is possible to interpret An Endgame as a symbolic exhibition of defeatism, for me it represents the struggle that Parkinson’s sufferers face within themselves. The sense of foreboding, the often frightening shadow that hangs over the story’s characters is synonymous with the feelings that millions with Parkinson’s experience as a result of this disease with no present cure. My primary focus for the short is not to solely focus on the duel and hence Parkinson’s as death, but to tell an engaging story about these characters while giving insight into the way they are living and coping with PD. Perhaps it will also begin the discussion of those difficult questions that comes with every diagnosis. To that end, our big picture goal is to use the film to raise awareness and donations for Parkinson’s disease research. This will be accomplished through the films’ digital and traditional distribution, so that we may help find a cure with the use of this entertaining, poignant, and informative film. An Endgame will be a story of fiction to be used as a tool for the fight against PD that will hopefully one day consign An Endgame to that of historical fiction.

Project Background - The Long Way Around

For as long as I can remember, I’ve loved swords and sword fights. I often cite my older siblings’ love of the original Star Wars trilogy (which I’ve been watching since before I can recall memory), the first Highlander, and The Princess Bride (my siblings are children of the 80’s if you can’t tell) as the genesis of this love and obsession.

When I was living in Paris eating lamb, drinking wine and doing all the things you do if you are fortunate enough to live in Paris for a time as a young man (for it is a moveable feast), I watched a documentary called Reclaiming the Blade. One of the small segments highlighted a group based just outside of Atlanta where I’m from (but is all over the US). The group studies the original texts and manuals combined with strenuous and studious application to learn the art of swordplay as it was intended—not for a sport application but as a serious and necessary martial art.

When I returned to the States in the summer of 2010 and moved back to the Atlanta area, I looked this group up and joined the Atlanta chapter led by a guy named Joey. The first day I learned tons of basics, got my ass kicked, and it was glorious. It was like coming home…after coming home, and I studied with the group until I left Atlanta the next year.

When I moved to Los Angeles in early 2011, I naturally brought my Albion Liechtenauer, one of the best training swords made, with me and stashed it in my room.

I was working G&E (Grip and Lighting ie film lighting) with an Israeli guy I had met named David (Dah-vEEd). Just starting out myself, I really appreciated his work ethic and desire to pass on his skills to make those working under him better as opposed to just competent, and we started recommending each other for jobs. Turns out his girlfriend, who despite her misplaced Alabama football leanings is a lovely woman and talented cinematographer, lived just down the street from me, so David and I would often carpool to jobs talking about movies we liked, why, and what we wanted our own projects to be about and look like. As anyone who has worked nights can tell you, these late night conversations would often get intense. We found that we also shared a common language and aptitude for storytelling, and in the wee hours of the morning, on the empty (or as empty they get) highways of Los Angeles, a partnership was formed.

David was in our house one day and by this time knew of my sword fixation. He saw my Liechtenauer and told me that our common friend Bryce had a story idea about two brothers who decided to have a duel to the death with swords. I thought it was an interesting idea and placed it in the back of my mind.

Around this same time (2010-2011), my parents were both diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease. My mother told me she was experiencing a tremor in her left thumb and went to have it checked out (her father had Parkinson's in the 1970's and one of her older brothers also has PD currently). In the appointment, the Doctor surprisingly suggested my father might also be tested. Dad had been suffering from a bad knee for many years (In typical medical Doctor fashion, he had been putting off his own knee replacement for as long as possible), and it had been slowing him down. My mother’s doctor said that that the movement resistance in his leg and arm could also be symptomatic of early onset Parkinson’s disease though complicated by his bad knee and eventually my father was also diagnosed with PD (he also finally got the knee replacement).

Later that year in 2011, I was injured on a show and decided to take a break from working in lighting. I loved working grip side but I never wanted to make my career in it. With constant work though, it is easy to stay in it forever, but with my injury forcing me to take time off, I decided it was time to start concentrating on making my own projects. David had come to a similar decision a little bit before and had starting working as a director of photography (DP for short and also sometimes called a cinematographer).

The sudden rest after constant work on shows forced me to deal with my parents’ diagnoses that I had subconsciously pushed aside. I wrote my first feature scrip (that is really going to be something great after a bit more revision), a couple of treatments for other features, and a few shorts but nothing really came together.

I remembered Bryce’s story idea of the duel between brothers and sort of automatically projected my parent’s Parkinson’s onto those two characters. Maybe they didn’t want to fight to the death because they hated each other as is so often the case, but because they desperately loved each other. They would go through it alone to spare their brother from having to go through the harrowing end stage of Parkinson’s.

In a nerve-wracking meeting, I asked Bryce if I could use the premise of his short and go with it in my own direction. Bryce very kindly told me to go for it (he’s working on a feature called Primal/Ethereal that starts shooting next year).

The first draft came together in a matter of hours, and now here we are.

[Note: I am unfortunately not being paid to promote Albion, nor do they have anything to do with this production YET! If you are interested in one of their swords (I have one of their Stewards too and I love it), Mike is the greatest and will answer any questions you might have.]

Project Background - Short Version

Swords and duels have long captured my imagination. From long past and far, far distant galaxies, during medieval times in Europe, and even on the modern streets of New York, there has always been a nostalgic, alluring, and captivating quality about the art of sword-fighting. While duels motivated by romantic betrayals, by overthrowing (Galactic) empires, or as a result of hatred or greed are quite common, very few of these duels have ever been fought or motivated out of sheer love for ones opponent.

When my parents were diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease a number of years ago, I had thought that two brothers with a shared degenerative disease would be an intriguing motivation for a duel. They would be fighting to save one another from what they believed to be a terrible fate, or in this case an increasingly degenerative one.

In the years since their diagnosis, I have witnessed my parents facing a different kind of struggle everyday: the attempt to fight their disease while still trying to maintain a high quality of life. Theirs is also a struggle of love: love for each other, and love for their family and friends. Even through it all, it is still important to my parents that they continue to experience new things. It may not seem quite as dramatic as a duel with swords, but it is no less powerful.

With that, my initial idea for the project changed. While the duel between the two brothers still remains at the center of the story, I relegate it now to that of a McGuffin.  This is a story of two brothers who love each other, who are struggling to live their lives as best they can, and who are forced to take on the same daily struggle that millions of people, including my parents, must face everyday.

It is this more important struggle that became the main and true focus of AN ENDGAME. 

Plot Synopsis

As young boys, Perry and Ken witnessed the tortuous decline and abrupt passing of their father from Parkinson’s disease. Nearly fifty years later, the brothers, now 58 and 51, find themselves simultaneously diagnosed with the same degenerative disease. Terrified and unwilling to face what seems like an inevitable end, the brothers make a pact to learn the art of swordplay and eventually face each other before becoming physically incapable of battle. For both Perry and Ken, this duel must be fought in order to spare their beloved brother from the advancing end-stage of the disease. They have been training for months despite the inescapable progression of the illness for the confrontation that will one day decide who will be spared their father’s fate. Today is that day.

Note to Prospective Donors/ Mission statement

You often hear about passion projects, stories that filmmakers are fighting to tell and often do so with smaller budgets than they would have initially hoped for. Perhaps, then, most short films (excluding the preludes to animated features) are passion projects. In these shorts, filmmakers often attempt to convey strong emotional statements that they believe should be expressed and often with little hope of turning a profit.  

We are going to make An Endgame a poignant and beautiful piece. By submitting to film festivals around the world, we hope to seek recognition for all of the talent and creativity that will go into making the film in every area from photography to acting and direction. For this specific project, it is not just important to me that we make a beautiful short film, which engages the audience both visually and emotionally, the type of film that raises difficult questions as well as dramatic and emotional responses; emotions that will make you feel alive or possibly outraged based on the fate and choices of the story’s characters. For this project and for me personally, it needs to be something even more. 

As is, the making of a low-budget short film is already an uncertain financial venture. Thus, with the support of my production team, we shall attempt to take a less traditional route economically. Rather than trying to profit maximize, we will attempt to raise funds by collecting donations for Parkinson's disease research. 

I am truly excited about the prospects of this film both artistically and philanthropically. It is my belief that as people recognize the talents that have gone into making An Endgame, those involved will have the opportunity to work on larger projects with bigger budgets. In other words, we will be obligated to many more people and unable to do something of this directly charitable nature in the future.  

However, in order to successfully make An Endgame as a philanthropic endeavor, we must first fully raise the budget for the short film. The majority of our budget will most likely be collected from individuals and groups who desire both to support the filmmakers' talent as well as to help raise awareness about and for those afflicted by this yet to be cured disease.

On this site, you will find information about An Endgame. This a project that our talented production team and I are very passionate about and a cause, which affects people whom I care for passionately. I hope by the end of this packet, that you will at least be curious enough inquire more about our story and support our vision.