CURRENTLY, WE ARE REVAMPING OUR FUNDRAISING SITE.  WE WILL HAVE SOMETHING UP SOON IN ORDER TO RECEIVE DONATIONS AGAIN.  IF YOU ENJOYED OUR VIDEO AND WANT TO HELP US.  PLEASE JOIN THE FIGHT AND FRIEND US ON FACEBOOK AT http://www.facebook.com/lastcallatmacs

Our Story

Last Call at Macs is a snapshot into the emotions and situations three Marines and one sailor go through the night before deploying to combat.  Written, Produced and Directed by military veterans, this film gives an honest look at individual ideals and addresses why service members choose to do what they do on a personal level. 

The story is set in a bar where these Marines and medical corpsman are having one last drink before heading off to a combat environment familiar to some and new to others.  Each of them have their own issues to address, some with themselves, others with those closest to them. 

We started shooting this project in what we thought was the perfect location, an old Marine Bar in Oceanside, CA.  The bar was perfect aesthetically, but what we soon learned is that nothing is perfect.  In spite of our location agreement we were leveraged for more money than we had and the shoot halted soon after. 

We have been extremely fortunate to attract an amazing cast and professional crew who were willing to work for the minimal payment we could afford.  Some of those people include award winning cinematographer, John Snedden (Navy veteran), and actor, Damon Poitier.  When the bar demanded a fee that was larger than half of our original budget, we were forced to stop filming.  Starting over is a huge setback, but we refuse to let it derail this project and believe even more in making this whole short even better.  

Our goal for this project is to tell a quality story to win the festival market.  We are not shy about our ambition.  Being nominated is not an option; we want something to set us apart from the competition.  Now, because of our setback, we are feeling the irony of the story we are trying to film by having something worth fighting for.  The majority of our cast and crew want to stay with this project, schedule availability permitting, and fight alongside us to complete this project.  What we need are more people willing to join the fight and help us show that dreams and a great story are worth fighting for.

The Impact

This is a military story told by military veterans.  Most of the cast and crew are veterans or close relatives of veterans.  This is also NOT a winy, melodramatic and politically slanted whatever piece.  We have worked hard to make this short film an entertaining but thoughtful story that shows realistic and interesting characters work through some of the emotions and ideas that real veterans deal with before deployment. 

This is a story about things we know, the military.  So, anyone involved can not only feel great about helping eager military veterans tell their own stories but also know we will work extremely hard to put every single dollar raised on the screen.  

The financial hit to the executive producer from our first shoot is a large and painful life lesson that hurts enough to make sure this project is done right.  There is no above the line salary and no production fees are built into this budget.  We are working hard to keep some very talented people attached to this project at rates that are well below their usual process. 

We are also under a desperate time constraint to work within the schedules attached cast and crew as well as meet the festival deadlines.  If this project is going to happen it will need to start shooting in July. 

What We Need

We need $40,000 to shoot this short film.  We need a new bar location to film for three to four days.  We need to hire additional crew and negotiate to get the majority of our original cast and crew back.  We need to go back to the rental houses and try to get the best gear we can at affordable prices.  We need to bring in a post production crew and start working music and score.  This is not a student film.  This is not some guys with their camcorder putting something cool together.  This is not a gorilla film project were we are running around without film permits and insurance. 

We are working insanely hard to get all the right people and paperwork together.  A lot of people are willing to work on this for low wages because they have read the script and like the project and the people involved.  But a great project and likeable people only go so far.  We tried to do this project for the bare bones already and we have some great stuff but too many corners were cut.

At $20,000 we could go into production but post production will be tricky and we would need more fundraising.  We are working to find other investors but this takes a lot of time that we do not have.  Anything raised will go to getting this project produced. 

If we do not meet our halfway mark than we will have to notify our cast and crew that the fundraising process is still in process.  We will most likely lose a lot of the cast and crew that voiced interest to us for the reshoot and we will definitely miss on this year's film festival submission deadlines.  We do not want this to happen but it is a heartbreaking possibility.

Other Ways You Can Help

We hate asking people for money.  Seriously, WE HATE IT.  What we do like is be entertaining. 

We have launched a Facebook page where you can learn more about the Last Call at Macs story, the military and silly stuff that has to do with drinking and having a good time.  Please join us at http://www.facebook.com/lastcallatmacs to share drinking stories, favorite bar memories, military stories and whatnot and have a good time.  We are also going to try and get out some fun videos over the next few months that show you some behind the scenes material and silly entertainment to compliment our short film.  You can join our YouTube page at http://www.youtube.com/user/LastCallatMacs. 

We also love talking to media.  That includes you bloggers, we love you.  If youre interested in writing something about us, hit us up at lastcallatmacs@gmail.com.  Just remember, stay classy, BYOB, and don't forget what's worth fighting for.