SPECIAL THANK YOU GIFTS!!!

Once you have made your contribution, use the links above to spread the word.  If at least 10 of your connections use those links to contribute $10 or more, we will send you an exclusive gift to thank you for your help in spreading the word:

Fair is Foul and Foul is Fair  (10 Contributors):

Double, Double, Toil and Trouble  (20 Contributors):

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The Story

On November 5^th, 1605, a group of domestic terrorists, armed with 36 barrels of gunpowder, attempted to blow up the Houses of Parliament to assassinate the recently crowned monarch, James I of England. The religious divide created by Henry VIII's withdrawal from the Catholic Church had torn the country in half and life was growing increasingly unstable for the entire population. In this atmosphere of constant political tension, William Shakespeare wrote one of his most brutal plays, an examination of a country torn apart by warring factions condemned to continuous decline due to it's unending internecine strife.

Four hundred years later, human nature seems not to have advanced very far. Religious and political lines have shifted but have become no less volatile. Barrels of gunpowder have evolved into chemical and biological agents, dirty bombs, hijacked airplanes, and thermonuclear devices. The Gunpowder Plot was thwarted by a single anonymous letter. In our hyperspeed world, it has become more likely than not that a similar letter would get lost in the static and a major attack will successfully hurl the entire globe into a rapidly multiplying cycle of counter-attack and mutual self-destruction. The mentality of tribal warfare that Shakespeare resurrected for his cautionary tale will resurface as the dominant way of life. Cities that, a few years prior, had been centers of international commerce and culture will be reduced to wastelands rocked occasionally by violent border disputes between the remaining blocs of humanity. Resources will be at a premium and human life easily disposable. Individual ambition will trump any concern for the future of the species. A resurgent Thanedom will rule the earth.

The Process

Thanks to recent advances in digital filmmaking technology, it has finally become possible to produce ambitious feature films on a micro budget.  Special effects that once cost millions can now be done on a laptop in your living room.  Cinema-quality high-definition digital video cameras can now be acquired for less than the cost of a used car.  The era of truly democratic filmmaking has arrived: The cost of the tools need no longer dictate the quality of the art.

As a filmmaker, up until this point I have been very frustrated by just these issues.  When working on my own projects, my lack of funds always meant that I had to compromise on the image quality and production design of whatever I was shooting.  When I had funding, I was always working on someone else's project and had to taylor my work toward their vision.  Now that I have the freedom to create work at top-notch quality, I am very excited to be diving into one of the greatest dramas in the English language as I hope you are as well.

For those of us who consider ourselves Shakespeare-nerds, there has been very little to come out of Hollywood over the years to feed our inner need for the Bard.  The Shakespeare adaptations that have been produced by the movie-making machine have been few and far-between and, with a few exceptions, the general response to them has been a pretty resounding: "meh".

The main reason for this is that large-budget filmmaking needs to find a large general audience in order to pay it's exorbitant production costs.  In order to justify a large-scale Shakespeare production, filmmakers must fill the cast with celebrities and test-screen it to death to prove that average Janes and Joes, soured on the Bard by boring high school readings of Hamlet, will shell out $10 to see it on the big screen.

MacBeth aims to be something completely different.  Because of our extremely small budget, we have no need to reach out to a general audience to pay our bills.  We don't need to advertise to get Joe and Jane in the door and we certainly don't need to adjust the film to play to their sensibilities.  We find ourselves in the unique position of being able to make a film specifically for the audience that will most appreciate it.

With your support, we can make a film that embraces the poetry and brutality of Shakespeare's tragic verse.  With your support we'll create a cast that fully realizes the danger and darkness of this most barbaric play without relying on distracting star-power to sell us to a wider audience.  With your support, we can create a film truly by and for Shakespeare lovers and, with a little luck, start a low-budget Shakespeare film movement thus allowing some of the lesser-known works of the canon to finally see a new life on the screen.

Our Goal

Unlike a typical feature length film, our goal with MacBeth is to have this film completely paid for before we start shooting. Generally, a film seeks a few financial backers (i.e. people with lots of money) to invest large sums in advance in return for a certain (large) percentage of box office gross. A standard business speculation. This then gives these backers a certain vested interest in ensuring that the film is financially successful at any cost. As most investors are not artists themselves, this often leads to forced artistic compromise in favor of financial safety.

A Committee of One aims to turn that model on its head by finding our audience in advance and asking them You to contribute a small amount of money in return for your right to see the film once it is complete. This will allow us the artistic freedom to create the best possible film without feeling the pressure to cater to the whims of any moneyed interests. Unlike the majority of filmmakers, we will have the freedom to consider only one voice as we are crafting this film Yours.

Where the Money is Going

As you probably know, filmmaking even grass-roots filmmaking is expensive.  In the interest of making MacBeth the best film that it can be, we are aiming to cut as few corners as possible to keep the production value extremely high. $200,000 is chump change in the world of Hollywood filmmaking but for us, coming out of the world of no-budget filmmaking, it is a good solid amount that will allow us to realize this film at its highest potential.

First and foremost, we have decided to work with the Screen Actors Guild under their Ultra-Low Budget Agreement which will give us the opportunity to work with some truly talented Shakespearean actors. This will allow us to fairly compensate everyone on our shoot, cast and crew, while still keeping our payroll manageable.

Secondly, we are shooting in Los Angeles where we'll have access to the largest array of film support in the world. With a little luck and some sweet talk we hope to use LA's plethora of film resources to our advantage by negotiating donations and/or discounts which will help keep the budget within our means.  Some of these agreements are already in place and others will be developed over the next few months of pre-production.  LA, though, is often an expensive place to shoot: location permits and safety personnel will be an unavoidable expense. When shooting a post-apocalyptic Shakespearian guerrilla war on the streets of a major city, sometimes you just have to bite the bullet as it were and spend a little cash to make it look fantastic.

To balance out the occasional location expenses, we plan on creating much of the look of the war-torn city in post-production thanks to recent exponential advances in both low-budget camera technology and post-production tools. Before you cringe at the oft overused clich, we'll fix it in post, check out the adobe.com website for their behind-the-scenes videos with Monsters writer/director, Gareth Edwards, for a great example of what we're talking about and planning on.

Costumes, props, makeup, and other aspects of scenic design will also need to be acquired. The benefit of shooting in a post-apocalyptic LA is that we already have an amazing palette to start with. We also have extensive resources in this city for borrowing, repurposing, and renting much of what we'll need so the costs on this end will not need to be exorbitant to create a truly unique vision of what the city might look like in twenty years' time.

Rounding all of this out, of course, are the expenses that are standard to any business which I'm sure most of you deal with every day: postage, printing, copies, accounting, payroll, insurance, gas reimbursements, meals, coffee, etc. All the fun stuff that makes the world go 'round.

Other Ways You Can Help

As mentioned above, this project, in addition to being an ambitious film production in its own right, is also the first step towards creating a new grass-roots base for future large-scale projects. Even if you don't work in the film industry specifically or an art field generally, you still have something to contribute to the future of A Committee of One. Financial contributions, while extremely important, are only the first step in a project of this nature. What is it that you do that makes you different from all our other supporters? Can you volunteer time to help out either in Los Angeles or elsewhere? Do you have professional advice (legal, financial, medical... marital) to offer? Can you donate goods or services? Just like our financial requests, we're looking for small offers that are not a huge burden on you or your time. Unless, of course, you want to dive right in we certainly won't turn you away. And remember, all donations of money or goods are tax-deductible to the extent allowed by law.

Questions?

Feel free to write us at info@acommitteeofone.org if you have any further questions or if you just want to say "Hey".