What Is "The Zoo"

I'm Matthew Demarko, a young student filmmaker developing my senior thesis project at the Savannah College of Art and Design.

"The Zoo" is a surreal story of a young writing intern, Bridgette, who after sacrificing everything to land her dream job, finds herself plagiarized in her own magazine. With no where to turn, she confronts her boss, Mr. Wolfe, and in that vicious confrontation learns the hard way why Mr. Wolfe originally entitled his magazine, "The Zoo."

To see my previous work, check out http://vimeo.com/grapefruitdream
To see Charles Goubead's work, Producer of "The Zoo," check out http://vimeo.com/charlesgoubeaud
To see Allison Carroll's work, Producer of "The Zoo," check out http://allisonvcarroll.com/

Why This Project Is Special

I originally wrote this story 3 years ago as a play, but couldn't pass up the opportunity to bring this surreal world and these amazing characters to the screen. This is the project that will become the basis for my career as a filmmaker, and will allow me receive my Bachelors with a degree in Film and Television.

But this isn't just my project. Now that a whole crew of amazingly talented film makers and artists have signed on to help me bring this vision to reality, it is their project too. We've put a lot of time and effort into making sure we can pull this project off, but we can still use your help. This is where you guys have the opportunity to become a part of this adventure.

Why We Need You

We've poured our time and effort into this project, but to fund this project properly, we're looking for generous donations (in any amount) from you, our beautiful internet supporters.

Any film is a costly endeavour, with both creative and logicistical purchases adding up quickly. And in an effort to push our level of professionalism and to tell this story as beautifully as we possibly can, we've decided to go beyond digital cameras, and to shoot this project on film. This means higher costs, but also higher rewards. Here is a breakdown where your donations will be going.

• FILM STOCK AND PROCESSING - Just to purchase and process our film is going to cost us around $3000. Film isn't cheap, and to be able to send it off to a lab to be professionally processed and scanned so that we may edit it digitally is a major investment, but one that we know will pay off in the final project.
• WOLF HANDLER - We couldn't call it a "Zoo" if there weren't some animals involved, so we've hired a professional animal handler to bring a live wolf onto our set and into this film. This is pivotal in making Mr. Wolfe's office the most inhospitable environment Bridgette could ever find herself in.
  
• LOCATION FEES - With this film we are lucky to have only one major location, but the office of Mr. Wolfe is going to be a hard find. Films commonly pay their locations to be able to access and film in the space, and we are actively searching for the perfect office that personifies the immaculately cold and cruel personality of Mr. Wolfe.
  
• PRODUCTION DESIGN - Even after finding the perfect location, a film must bring in set dressing and decorations so the space fits the entire period and feel of the film. With such a surreal atmosphere, we are relying on Production Design to help us create the perfect, hostile environment for the clash between Bridgette and Mr. Wolfe to take place.
• COSTUME DESIGN - Clothes are an integral part to any story, and help to immediately describe the character and their personality to the office. We are lucky to have 3 amazing costume designers on this film, but in order for them to find the perfect power suit for Mr. Wolfe and the perfect dress for Bridgette is going to require money for rental fees and a variety of different fabrics.
• PROPS - "The Zoo" is a physical magazine that we are looking to create and print for use in our film. We are lucky to have recruited 12 unique artists and illustrators to create a full range of covers for "The Zoo" but in order to create the props, we're going to need to get them printed for the film.
  
• CATERING - Film's have a standard 12 hour day, and to be able to thank the volunteer filmmakers who are bringing this project to life we want to feed them healthy, local food so that we can support their energy levels, and our local economy. Feeding a crew of 20+ is never cheap, and we are filming for a scheduled 6 days.
• INDIEGOGO FEE - IndieGoGo is an amazing resource; without it, we would have never connected to you! But the site charges a 9% fee if we don't reach our final goal! Donate whatever you can and help to ensure we receive the donations that were intended!
  

Hopefully you can see how our costs add up quickly. However, we are broke college students ourselves, so we understand budgets. We also believe that to be a truly collaborative effort these donations shouldn't be a one-way street. To showcase our appreciation for any donation level, we've devised a series of corresponding rewards that you can check out on the right side of this page.

Since this project is coming to life with your help, we want to be able to give something back from the back from what you made possible. Rewards range from signed props from set to the chance to be a part of our test audience when the film nears completion.

Other Ways You Can Help

We appreciate you all taking the time to check out our latest project. If you can't donate, we appreciate any sort of publicity just as much. Be sure to spread this project around to your family and friends, and keep checking back for constant updates from, "The Zoo!"

We start shooting February 18-20, and will wrap up the next weekend, February 25-27. Shooting in Savannah, GA, we'll keep you posted on our progress, and thanks again!