Our Story

"They Swim!" is the first feature film by writer/director Joseph Velazquez, but there are leagues of highly talented people making it possible. Joseph has been honing his craft over the last ten years after selling his first script out of film school at the age of 21. He was, let's say, underwhelmed with the quality of the movie it was made into so "They Swim!" is the final step of his journey to direct and produce one of his scripts as it should be. He worked for years in production, switching between network reality television and assistant directing independent feature films, learning nuts and bolts film making on very limited budgets. Meanwhile, he was keeping his creative side busy directing short films, commercials, and documentaries and writing four more complete screenplays.

The idea for "They Swim!" came from a dream his friend Mark Godfrey told him about. Very simply, in Mark's dream, he was under attack from swimming zombies. The idea stuck with him as an exciting and fun premise, especially once he learned that at the bottom of Lake Lanier sat a deluged city from the 1950's. He would play with variations of what a movie version could be like while in between projects, but finally a discussion with his wife produced the concept that clicked everything into place: this movie was a musical.

Pre-production began a year ago and development of the script, characters, effects, music, and action sequences have led to a rich and unique film. Filming entirely in Georgia, "They Swim!" is a homegrown production being made possible by large donations of time and your contributions.

You are part of the team! We'll keep you updated through this site and also with blog posts, videos, and special messages from the cast and crew all through production. You can see some of these videos already on the film's official site: www.theyswim.com. We'll also update you with "They Swim!" events and other zombie or indie film making news.

What We Need & What You Get

We've created really fun perks for different levels of contributions, so be sure to check them out! The budget we are raising here will go to cast and crew meals, locations, special effects make-up, and some equipment rental. The climactic action sequence that takes place underwater is the majority of the stunt budget, but everything we're doing could benefit from a little more money. How much we raise on this site will in part dictate how realistic and ambitious we can make these elements.

We are planning a zombie and fifties themed party to help raise another portion of the budget. If we do not raise the entirety of our goal, your contributions will still go to the production of a version of this film, just a smaller scaled one.

Other Ways You Can Help

Share this with everyone you know! One simple email burst, or mention on facebook, or conversation at a party can lead to a world of opportunity for our movie.