Press Release

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
January 23, 2013

                 THE INDIE FEATURE FILM “THE CONCESSIONAIRES MUST
                        DIE” IS BEING MADE IN A GROUNDBREAKING WAY.

     America Young and April Wade proudly announce the FIRST EVER LIVE STREAMING BEHIND THE SCENES FOOTAGE of the feature film, that isn’t scripted or edited, giving the audience a truly authentic look at making a movie on a micro budget – and helping create it as well!

                                            The Concessionaires Must Die!
                          LOGLINE: On the brink of their beloved single screen
                      independent movie theater being shut down forever, a misfit
                         band of nerdy theater workers face the evils of corporate
                      theaters, foreclosure and even scarier, having to decide what
                                they want to be when and if they ever grow up.
                                             Concessionaires Assemble!

     The Concessionaires Must Die! is a feature film that we will be shooting in the Spring of 2013. But, the filmmakers are live streaming NOW. The audience has been invited to all of the
production meetings, castings, table reads, location scouts etc. and share in the process of making an independent film. The team will be working to take into account the audience’s
thoughts and feelings, listen to criticisms and integrate their resources into the process as well.

     As these filmmakers embark on the journey of completing their project, they will be using Stickam, Facebook and Twitter to tell the story behind the story and source out suggestions from
the audience as well as sharing who they are and what inspires them – to help add the rich tapestry of the film itself. They hope that by getting to know the people they are making the story for in a more personal way, that the audience for the film itself well grow and have an authentic investment in the final product.

Dir: America Young
Feature Producers: Ron Cohen, Jason Dibbler
Live Streaming Producer: April Wade

CAST:
Scott: To Be Announced!
Ashley: April Wade (Happy Endings, April Showers)
John: John Keating (Retroland, The Middle)
Gabby: Zaki Rubinstein (Criminal Minds, Six Feet Under)
Kira: Sarah Sweet (Adam Rifkin’s “Reality Show” on Showtime)
RJ: Cosby Sirigni (Wizards of Waverly Place)
Heather: Kelly Eichenholz (Barney: Animal ABC’s)

Not to mention a number of exciting cameos!

www.TheMakingofCMD.com An experiment in making a movie of fans, by fans and for the fans.

Join In.

Play nice.

Contact:
themakingofcmd@gmail.com

Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/TheConcessionaires
Website: www.themakingofcmd.blogspot.com
Twitter: @themakingofcmd
Live Stream: http://www.stickam.com/themakingofcmd

Daniel is rad.

Daniel really gave us some THINKERS. We loved going through these and getting all "filmmaker-y." Thank you for being rad (and being our friend), Daniel!

Kevin McShane is the Best Co-Host Ever.

Kevin McShane is the Best Co-Host Ever. Or, as this video will prove, he is PROBABLY the best co-host ever. But we DO know that he is very, very hilarious and very, very generous.

Aaron is cool.

Aaron is cool - and he came up with a VERY cool concept. So, here is a plug:

Inside Jokes Project

@insidejokespro

Tweet your inside jokes and get back fake a explanation and maybe art of it. Or tweet your own fake explanations :) A project by @GameJumperX & @notcoolgurl

insidejokespro.com

 

He also wrote some cool questions to answer, which we attempted to be cool doing, but cannot reach the level of cool that he has. It's just impossible.

Angie rocks.

Angie rocks. I'd leave it at that, except that she sent in some pretty fun questions, so we went ahead and answered them. So, I am going amend the previous statement to say that Angie rocks at writing questions. And at life.

Shaun Parker is funny.

Here are our not-quite-as-funny answers to his very clever questions:

Indiegogo Perks are on their way!

We got 10 questions from YOU (yeah, you, the one who so generously donated to our indiegogo campaign. And we are about to reveal our 10 off-the-cuff answers.... tomorrow.

Campaign: Complete

WE 

DID 

IT!

Thank you for helping us reach our crowd-funding goal. We are so grateful and are even more excited, determined and inspire to make this movie!

(#nerfletendersunite) 

Live-Thank-A-Thon

On Sunday, Oct 21st America Young (and associates) subjected April Wade 60 hours of Geekification. It was the FIRST EVER LIVE-A-THON and it got us nearly 70% of the way to our funding goal! 

TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 20th, (6pm - midnight PST) we will complete our campaign wit the FIRST EVER LIVE-THANK-A-THON!

CLICK on the link below to contribute to TheMakingofCMD!

CONTRIBUTE!

 * Help us prove that innovation in social filmmaking and orignial storytelling is not only what an audience wants, but what it deserves!

 * Join in with America as she (and her associates) show April “The Way of the Geek!”

CLICK on the link below to contribute to TheMakingofCMD!

Live-THANK-A-Thon Schedule!

Your hostesses: April Wade (@actoraprilwade) & America Young (@America_Young)

TUESDAY, November 20th

6pm
We go LIVE and STAY LIVE for 6 hours! Our IndieGoGo campaign wraps up at Midnight... help us pull through and get us over the threshold! Our cast is announced and begins to shuffle in...

7pm
Table Read of ACT I
  Get an exclusive look at this script we have all been talking about.
 
10pm
We look back and reflect, over pumpkin pie, getting a chance to go over the names of all those who have contributed so far.


11pm 
The FINAL COUNTDOWN begins!

Wrap Up Videos!

We are in awe of the masterful work of Jeremy Romero who has graciously taken over our video wrap ups and has made them AMAZING.

Re-live ALL the Live-A-Thon memories at YOUTUBE.COM/THEMAKINGOFCMD

And watch us "Gangnam Style" below:

Live-Thank-A-Thon Schedule!

  Live-THANK-A-Thon Schedule!

Your hostesses: April Wade (@actoraprilwade) & America Young (@America_Young)

TUESDAY, November 20th

6pm
We go LIVE and STAY LIVE for 6 hours! Our IndieGoGo campaign wraps up at Midnight... help us pull through and get us over the threshold! Our cast is announced and begins to shuffle in...

7pm
Table Read of ACT I
  Get an exclusive look at this script we have all been talking about.
 
10pm
We look back and reflect, over pumpkin pie, getting a chance to go over the names of all those who have contributed so far.

11pm 
The FINAL COUNTDOWN begins!

Re-Live the Live-A-Thon!

Jeremy Romero is GENUIS.
Could this video be any cooler? I don't think so!

Cramming for the Test

Many of you are curious if they managed to actually "Geekify" me.
The jury is still out...

I am going to be given a last and final quiz during our Live-Thank-A-Thon: TUESDAY, NOV 20th: 6:00pm-11:59pm

To prepare for it, I'll be watching some of my personal highlights of the Geekification: Battlestar Galactica and Dr. Who. 

But, I can't imagine doing it alone!  I will be live-tweeting from the @themakingofcmd account while I muscle through it.  Join me, will ya?

2pm: Friday, Nov 16: Battlestar Galactica miniseries Part 1
2pm: Sunday, Nov 18: Battlestar Galactica miniseries Part 2
2pm: Monday, Nov 19: Dr. Who: Vincent, Gridlock

http://comicbook.com/blog/2012/10/22/america-young-on-her-geekify-telethon-and-why-its-happening/

http://www.nerdist.com/2012/10/pickstarter-our-favorite-crowdfunded-projects-1021/

Amazing blogs from Fantastic people!

With less than two weeks left to go in our indiegogo campaign, we took a moment to re-live the live-a-thon by reading these blog posts. And smiling.

Thank you all!


http://angiehulme.wordpress.com/2012/10/24/live-a-thon-aka-the-success-of-awesome/

http://willinglycrazy.blogspot.co.at/2012/10/strange-bedfellows-or-how-i-learned-to.html?m=1

http://aradinsc.blogspot.ca/2012/10/the-awesomeness-of-liveathon.html?m=1

http://eslkevin.blogspot.com/2012/10/april-goes-geek.html?zx=9e253502efe60ddd

We love you!

Wow. Do we have a lot to be grateful for!
By the numbers:
 - The 1st ever Live-A-Thon
 - Clocked 60 total hours
 - Ended Live-A-Thon with 67% of our goal achieved - and 25 day to go!
 - 150 funders gave so graciously to our campaign
 - We had 340,000 live views

Thank you! We love you!

 

You can still contribute at indiegogo.com/geekify for the next 22 days!

It's alive! It's ALIVE!

CLICK on the link below to contribute to TheMakingofCMD!

 {WATCH LIVE Sunday, Oct 21st @ 10am thru Tuesday, Oct 23rd @ 7pm: 60 hours of Geekification}

 CONTRIBUTE!

 * Help us prove that innovation in social filmmaking and orignial storytelling is not only what an audience wants, but what it deserves!

 * Join in with America as she (and her associates) show April “The Way of the Geek!”

CLICK on the link below to contribute to TheMakingofCMD!

Live-A-Thon Schedule!

April Wade and America Young have been friends and colleagues for years ...and it turns out that they don't actually have a lot of interests in common. America is a self-proclaimed geek (seriously, google her, it's obvious). April doesn't claim to be 'cool,' but since she's never read a comic book, she is definitely not a geek. Join us as we attempt to "geekify" the only person you've probably met whose only knowledge of Star Wars is from watching Spaceballs as a child.

Your hostesses: April Wade (@actoraprilwade) & America Young (@America_Young)

SUNDAY, OCTOBER 21st

10am
We go LIVE and STAY LIVE for 60 hours! Our IndieGoGo campaign launches with much fanfare. Geeks begin to assemble...

11am
Star Wars: Episode IV
    associates: 
        Eliot Sirota (@OneEyedJedi)
        John M Keating (@jkeats, playing "John Dorn" in CMD)
        John Merchen, Nick Oberlander, Christina Snider (geeks)
        Corey Wish (semi-geek, April's Husband who has put up with her non-geekiness for 
            too long)
        Pete Wade (@askcoachpete, April's Dad: he will answer for why his daughter turned
            out so "cool") 
       
1:30pm
Kevin McShane will be drawing Bad Caricatures ($5 for a drawing and an apology)
    associates: Kevin McShane (@kmcshane) 


2pm
Star Wars: Episode V
    associates:  see above

4pm
Star Wars: Episode VI
    associates:  see above again (these geeks are in it for the long haul!)

7pm
A (probably heated) Star Wars discussion as we build a X-Wing out of LEGOs.
    associates: 
        movie discussion led by Kevin McShane (@kmcshane)
        lego session led by John M Keating (@jkeats, playing "John Dorn" in CMD)

10pm
Spaceballs

11:30pm
Spaceballs wrap up: Now that she has actually seen Star Wars, will April appreciate Spaceballs more or less? Is she starting to change into an honest to goodness geek?

MONDAY, OCTOBER 22nd

8am
Star Trek: Insurrection, complete with Early Grey and detailed explanation
    associates:  Dean Karasinski (@deanographics)

11am
Firely- Serenity pilot episode
    associates:  Kenny Mittleider (www.geekyfanboy.com)

1pm
Firely- Out of Gas episode
    associates:  see above (Kenny is in it to win it!)

2pm
Magic: The Gathering lesson and gameplay
    associates: 
        Eric Collin Campbell (@8BitEric)
        Juan Manuel-Rocha (@comicsoncomics)

4pm
We make every qeeky attempt we can to play an actual round of Muggle Quidditch.
    associates:  Tennyson Stead (@tennysonestead)

5pm
Battlestar Galactica- episode 1
    associates:  Sam McCoy (our writer!)

6pm
Battlestar Galactica- episode 2
    associates:  see above

7pm
Battlestar Galactica- episode 3
    associates:  see above again (Sam McCoy is a BSG machine!)

8pm
Saints Row 3 lesson and gameplay (if April actually picks up on the lesson...)
    associates:  Steve Jaros (@SteveJaros, Studio Creative Director at Volition-Inc)

11pm
Harry Potter (via audio book) as the two lovely ladies make SuperHero masks and probably fall off to a very peaceful slumber...
    associates:  John M Keating (@jkeats, playing "John Dorn" in CMD)

TUESDAY, OCTOBER 23rd

8am
X-Men and Thundercats cartoons
    associates:  Sam McCoy (our writer!)

9:30am
The Last Airbender cartoons
    associates:  see above

10:30am
Anime Marathon (Lord help us all.)
    associates:  Sam Weller (@cravesam)

1pm
Dr Who - Blink
    associates:  Gabriel Diani (@GabeDiani)
 
2pm
Dr Who -  The Girl in the Fireplace
    associates:  see above

3pm
Dr Who - Midnight
    associates: see above again (Gabe is in it for the long haul!)

4pm
FINAL MOVIE of the TELETHON as VOTED on by YOU, the contributors.  What will it be??
  * (Original) Planet of the Apes
  * Willow
  * The Last Starfighter
  * Scott Pilgrim vs The World
  * Star Trek - Wrath of Khan   
    associates:  Sam McCoy (our writer!), Nick Oberlander (geek)

Telethon Schedule!

April Wade and America Young have been friends and colleagues for years ...and it turns out that they don't actually have a lot of interests in common. America is a self-proclaimed geek (seriously, google her, it's obvious). April doesn't claim to be 'cool,' but since she's never read a comic book, she is definitely not a geek. Join us as we attempt to "geekify" the only person you've probably met whose only knowledge of Star Wars is from watching Spaceballs as a child.

Your hostesses: April Wade (@actoraprilwade) & America Young (@America_Young)

SUNDAY, OCTOBER 21st

10am
We go LIVE and STAY LIVE for 60 hours! Our IndieGoGo campaign launches with much fanfare. Geeks begin to assemble...

11am
Star Wars: Episode IV
    associates: 
        Eliot Sirota (@OneEyedJedi)
        John M Keating (@jkeats, playing "John Dorn" in CMD)
        John Merchen, Nick Oberlander, Christina Snider (geeks)
        Corey Wish (semi-geek, April's Husband who has put up with her non-geekiness for 
            too long)
        Pete Wade (@askcoachpete, April's Dad: he will answer for why his daughter turned
            out so "cool")
       
1:30pm
Kevin McShane will be drawing Bad Caricatures ($5 for a drawing and an apology)
    associates: Kevin McShane (@kmcshane)


2pm
Star Wars: Episode V
    associates:  see above

4pm
Star Wars: Episode VI
    associates:  see above again (these geeks are in it for the long haul!)

7pm
A (probably heated) Star Wars discussion as we build a X-Wing out of LEGOs.
    associates: 
        movie discussion led by Kevin McShane (@kmcshane)
        lego session led by John M Keating (@jkeats, playing "John Dorn" in CMD)

10pm
Spaceballs

11:30pm
Spaceballs wrap up: Now that she has actually seen Star Wars, will April appreciate Spaceballs more or less? Is she starting to change into an honest to goodness geek?

MONDAY, OCTOBER 22nd

8am
Star Trek: Insurrection, complete with Early Grey and detailed explanation
    associates:  Dean Karasinski (@deanographics)

11am
Firely- Serenity pilot episode
    associates:  Kenny Mittleider (www.geekyfanboy.com)

1pm
Firely- Out of Gas episode
    associates:  see above (Kenny is in it to win it!)

2pm
Magic: The Gathering lesson and gameplay
    associates: 
        Eric Collin Campbell (@8BitEric)
        Juan Manuel-Rocha (@comicsoncomics)

4pm
We make every qeeky attempt we can to play an actual round of Muggle Quidditch.
    associates:  Tennyson Stead (@tennysonestead)

5pm
Battlestar Galactica- episode 1
    associates:  Sam McCoy (our writer!)

6pm
Battlestar Galactica- episode 2
    associates:  see above

7pm
Battlestar Galactica- episode 3
    associates:  see above again (Sam McCoy is a BSG machine!)

8pm
Saints Row 3 lesson and gameplay (if April actually picks up on the lesson...)
    associates:  Steve Jaros (@SteveJaros, Studio Creative Director at Volition-Inc)

11pm
Harry Potter (via audio book) as the two lovely ladies make SuperHero masks and probably fall off to a very peaceful slumber...
    associates:  John M Keating (@jkeats, playing "John Dorn" in CMD)

TUESDAY, OCTOBER 23rd

8am
X-Men and Thundercats cartoons
    associates:  Sam McCoy (our writer!)

9:30am
The Last Airbender cartoons
    associates:  see above

10:30am
Anime Marathon (Lord help us all.)
    associates:  Sam Weller (@cravesam)
 
1pm
Dr Who - Blink
    associates:  Gabriel Diani (@GabeDiani)
 
2pm
Dr Who -  The Girl in the Fireplace
    associates:  see above

3pm
Dr Who - Midnight
    associates: see above again (Gabe is in it for the long haul!)

4pm
FINAL MOVIE of the TELETHON as VOTED on by YOU, the contributors.  What will it be??
  * (Original) Planet of the Apes
  * Willow
  * The Last Starfighter
  * Scott Pilgrim vs The World
  * Star Trek - Wrath of Khan   
    associates:  Sam McCoy (our writer!), Nick Oberlander (geek)

...and the pitch!

We are holding a LIVE telethon OCT 21, 22 & 23rd to raise funds for The Concessionaires Must Die and our 'making of' live stream.

April Wade and America Young have been friends and colleagues for years ...and it turns out that they don't actually have a lot of interests in common. America is a self-proclaimed geek (seriously, google her, it's obvious). April doesn't claim to be 'cool,' but since she's never read a comic book, she is definitely not a geek. Join us as we attempt to "geekify" the only person you've probably met whose only knowledge of Star Wars is from watching Spaceballs as a child.

 * Help us prove that innovation in social filmmaking and orignial storytelling is not only what an audience wants, but what it deserves!

 * Join in with America as she (and her associates) show April “The Way of the Geek!”

Special thanks to John M Keating for the awesome flyer!

...here's the wind-up...

For the last 6 months or more, we have approached a ton of fabulous financiers who were always just moments away from funding us, we get excited, I post something vague on facebook about our progress... and for one reason or another, nothing has hit. This is NOT new or unique. I've been working in Los Angeles for a decade and it always seems impossible to fund an independent film - and in the last few years, the level of difficulty has skyrocketed.  We gambled on starting our journey by building an audience (which consists of a wonderful collection of intelligent fans and nearly 600,000 live views from just a few pre-production meetings). This gamble has paid off creatively and opened many, many doors for us. We've unlocked huge sponsorship donations for production. Just haven't cracked anyone's safe - yet.

Nearly everyone we know has suggested that we do a Kickstarter campaign for this project. They suggest that if there EVER was a project in the history of crowd-funded projects that was absolutely MADE for Kickstarter, it is this one. And they are right.
But, we've resisted. And resisted.
Until now.

We have schemed a great scheme that will squelch many of our reservations about crowd funding in one single bound: 
A LIVE TELETHON: The Attempted Geekification of April Wade by America Young and Associates!

We get about 1-2 Kickstarter requests from our friends a day. We simply don't want to innundate the ones we love. But, you know what? If they love us, they WANT to help. They've told us so. Plus, we've put a ton of thought into making this movie and the making of experience something that a lot of audience members would connect to - so, we have faith that there are people that are willing to pitch in that aren't related to us.

Kickstarter puts your goals and your progress out there for all to see which means that you not only live proudly with a success but you can also live publicly with a failure. In short, our egos are on the line here. Ultimately, we decided that we weren't going to let our fear (and pride) get the better of us. We are risk takers - because without that element, we would never be able to create. It is who we are, so we might as well get cozy with it and wear our hearts on our sleeves and jump head-first into the uncertainty.

Lastly - and MOST IMPORTANTLY - we didn't just want to stand there, hat in hand, telling you that what we are trying to make is more interesting or better than any of the other thousands of projects you could choose to fund. We have been committed to GIVING the audience an experience and cringe at the idea of turning around and asking for money in return. The cold hard fact is this: if we don't have any cash, we simply cannot make the movie, no matter how many amazing sponsors we have been able to attach. So, what we want to do is add value to this project, to create a 'pitch' that is entertaining, pushes our own limits and gives you a really unique and super fun experience in exchange for your very hard-earned money. Not just "perks" - but an event that you can really sink your teeth into.

So, clear your calendars and stay tuned. Oct 21, 22 and 23rd are going to be a ball!