Help Jonny Horton bring his Thesis Film to life

"A conscience is a dangerous thing to have out here."

Hello! My name is Jonny Horton, and I am currently a senior film student at the University of Colorado, Denver & am the writer/director of "The Ballad of Thatch Thornton." Storytelling is something that I have always been passionate about, and film allows me to tell amazing stories with the help of amazing people. The people I have met at UCD have helped me bring my strange stories to life for the last few years, and I continue to do so with this film too!

Our entire team is made up of student filmmakers like me who all want to work together on making our senior thesis film the best it can be. Some of them include:

Mary Amoroso: Producer

Vinh Yang: Associate Producer

Cameron Smith: Cinematographer

Kelsey Buneta: Production Designer

Haley Bradley: Assistant Director

Brennan Cregan: Sound Recordist/Desginer

These are just a handful of the people who are putting their all into bringing this film to life.

What is "The Ballad of Thatch Thornton?"

Bounty hunter Thatch Thornton is down on his luck. Thatch lives out of an RV, and his rival Crow continues to outshine him at every turn. But one fateful day, a bounty on someone named "Nova" is handed to him that could lead him to achieve the status and recognition he so desperately desires. But his hunt for "Nova" forces him to choose between his reputation or his morals. Will Thatch overcome his insecurities, or will he bring more pain into an already bleak world to serve his ego?

Thatch Thornton takes place 50 years in the future in a world where the wild west meets cyberpunk dystopia. We plan on paying homage to the westerns I loved to watch growing up through cinematography while using clever costuming and art design to bring this world to life. I want this film to be a love letter to things I love, like westerns, cyberpunk sci-fi, pulp heroism and movies that focus on telling good stories over anything else!

How will your donation help the film?

If you know anything about filmmaking, you know that it can be a costly venture. School covers equipment and crew, but there's still a lot to go into the production of our film. We want to give this film out all and not break the bank while doing it.

Our budget is split into the following categories:

$1000 goes to the producing budget. Paying our actors, renting locations, covering additional fees and costs and most importantly, food. Producers are the film's unsung heroes, and giving them the resources to do their job is key to the film's success.

$1000 goes to production design. Props, costumes, make up and set decoration. We want to bring this world to life, and the production design is what's going to make it happen!

$500 goes to the camera department. UCD covers most of our gear but renting additional lenses or lights to help make the film look as good as it can be is what this money is for.

$500 goes to locations. While we have some funds in the producing budget for locations, securing a fantastic place to film is very important, and sometimes that costs just a little extra.

$500 goes to distribution. It costs money to get into film festivals and having funds dedicated to distribution will help us get into more festivals and get more people to see the film.

$500 for additional expenses. Murphy's law is still relevant for a reason, so having a buffer zone in the budget for any unforeseen issues or costs that may arise will help the production's security and professionalism.

We begin filming on October 21st and will keep you updated with behind-the-scenes and updates on how the shoot is going.

Thank you!