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Orpheus Star: Help Fund Our Proof-of-Concept Short

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Welcome to the Orpheus Star Crowdfunding Campaign!



                                                                                          WHAT OUR FILM IS ABOUT

            Orpheus Star tells the story of Douglas Privett, Douglas Privett, A young, black and gay musician, plans to end his life-long battle with depression via suicide when a twist of fate finds him instead traveling back to Holden, Missouri, the mid-western town of his childhood, to care for his ailing Baptist pastor grandmother who'd raised him unlovingly, only to discover she is battling demons from her own past. 


              While in town, Douglas searches for a boy named Cal, his only childhood friend and first crush. He also learns of the "Privett family curse” that tragically claimed the lives of his grandfather and father and attempts to make Douglas the next victim. It's only when Douglas learns more about his grandmother's past as a missionary in Haiti, particularly her volatile friendship with a seductive female Mambo, Lizette Prejean, that he realizes the truth behind his grandmother's devastating refusal to show him love when raising him and begins his inner journey of healing and wholeness  

           "Orpheus Star" is a story about the power of love, forgiveness and redemption that also explores the topics of depression, suicide, abuse, religion and sexual identity. It features a main character struggling with suicidal thoughts due to unresolved emotional trauma from childhood who learns to forgive and heal his inner wounds so he can live a more enjoyable life, free from emotional baggage. 

                                                                            WHAT MAKES OUR FILM SO SPECIAL

            The story was inspired by the progressive rock trio, King's X, who are my all-time favorite band. In their song "Over My Head", lead singer and bass player, Doug Pinnick, sings about his great-grandmother, a preacher who raised him while sometimes acting in ways that weren’t loving. It always made me wonder what could cause someone who was so outwardly religious to not show love. That answering of that question lead to me writing the first draft of Orpheus Star back in 2004. Fifteen years and countless drafts later, this story is ready to be shared with the world.

             The title Orpheus Star refers to the Greek myth of Orpheus, the magically talented musician who tragically loses the love of his life, Eurydice.

             In fact, the awesomely animated intro you saw at the beginning of this video is a sample of a longer Orpheus-inspired dream sequence from the feature film.

                                                                                WHY WE'RE COMPELLED TO MAKE IT
                             
                  We want to create an exciting proof-of-concept short for Orpheus Star that highlights the value and potential impact of what we believe to be a life-affirming story of the redemptive power of unconditional love, a story that must be shared with the world.

                  We believe this film, like all art, can help to facilitate healing and even save people’s lives; so many people contemplate suicide because they feel they can't find a way to heal their inner pain and even more people have a family member or friend struggling with this. We want our film to help. When our film is eventually made and released, we plan to partner with several non-profit suicide prevention and education organizations in order to promote and raise funds for their programs and thus, utilize our project as a tool to aid in the process of healing.

                 The finished short will be used as part of the feature film’s packaging to pitch to potential investors and secure funding for the shooting of the actual feature script.

                                                                                  HOW YOUR MONEY WILL BE SPENT

        The overall cost to shoot our short film is $15,000, which will pay for all production costs. Here’s how it all breaks down:



                     If we receive more than our initial goal, that would be such a blessing because there are additional expenses, we could cover in post-production.

 
                                                                             STUFF YOU GET FOR CONTRIBUTING



            I'm inviting you to be a part of the Orpheus Star team! Help manifest my dream and you will have my undying, heartfelt thanks and gratitude. As a bonus, you'll also get some pretty cool perks as gifts of appreciation too. Please check out the following Incentives list and click on the green "Back this project now" button below this video and help me make my vision a reality!

              If you can't contribute, I understand. You can still help! Please help get the word out and make some noise about our campaign using your email, social media and voices. You can also use the social media links below to help spread the word. With your help, I'll be able to share this story with the world.

                                                                                                          THANK YOU!

                                                                                               ADDITIONAL VIDEOS











                                                                                              CHARACTER SKETCHES


    This is a a character sketch of the film's protagonist, Doug, so you have an idea of how I imagine he'll look. I based his appearance off of King's X bass player, Doug Pinnick.


Pastor Ezrela Mae Privett: She's Douglas' grandmother, a Baptist Preacher, strong-willed charismatic, passionate about preaching her faith and daring anyone to tell her women don't belong in the pulpit. She loves her grandson but fears showing how happy she is to see him at her bedside after she's suffered a mild stroke which has temporarily paralyzed one side of her body. That's because she carries with her a terrible secret and the burdensom memories of tragedy and loss, going back to her days as a Missionary in Haiti, particularly her tenuous friendship with a female Mambo, Lizette Prejean.


Beaula Davis: She is one of Pastor Privett's close friends at her church, Holiness Baptist Church in Holden, Missouri. Beaula speaks plainly and tells it like it is, straight, no chaser, whether you agree with her or not. Although she understands why her BFF, Olivia, called Pastor Privett's grandson, Douglas, she also knows Pastor had expressly told them never to do so. When she sees the tension between Pastor and Douglas, her attitude towards Olivia is, "Well, I told you so." At the same time, she can't understand why Pastor isn't more grateful she and Olivia got her grandson to come to see her, despite what she'd told them. And if you think the sketch resembles a certain legendary television actress known for playing opinionated, independent-minded women (including one headstrong, feisty maid) you'd be 100% right, as she is the ideal Beaula.



Olivia Brooks: She's a member of Pastor Privett's congregation and the church organist at Holiness Baptist. She is also BFF to Beaula Davis. If Beaula is salty, Olivia is sweet, though she can be a bit feisty herself when she needs to be, like when she pushes back on Beaula's straightforwardness. Olivia is the peace maker who truly wants everyone to get along. She contacts Pastor Privett's grandson, Douglas, going against Pastor Privett's wishes, because deep down she believes family is sacred and Pastor may not know how much she needs her grandson to be there for her.


Dr. Thelma Parker: She is Pastor Privett's primary care physician at Methodist Medical Center in Holden,Missouri. She's the kind of doctor who truly cares for her patients. She becomes aware of the tension between Pastor and her grandson, Douglas, but this doesn't stop her from vocally expressing how happy she is to see them reunited as family.

Later in the feature story, we discover that Dr. Parker had helped Jaylene Johnson, the younger sister of Douglas' childhood friend, Cal, back when Jaylene had been struggling with physical self-abuse. Dr. Parker's genuine care and concern was a major factor in Jaylene's healing.


Pastor Gabriel Timmons: He is a long-time friend of Pastor Privett's who preaches at his church in the nearby town of Alcona, Missouri. When Pastor Privett suffers a stroke, he comes to Holiness Baptist Church to lend a hand.

He is elated to see Pastor Privett's grandson, Douglas, whom he hasn't seen since Douglas ran away over ten years ago. He fondly remembers how well Douglas sang in the choir and is genuinely puzzled that Douglas hadn't realized how much his grandmother loved his singing too; Pastor Timmons is unaware that Pastor Privett had never given Douglas this compliment.

In a flashback in the feature script, we discover that when Pastor Privett's husband, Robert, died in an accident, Pastor Timmons was a supportive friend to her, offering her the suggestion of journaling as a way to deal with overwhelming emotions she couldn't express verbally.


Jaylene Johnson is the younger sister of Cal Johnson, Douglas' only childhood friend. While back in his hometown, Douglas looks for Cal and finds Jaylene instead. A headstrong, self-confident young woman and aspiring chef saving up to attend a top culinary school, Jaylene encourages Douglas to reconnect with his estranged grandmother. In time, Douglas discovers Jaylene also has unresolved baggage of her own concerning her abusive father and her brother, who had seemingly disappeared at the time Douglas ran away ten years earlier.


Lizette Prejean. A charming and seductive female Mambo, aka, "witch doctor" in Port-au-Prince, Haiti who befriends Pastor Privett when she's just Ezrela Anderson, a Baptist missionary. Lizette is captivated by Ezrela's earnest passion and devotion to practicing her faith, though we eventually discover Lizette  seems to want more than just friendship. 


Pastor Privett in a wheelchair while staying at Methodist Health Center

                                                                  ORPHEUS STAR FEATURE SCRIPT SYNOPSIS

DOUGLAS PRIVETT, a talented singer and bass player living in present day St. Louis, Missouri, is tired of living with the pain of loneliness. Unable to emotionally connect with the world, he plans to play his final gig with his band, Third Degree, before committing suicide with a handful of sleeping pills and a bottle of booze.

But when he receives a message that his grandmother, PASTOR EZRELA MAE PRIVETT has been hospitalized following a stroke, Douglas heeds the inner stirrings of familial responsibility and postpones his scheduled self-checkout to return to the small town of Holden and help her with physical therapy.

However, to say his grandmother is not thrilled with his arrival is an understatement; Pastor Privett treats Douglas with the same emotional indifference she’d displayed when raising him, expressing the same dismissive criticism that had pushed him to run away as a child.

            Shown no love by his grandmother, Douglas turns his attention to finding CAL, his only childhood friend for whom he secretly harbored a romantic crush. Instead, he finds Cal’s younger sister, JAYLENE. A big hearted New Age spiritualist who supports her aspiration to study at a top culinary school by hustling as a stripper, Jaylene helps Douglas search for Cal while encouraging him to make peace with Pastor Privett. But after several testy exchanges, Douglas has all but given up on his grandmother… until he finds her journal and begins to learn about her own troubled past.

            Douglas also learns that old rumors have resurfaced within his grandmother’s church of the Privett family curse that resulted in Pastor Privett burying a husband and son (Douglas’s grandfather and father) after fatal accidents.

            When Douglas experiences two close calls with death, he realizes the rumors are not only true, they also confirm his grandmother’s journal entry where she confesses her belief that she was cursed for rebuffing the sexual advances of LIZETTE PREJEAN  a female witch-doctor she’d befriended while stationed in Haiti as a young missionary. The untimely deaths of both Pastor Privett's husband and son only strengthen her belief that she is indeed cursed. Douglas realizes his grandmother has withheld her love from him in an attempt to save his life. He also sees how her unease with Lizette’s homosexuality had most likely fueled her self-righteous condemnation of him the day she’d caught him with Cal in his bedroom.

            But Pastor Privett has not seen Douglas in ten years and finds it difficult to hide her love for him. This puts his life in danger; the curse seems to live on though Lizette has long since died.

            To prevent himself from becoming a victim, Douglas seeks the help of a local Haitian man who teaches him a ritual ceremony that may break the curse. But Pastor Privett, determined to do what she can to save Douglas, she prays feverishly to God for him to be spared. She whips herself into a frenzy, singing, dancing... and completely unaware, she knocks over lit candles that ignite curtains and cause a deadly fire to break out. With Jaylene’s help, Douglas finds Pastor Privett and saves her before it’s too late.

            Though Douglas realizes he may never find his childhood friend, Cal, he rediscovers his love for Pastor Privett, a woman who tried her best to be a mother to him despite almost impossible circumstances. In doing so, Douglas reclaims a part of himself that knows he is worthy of being loved. He returns to St. Louis and his band with a newfound appreciation for the people in his life and a desire to do what makes him happy.





I believe the story of Orpheus Star will save lives, and I don't say that lightly. With the rising suicide rate of at-risk youth and other marginalized groups, more than ever, there is a need for the facilitation of healing in our society.

I have already begun reaching out to several non-profit organizations, such as The American Foundation for Suicide Prevention and The JED Foundation which both support emotional well-being and mental health for teens and young adults, offering guidance and strategies for suicide prevention via a host of educational programs, content-specific film screenings and other resources.

Although I do not yet have an official endorsement from these organizations, and thus, cannot yet claim to have an official partnership, I plan on cultivating these relationships with them and other such organizations doing this most needed work.

I envision my film, Orpheus Star, as being an outreach tool, offering families and communities grappling with the devastating effects of depression and suicide an opportunity to begin dialogue and create space for healing and wholeness.

With your support you are helping to make all of this possible!
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Fundraising team: Team Orpheus Star (3)

Donn Swaby
Organizer
Los Angeles, CA
B. Roaché
Team member
Shainoor Tejani
Team member

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