Locust Lane - A Syracuse University Thesis Film
Donation protected
Hi and welcome to my fundraiser!
My name is Manoli Despines. I am a senior VPA Film student at Syracuse University and am currently in production for my senior thesis film. This is my final film and the culmination of my film education over the past 4 years. Therefore, it is very personal to me, and I strive to make it the best and most thematically rich film that I have made in college.
By completing this film, I will obtain a Bachelor's Degree in Fine Arts, and have for the first time directed a short film by myself. Having a short film under my belt is a great tool, in which I can use to gain future employment and be admitted to film festivals.
THE FILM’S SYNOPSIS:
An elderly entomologist named Max recounts the events of a particular spring that occurred sometime in the late 1990s, in which he becomes best friends with a boy named Arthur. Max and Arthur’s favorite leisurely activity on weekends becomes people watching. As Max and Arthur gather both true and fictitious information about Arthur’s neighborhood, they begin to dream up fantastical stories and fictional biographies of the eccentric people who live there, a mysterious place called Locust Lane.
THE FILM’S CHARACTERS:
MAX - The protagonist. Sometime In the late 1990s, he is thirteen years old, and befriends Arthur. Sometime in the late 2070’s, we hear his voice decades into the future over the entire film. In the future, he is a successful entomologist, meaning he studies insects for a living. In the film, the audience only sees Max as a young child and teenager.
ARTHUR - The main character. Arthur befriends Max sometime In the late 1990s when he is thirteen years old. Arthur lives on Locust Lane, a mysterious place Max’s mom warned never to venture out to, as it is supposedly inhabited by people who are a little out of their minds.
MRS. SCHULZ - An elderly woman who lives in 401 Locust Lane, the first house on the street. Max and Arthur think she is a widow and keeps many mysterious secrets concerning her dead husband and long life, considering the two boys never see her venture outside the house beyond obtaining her daily “Meals on Wheels”.
LEO and LIAM CRANE - The two troublemakers that live down the street at 412 Locust Lane. The two boys are notorious for playing street hockey in the middle of the street, and knocking over the trashcans and mailboxes of the residents of Locust Lane, much to their dismay.
BOB and CINDY CRANE - The father and mother of Leo and Liam. Arthur and Max imagine that these two hold a very strong, controlling, and religious lifestyle over their home and their children.
MR. DUNHAM - The imaginary man Max and Arthur picture living in the abandoned house at the end of the street. Mr. Dunham is obsessed with time, and is a Freelance Time Saver. This means he spends his time working on multiple time saving projects in his spare time. These projects are an attempt to predict the culture of the future, and therefore save future generations time. When the watches that keep him in routine suddenly break, he descends into madness.
MEET THE CREW!
That’s me on the left with Sam Fabbioli, my Executive Producer and my right hand man. Sam’s the mastermind behind the film’s scheduling and logistics, and therefore the reason this project has gone so smoothly so far. He’s believed in me and this idea recently after its inception.
Here's Scott Sweitzer, a Director of photography extraordinaire and an extremely talented dude. He and I collaborated on a short film that we made in Prague during our semester abroad last Spring. The film is called “I Remember Ashes”, and it’s currently being submitted to festivals. Watch the trailer here: https://vimeo.com/283082391
This is Dave Fathers, a brilliant gaffer and Welsh master of light. Dave puts his fullest effort into his work, and it certainly shows. The lighting of every shot in the film looks so great thanks to him.
Sam DelFavero was a fantastic (and first-time!) Assistant Director who not only kept everyone on track during the shoot, but kept everybody in a great mood on set. He’s a great guy, and we learned on set that he’s a fantastic guitar player too.
Megan Reed (left) was our wonderful Art Director, Production Designer, and Makeup Artist. Megan has been a part of the local Syracuse independent film scene for many years, and it certainly shows. It was great having a professional on set to flagship what could arguably the most important aspect of the film’s interior scenes, which is the Production Design.
Notes Kaewbaidhoon (left) is an amazing Assistant Camerawomen and cinematographer in her spare time. She certainly knows how to craft an image, and has the technical knowledge to make it happen.
Brighton Harding (in red) was our sharp script supervisor who kept track of continuity and made script notes while the shoot took place. Thanks to her keen attention to detail, the post production process has been very smooth. On the left and far left are Raven Robinson and Taylor Butler, who along with Jeremy Jung were the heart of the Art Department.
Jeremy (left), Taylor (right), and Raven worked very hard to execute the film’s ambitious interior Production Design. The set design of every home’s interior looks so beautiful thanks to their hard work and acute attention to detail.
Here's Amit Lev-Ari, the sound recordist, who did a fantastic job of recording sound and foley with a Sennheiser Boom Mic at a crisp 48000 Hz. He’s the reason what you’re hearing in the trailer sounds so great!
And lastly, here's the Grip and Electric team, aka the muscles of the crew, who helped Dave execute my vision.
Here's senior Lukas Sunderlin discussing the lighting situation with Scott.
Next up is Senior Raohs Hemlock, who wields a C-Stand, gloves, and clothespins, ready to tackle the next lighting setup.
And here is Sophomore Tim Bucknam (right) helping out Dave execute a lighting setup. These three did a fantastic job being as effective and swift as they possibly could to achieve the best possible lighting for the film.
THE FILMMAKER’S BACKGROUND:
I'm a filmmaker, artist, and occasional musician from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. I’ve been making films since the 7th grade. However, I’ve always been surrounded by the arts (music especially) from a young age, where I learned how to play the piano, cello, oboe, and guitar in elementary and middle school. To this day, I still play all except the cello. I have always loved drawing and animation, and originally I wanted to become an animator before deciding to study film.
However, as I grew older, I realized how cinema encapsulated everything I loved in the arts, primarily the combination of sound and image, as well as the transcendence of cinema in its ability to evoke emotions in audiences, simply from sitting in a dark room watching a two dimensional moving image. Over time and through college, I have made many films, and have flexed my creative muscles in terms of genre and form. I’ve made a couple of comedies, a few dramas, and even an experimental short, proving my ability to go to great lengths in creative range while making truly impressive work.
I’ve taken on numerous roles in these films, proving my worth not only as an independent artist and filmmaker, but as a collaborator. I hopes to continue this tradition in the future, where I aim to to strengthen my own work, assist in the work of others, and in turn be recognized as a well rounded artist and talented individual. My strengths in particular lie in Editing, Sound Design, Pre-Production, Scriptwriting, and Cinematography. I hope to become primarily a professional film editor and sound designer, while directing and writing short form films, commercials, and music videos in my spare time.
When I’m not making and watching films, my other interests and passions include writing and listening to music, writing original film scripts and short stories, developing and studying comedy, playing video games, and reading about architecture, design, and European history. My favorite film is and will probably always be Blade Runner (The Final Cut).
A LITTLE BIT ABOUT THE FILM’S INCEPTION:
Driving up to my friend Lukas' house a few times this past summer, which is located in Hamilton, NY, I got to see many small suburban neighborhoods, towns, and rural landscapes such as barns and farms. These places seemed very interesting to me, for not only their storytelling potential but also their visually rich environments. I resonated with them for some reason, and thought it would be a really great place to film something there, possibly my thesis. Ideas began sprouting in my head, concerning a child that was obsessed with insects.
I did not expect for what I had seen to turn into something personal, nor did I expect or desire to make my senior thesis a very personal film. It wasn’t until a few weeks later when I realized that I had lived in sort of a similar suburban lifestyle to what I had seen on the drive to Hamilton, NY for the first 4-5 years of my life in Burgettstown, PA. Not only that, but the surroundings reminded me so much of my grandparents’ rural property in Punxsutawney, PA, where I practically grew up from visiting the area so many times during my youth. My Grandpa was also a biology professor, and that inspired the entomology aspect of the film, as well as me being interested in how the events of your childhood can affect what you decide to do career wise, even if you are unaware of them at the time in which they occur.
I then put together a mood board using film photos from the late 1990s that were taken at my childhood home in Burgettstown, in order to give me a visual interpretation of the kind of film I wanted to make visually, along with the look of the locations I was going for. I was also intrigued by the kinds of people that live in these areas of America. So, I contacted members of my family and put together a long list of stories and anomalies that occurred not only in Burgettstown PA during my childhood, but stories that also occurred in Sykesville and Punxsutawney, PA during the time of my grandpa’s and mother’s childhood. My father grew up in Dormont, PA too, which contained many interesting people (mostly Greek-Americans) that both he and I have met personally and have seen change over the years.
This film, in my mind, will be a visual ode to my childhood, and to the childhoods of those whom I am related to. Although there are some films that have already touched on this aspect of small suburban and rural America towns as breeding grounds for weird people and weird stories, I feel as though I have experienced, lived, and listened to many similar stories within my own life that justifies making my own film that shares a similar creative base. For me, it’s also about artistically giving closure to my childhood. I’ve always wanted to make a film about it, and this may be a good time to do exactly that. I never got to experience adolescence in the same environment that I grew up in from the age of 0 to 5, and it’s an interesting lingering question of figuring out who I could’ve been, what weird people I would’ve met, and what my life could’ve been like if I stayed there longer through my adolescent years.
THE FILM’S INSPIRATION:
The visual strategy of the film can best be described as “controlled chaos”. I am looking to photograph and document the interior and exterior surroundings of rural and lower middle class suburban America, an area that carries its own societal and visual connotations that are usually portrayed as anarchical and chaotic.
Staying away from films that film this environment in a chaotic way like Gummo by Harmony Korine and to a lesser extent Ratcatcher by Lynne Ramsay, I plan to instead film the environment of rural and lower middle class suburban America as organized and well put together, to juxtapose with the connotations usually provided with the environment previously explored in film.
For this visual strategy, I draw more inspiration from the films of Roy Andersson, Errol Morris, David Byrne, and Stanley Kubrick who apply a more colorful, stylistic and picturesque approach to small towns and the weird characters within them. For example, the production design and art seem to mean more to the filmmakers in these films than the camerawork itself.
The list of influential films that have inspired the film’s content and visual style are as follows: Gummo, Ratcatcher, Small Deaths, And So We Put The Goldfish in the Pool, The Florida Project, Cria Cuervos, Saturn is Not That Far Away, To Kill A Mockingbird, Dogtooth, Days of Heaven, Gates of Heaven, Vernon Florida, Songs From The Second Floor, You The Living, A Pigeon Sat On A Branch Reflecting Its Existence, True Stories, The Mirror, Post Tenenbras Lux (opening), Why I Drink, Barry Lyndon, and the general look and feel of films shot on 16mm, as well as home movies (shot both on digital and 8mm). Photography depicting American poverty is also a big visual inspiration, primarily the work of photographer Jim Goldberg.
COST BREAKDOWN:
So now that you’ve learned about all the film’s details and met all the hard working people that have worked on the project, you may still be asking yourself, “Why should I donate?” and “Where exactly is my money going towards?”
Well, about half of the film has been shot so far, but there is a second shoot coming up in April. In total, the film is going to cost around $5,000, including the extra costs that will be needed to submit to festivals once it is completed.
Here is a breakdown of exactly what your money is going towards and how much. Some of which has already been spent, and some of which will be used to fund the second shoot in April, as well as the costs needed for post-production and festival submissions.
Set Dressing, Props and Costumes - $2,000
The most expensive piece of this production by far, the art for this film creates the expansive world which it aims to design. Despite trying our best to buy the majority of things through second hand stores and borrowing from others, the amount of art we have has still caused this to be the highest costing expense.
Various Production Costs - $1,250
This includes things such as the U-haul, gas reimbursement for actors and crew, diffusion gels, several kinds of tape, etc.
Food - $750
To keep our large crew well energized for 7 total days of production requires a large amount of delicious food. All bought first in bulk and catered by our producer Sam to save costs.
Locations - $500
To pay for some of the locations that were necessary to build the world of this film, we had to compensate the property owners so we could film safely and with permission.
Festival Costs - $500
We plan on submitting to as many festivals as possible and they usually require costs to enter.
In terms of your long term investment through donating, your money is being used to help a new young generation of filmmakers succeed and flourish in their future filmmaking career paths. We thank you!
If you would like to use Venmo for a quick and easy payment, my username is @Manoli64.
REWARDS AND CONCLUSION:
Congratulations! You made it to the end.
For your time and money, we have a few rewards that can be redeemed after the film is completed, check out the list below.
Pledge $50:
- You’re in the Special Thanks
- You get a pack of Locust Lane branded stickers!
Pledge $100:
- You’re in the Special Thanks.
- And Receive a Digital Screening before the release!
- You get a pack of Locust Lane branded stickers!
- You get a digital copy of the poster!
Pledge $200:
- You’re in the Special Thanks.
- Receive a Digital Screening before the release.
- You also get a digital and print copy of the poster!
- You get a pack of Locust Lane branded stickers!
Pledge $500:
- You’re an Associate Producer!
- You’re in the Special Thanks.
- Receive a Digital Screening before the release.
- Receive a digital and print poster signed by the director.
- You get a pack of Locust Lane branded stickers!
- You get a branded Locust Lane clothing patch!
To conclude, I would just like to say thank you so much for donating, and if you could not donate, for spreading the word about this project. It means so much to me and the wonderful people who worked on the film.
Thanks again from myself and the Locust Lane Crew!
My name is Manoli Despines. I am a senior VPA Film student at Syracuse University and am currently in production for my senior thesis film. This is my final film and the culmination of my film education over the past 4 years. Therefore, it is very personal to me, and I strive to make it the best and most thematically rich film that I have made in college.
By completing this film, I will obtain a Bachelor's Degree in Fine Arts, and have for the first time directed a short film by myself. Having a short film under my belt is a great tool, in which I can use to gain future employment and be admitted to film festivals.
THE FILM’S SYNOPSIS:
An elderly entomologist named Max recounts the events of a particular spring that occurred sometime in the late 1990s, in which he becomes best friends with a boy named Arthur. Max and Arthur’s favorite leisurely activity on weekends becomes people watching. As Max and Arthur gather both true and fictitious information about Arthur’s neighborhood, they begin to dream up fantastical stories and fictional biographies of the eccentric people who live there, a mysterious place called Locust Lane.
THE FILM’S CHARACTERS:
MAX - The protagonist. Sometime In the late 1990s, he is thirteen years old, and befriends Arthur. Sometime in the late 2070’s, we hear his voice decades into the future over the entire film. In the future, he is a successful entomologist, meaning he studies insects for a living. In the film, the audience only sees Max as a young child and teenager.
ARTHUR - The main character. Arthur befriends Max sometime In the late 1990s when he is thirteen years old. Arthur lives on Locust Lane, a mysterious place Max’s mom warned never to venture out to, as it is supposedly inhabited by people who are a little out of their minds.
MRS. SCHULZ - An elderly woman who lives in 401 Locust Lane, the first house on the street. Max and Arthur think she is a widow and keeps many mysterious secrets concerning her dead husband and long life, considering the two boys never see her venture outside the house beyond obtaining her daily “Meals on Wheels”.
LEO and LIAM CRANE - The two troublemakers that live down the street at 412 Locust Lane. The two boys are notorious for playing street hockey in the middle of the street, and knocking over the trashcans and mailboxes of the residents of Locust Lane, much to their dismay.
BOB and CINDY CRANE - The father and mother of Leo and Liam. Arthur and Max imagine that these two hold a very strong, controlling, and religious lifestyle over their home and their children.
MR. DUNHAM - The imaginary man Max and Arthur picture living in the abandoned house at the end of the street. Mr. Dunham is obsessed with time, and is a Freelance Time Saver. This means he spends his time working on multiple time saving projects in his spare time. These projects are an attempt to predict the culture of the future, and therefore save future generations time. When the watches that keep him in routine suddenly break, he descends into madness.
MEET THE CREW!
That’s me on the left with Sam Fabbioli, my Executive Producer and my right hand man. Sam’s the mastermind behind the film’s scheduling and logistics, and therefore the reason this project has gone so smoothly so far. He’s believed in me and this idea recently after its inception.
Here's Scott Sweitzer, a Director of photography extraordinaire and an extremely talented dude. He and I collaborated on a short film that we made in Prague during our semester abroad last Spring. The film is called “I Remember Ashes”, and it’s currently being submitted to festivals. Watch the trailer here: https://vimeo.com/283082391
This is Dave Fathers, a brilliant gaffer and Welsh master of light. Dave puts his fullest effort into his work, and it certainly shows. The lighting of every shot in the film looks so great thanks to him.
Sam DelFavero was a fantastic (and first-time!) Assistant Director who not only kept everyone on track during the shoot, but kept everybody in a great mood on set. He’s a great guy, and we learned on set that he’s a fantastic guitar player too.
Megan Reed (left) was our wonderful Art Director, Production Designer, and Makeup Artist. Megan has been a part of the local Syracuse independent film scene for many years, and it certainly shows. It was great having a professional on set to flagship what could arguably the most important aspect of the film’s interior scenes, which is the Production Design.
Notes Kaewbaidhoon (left) is an amazing Assistant Camerawomen and cinematographer in her spare time. She certainly knows how to craft an image, and has the technical knowledge to make it happen.
Brighton Harding (in red) was our sharp script supervisor who kept track of continuity and made script notes while the shoot took place. Thanks to her keen attention to detail, the post production process has been very smooth. On the left and far left are Raven Robinson and Taylor Butler, who along with Jeremy Jung were the heart of the Art Department.
Jeremy (left), Taylor (right), and Raven worked very hard to execute the film’s ambitious interior Production Design. The set design of every home’s interior looks so beautiful thanks to their hard work and acute attention to detail.
Here's Amit Lev-Ari, the sound recordist, who did a fantastic job of recording sound and foley with a Sennheiser Boom Mic at a crisp 48000 Hz. He’s the reason what you’re hearing in the trailer sounds so great!
And lastly, here's the Grip and Electric team, aka the muscles of the crew, who helped Dave execute my vision.
Here's senior Lukas Sunderlin discussing the lighting situation with Scott.
Next up is Senior Raohs Hemlock, who wields a C-Stand, gloves, and clothespins, ready to tackle the next lighting setup.
And here is Sophomore Tim Bucknam (right) helping out Dave execute a lighting setup. These three did a fantastic job being as effective and swift as they possibly could to achieve the best possible lighting for the film.
THE FILMMAKER’S BACKGROUND:
I'm a filmmaker, artist, and occasional musician from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. I’ve been making films since the 7th grade. However, I’ve always been surrounded by the arts (music especially) from a young age, where I learned how to play the piano, cello, oboe, and guitar in elementary and middle school. To this day, I still play all except the cello. I have always loved drawing and animation, and originally I wanted to become an animator before deciding to study film.
However, as I grew older, I realized how cinema encapsulated everything I loved in the arts, primarily the combination of sound and image, as well as the transcendence of cinema in its ability to evoke emotions in audiences, simply from sitting in a dark room watching a two dimensional moving image. Over time and through college, I have made many films, and have flexed my creative muscles in terms of genre and form. I’ve made a couple of comedies, a few dramas, and even an experimental short, proving my ability to go to great lengths in creative range while making truly impressive work.
I’ve taken on numerous roles in these films, proving my worth not only as an independent artist and filmmaker, but as a collaborator. I hopes to continue this tradition in the future, where I aim to to strengthen my own work, assist in the work of others, and in turn be recognized as a well rounded artist and talented individual. My strengths in particular lie in Editing, Sound Design, Pre-Production, Scriptwriting, and Cinematography. I hope to become primarily a professional film editor and sound designer, while directing and writing short form films, commercials, and music videos in my spare time.
When I’m not making and watching films, my other interests and passions include writing and listening to music, writing original film scripts and short stories, developing and studying comedy, playing video games, and reading about architecture, design, and European history. My favorite film is and will probably always be Blade Runner (The Final Cut).
A LITTLE BIT ABOUT THE FILM’S INCEPTION:
Driving up to my friend Lukas' house a few times this past summer, which is located in Hamilton, NY, I got to see many small suburban neighborhoods, towns, and rural landscapes such as barns and farms. These places seemed very interesting to me, for not only their storytelling potential but also their visually rich environments. I resonated with them for some reason, and thought it would be a really great place to film something there, possibly my thesis. Ideas began sprouting in my head, concerning a child that was obsessed with insects.
I did not expect for what I had seen to turn into something personal, nor did I expect or desire to make my senior thesis a very personal film. It wasn’t until a few weeks later when I realized that I had lived in sort of a similar suburban lifestyle to what I had seen on the drive to Hamilton, NY for the first 4-5 years of my life in Burgettstown, PA. Not only that, but the surroundings reminded me so much of my grandparents’ rural property in Punxsutawney, PA, where I practically grew up from visiting the area so many times during my youth. My Grandpa was also a biology professor, and that inspired the entomology aspect of the film, as well as me being interested in how the events of your childhood can affect what you decide to do career wise, even if you are unaware of them at the time in which they occur.
I then put together a mood board using film photos from the late 1990s that were taken at my childhood home in Burgettstown, in order to give me a visual interpretation of the kind of film I wanted to make visually, along with the look of the locations I was going for. I was also intrigued by the kinds of people that live in these areas of America. So, I contacted members of my family and put together a long list of stories and anomalies that occurred not only in Burgettstown PA during my childhood, but stories that also occurred in Sykesville and Punxsutawney, PA during the time of my grandpa’s and mother’s childhood. My father grew up in Dormont, PA too, which contained many interesting people (mostly Greek-Americans) that both he and I have met personally and have seen change over the years.
This film, in my mind, will be a visual ode to my childhood, and to the childhoods of those whom I am related to. Although there are some films that have already touched on this aspect of small suburban and rural America towns as breeding grounds for weird people and weird stories, I feel as though I have experienced, lived, and listened to many similar stories within my own life that justifies making my own film that shares a similar creative base. For me, it’s also about artistically giving closure to my childhood. I’ve always wanted to make a film about it, and this may be a good time to do exactly that. I never got to experience adolescence in the same environment that I grew up in from the age of 0 to 5, and it’s an interesting lingering question of figuring out who I could’ve been, what weird people I would’ve met, and what my life could’ve been like if I stayed there longer through my adolescent years.
THE FILM’S INSPIRATION:
The visual strategy of the film can best be described as “controlled chaos”. I am looking to photograph and document the interior and exterior surroundings of rural and lower middle class suburban America, an area that carries its own societal and visual connotations that are usually portrayed as anarchical and chaotic.
Staying away from films that film this environment in a chaotic way like Gummo by Harmony Korine and to a lesser extent Ratcatcher by Lynne Ramsay, I plan to instead film the environment of rural and lower middle class suburban America as organized and well put together, to juxtapose with the connotations usually provided with the environment previously explored in film.
For this visual strategy, I draw more inspiration from the films of Roy Andersson, Errol Morris, David Byrne, and Stanley Kubrick who apply a more colorful, stylistic and picturesque approach to small towns and the weird characters within them. For example, the production design and art seem to mean more to the filmmakers in these films than the camerawork itself.
The list of influential films that have inspired the film’s content and visual style are as follows: Gummo, Ratcatcher, Small Deaths, And So We Put The Goldfish in the Pool, The Florida Project, Cria Cuervos, Saturn is Not That Far Away, To Kill A Mockingbird, Dogtooth, Days of Heaven, Gates of Heaven, Vernon Florida, Songs From The Second Floor, You The Living, A Pigeon Sat On A Branch Reflecting Its Existence, True Stories, The Mirror, Post Tenenbras Lux (opening), Why I Drink, Barry Lyndon, and the general look and feel of films shot on 16mm, as well as home movies (shot both on digital and 8mm). Photography depicting American poverty is also a big visual inspiration, primarily the work of photographer Jim Goldberg.
COST BREAKDOWN:
So now that you’ve learned about all the film’s details and met all the hard working people that have worked on the project, you may still be asking yourself, “Why should I donate?” and “Where exactly is my money going towards?”
Well, about half of the film has been shot so far, but there is a second shoot coming up in April. In total, the film is going to cost around $5,000, including the extra costs that will be needed to submit to festivals once it is completed.
Here is a breakdown of exactly what your money is going towards and how much. Some of which has already been spent, and some of which will be used to fund the second shoot in April, as well as the costs needed for post-production and festival submissions.
Set Dressing, Props and Costumes - $2,000
The most expensive piece of this production by far, the art for this film creates the expansive world which it aims to design. Despite trying our best to buy the majority of things through second hand stores and borrowing from others, the amount of art we have has still caused this to be the highest costing expense.
Various Production Costs - $1,250
This includes things such as the U-haul, gas reimbursement for actors and crew, diffusion gels, several kinds of tape, etc.
Food - $750
To keep our large crew well energized for 7 total days of production requires a large amount of delicious food. All bought first in bulk and catered by our producer Sam to save costs.
Locations - $500
To pay for some of the locations that were necessary to build the world of this film, we had to compensate the property owners so we could film safely and with permission.
Festival Costs - $500
We plan on submitting to as many festivals as possible and they usually require costs to enter.
In terms of your long term investment through donating, your money is being used to help a new young generation of filmmakers succeed and flourish in their future filmmaking career paths. We thank you!
If you would like to use Venmo for a quick and easy payment, my username is @Manoli64.
REWARDS AND CONCLUSION:
Congratulations! You made it to the end.
For your time and money, we have a few rewards that can be redeemed after the film is completed, check out the list below.
Pledge $50:
- You’re in the Special Thanks
- You get a pack of Locust Lane branded stickers!
Pledge $100:
- You’re in the Special Thanks.
- And Receive a Digital Screening before the release!
- You get a pack of Locust Lane branded stickers!
- You get a digital copy of the poster!
Pledge $200:
- You’re in the Special Thanks.
- Receive a Digital Screening before the release.
- You also get a digital and print copy of the poster!
- You get a pack of Locust Lane branded stickers!
Pledge $500:
- You’re an Associate Producer!
- You’re in the Special Thanks.
- Receive a Digital Screening before the release.
- Receive a digital and print poster signed by the director.
- You get a pack of Locust Lane branded stickers!
- You get a branded Locust Lane clothing patch!
To conclude, I would just like to say thank you so much for donating, and if you could not donate, for spreading the word about this project. It means so much to me and the wonderful people who worked on the film.
Thanks again from myself and the Locust Lane Crew!
Organizer
Manoli Despines
Organizer
Syracuse, NY
