Exeter Phoenix Digital Crowd Funder Film Commission goes live

Ever wanted to be a Viking? Or find your own treasure?

Tanya and Paul Morel of Oddbodies, the creative team behind the darkly comic and award-winning Mrs Lustleigh’s Fancies and The Nature of Angrove have been selected by Exeter Phoenix Digital to create a short film though the Crowd Funder Short Film commission.

Exeter Phoenix will fund £500 of their budget but Oddbodies must match at least 100% of this amount via the online fundraising platform Crowdfunder.co.uk.

The film, A Penny For Them, features Ancient Britons, marauding Vikings, the wild and beautiful Dartmoor wilderness, and a large number of ‘Seolfor Pennings’, (anglo-saxon for ‘silver penny’). This psychological drama with a twist in the tale will bear all the hallmarks of Oddbodies’ previous work and tell a compelling story of an uptight English businessman who is troubled by reoccurring nightmares. Distraught and exhausted, he goes to see a Skandinavian psychotherapist specialising in sleep problems. She hypnotizes him in an attempt to get to the root of these anxieties, and what she discovers takes them both on a journey of unexpected consequence.

Shot in intriguing settings and featuring beautifully drawn characters the film was selected by Exeter Phoenix for the Crowd Funder Commission, a new initiative to encourage filmmakers to develop their skills beyond the camera and to think about their audience as the film is being made. Jonas Hawkins, Exeter Phoenix Digital Media Manager said, ‘We want filmmakers to think beyond the traditional routes of film funding and find ways for their practice to become sustainable. It also helps them to think about where the film will go once it is made and how the content might appeal to new audiences’.

Oddbodies have four weeks to reach their target of £1500, which will provide three quarters of the entire film budget and they are seeking the support of kind, generous individuals who are willing to donate towards their campaign. The unique way in with crowd funding works means that every pledge will receive a reward based on the amount donated. Therefore, Oddbodeis will send everyone who offer £5.00 a copy of a beautiful, handmade treasure map which will lead to hidden Lyford Pennies. £75.00 will offer backers the chance to play a marauding Viking in the film and for £100 Oddbodies will send a beautiful set of handcrafted wooden Runes inscribed with the Elder Futhard symbols used by the Vikings.

The film will be premiered at Two Short Nights Film Festival at Exeter Phoenix in December along side all the commissioned film projects and will be entered to international film festivals.

Find out more about the film and show your support by visiting their campaign site: http://www.crowdfunder.co.uk/A-Penny-For-Them/