Boy Band in a Haunted Hotel
Minneapolis, Minnesota | Film Short
Horror, Comedy
A Boy Band on the verge of breaking up must spend the night in a haunted hotel or risk losing their record deal, their tour or even their lives. It's a movie written by, directed by, and featuring a full cast of artists with intellectual and developmental disabilities. You're going to love it.
Boy Band in a Haunted Hotel
Minneapolis, Minnesota | Film Short
Horror, Comedy
1 Campaigns | Minnesota, United States
60 supporters | followers
Enter the amount you would like to pledge
$4,075
Goal: $6,250 for production
A Boy Band on the verge of breaking up must spend the night in a haunted hotel or risk losing their record deal, their tour or even their lives. It's a movie written by, directed by, and featuring a full cast of artists with intellectual and developmental disabilities. You're going to love it.
About The Project
- The Story
- Wishlist
- Updates
- The Team
- Community
Mission Statement
The Story
After a particularly bad show, the members of a famous Boy Band are summoned by their manager to a spooky hotel to patch things up. They’ve got one night to settle their differences and learn to work together, or else they’re going to lose their record deal, their tour, and the band! If that wasn’t enough, the hotel is suuuuper haunted, and the bandmates are tormented through the night by a creepy noise, a terrifying monster, and a myriad of unexplainable occurrences. Will they make it to morning and their next concert? Or has their 15 minutes of fame come to an eerie end?
Our film is like if The Backstreet Boys guest starred in an episode of Scooby Doo. It has all the shiny allure of your favorite 90s boy band paired with the supernatural intrigue of a macabre horror.
Our film is inspired by cult, midnight movies, like The Rocky Horror Picture Show, Evil Dead, and artists like John Waters and Alvira. We want to carry on the campy tradition of these low budget genre films, and much like them, our limitations will inspire creative solutions that lend itself to a unique style and voice. We aren’t trying to be a multi-million dollar blockbuster film. We’re making the kind of film you sneak out of your parent’s house to see with friends on the one night it’s playing in town. A film where people shout at the screen urging the characters to run away or watch out for the monster lurking just around the corner.
You may sometimes see the seams and the brushstrokes, but that is precisely what makes our film special. It’s DIY. It’s punk rock. It’s camp. It’s spooky. And most importantly, it’s fun.
In January of 2024, we began meeting every Friday for "Movie Making Class" at Partnership Resources Inc- a day services center for adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities. Together, we collaboratively wrote a script over the course of six months!
During pre-production, we wrote and recorded an original song for the film (it's a banger!). We also cast our film, bringing in other actors from PRI. Chris S. was inspired to begin designing sets and the backdrop for the concert scene and we all helped transform his original sketch on cardboard into a painted backdrop and build a ton of tombstones. We even screen printed movie posters while some of the artists were taking classes at Highpoint Center for Printmaking (check out our incentives if you want to get one for yourself!)
Our friends at Heart of the Beast Theatre let us use their space for free every Friday in July! We had a lot of fun filming concert scene footage and doing camera tests.
However, we soon realized that we were going to need more help to make this movie everything we were imagining. We need a wheelchair accessible hotel location, a crew of professionals, and a post-production team to make this thing happen before Halloween, when Heart of the Beast has once again donated their space for a screening with our friends and family.
With your help, we will film the week of Sept. 23 - 27. Your support means you will receive an invitation to attend our friends and family premiere in Minneapolis around Halloween 2024, and supporting us with $50 or more gets you an early-access link to the finished film! Every dollar helps us make independent, inclusive cinema- and if we are able to surpass our goal we will be able to rent additional equipment like video monitors that will make the filming process easier and more accessible for our crew and artists. Even if you are unable to pledge financial support, please share this project with your networks by copying and pasting the link to this page.
Since fine arts programs for people with disabilities began only 50-some years ago, it’s more commonly understood by the world at large that artists with disabilities make Art- and I mean Art with a capital “A”. Much less common is when artists with disabilities make culture: low-brow, pop culture that appeals to the masses. That’s exactly what we’re doing with this movie. It is not the artists' intent to make high Art or "outsider art." We're making culture and it has the potential to reach audiences who will love it for what it is. I’m proud of these artists for writing the kind of film they want to see in the world- that’s always how the best art gets made, and I’m committed to seeing their vision realized.
Thank you for being a part of our journey. We are nothing without our creative communities, and I am so happy to welcome you into ours.
In community,
Karly (Executive Producer/PRI Art Instructor)
Wishlist
Use the WishList to Pledge cash and Loan items - or - Make a pledge by selecting an Incentive directly.
Talent, Crew Fees
Costs $2,550
We gotta pay our crew! They have donated half of their labor in-kind because they are the best.
Set and Prop supplies
Costs $500
We gotta build a monster trap! Zach has drawn up some plans, and now we gotta bring it to life!
Hair, makeup, wardrobe
Costs $200
We want to have the full experience of movie making and that means being ready for our close up.
Film gear and equipment
Costs $400
Cassie and Anthony are donating equipment in-kind but we gotta shoot multi-cam to get this thing made within our time restrictions.
Post-production expenses
Costs $2,000
We have an amazing editor lined up! We need to record sound effects, and add horror scoring as well.
Screening and festival fees
Costs $400
This is what we've been working for! The chance to see our movie on the big screen, surrounded by family and friends!
Wheelchair ramp
Costs $200
We gotta make our filming location accessible for our whole team! This means renting a ramp for five days.
Share this update!
About This Team
THE ARTISTS:
Allison Baldridge - Writer/Creator, Original concept, Elizabeth (the hotel clerk)
Dupree Edwards - Writer/Creator, Lenny (the goofy one)
Brad Isenhower - Writer/Creator, Cookie (the manager)
Geordy Levin - Writer/Creator, various roles
Chris Nomland - Writer/Creator, Travis (the smart one)
Debbie Parish - Writer/Creator, Monster
Chris Savarese - Writer/Creator, Matthew (the sensitive one)
Alex Schnarr - Ryan (the hot one)
Zach Schwartz - Writer/Creator, Director
Kamia White - Writer/Creator, Choreographer
CASSIE AHIERS (Co-Director, Producer)
Cassie Ahiers is a director, writer, and comedian from Minnesota. She has a degree in Theater Directing from Columbia College Chicago and spent way too much time on improv classes in her early twenties. Some career highlights include directing a Second City National Touring Company, working as an Acting Coach for Nickelodeon, and teaching improv and sketch comedy to hundreds of students from ages 4 to 80.
At present, Cassie lives in LA with her incredible husband and dog, and is:
- Developing her award winning musical, The Mountain Digby.
- In post production for her newest short film, Aloneness.
- Climbing a Volcano, for her upcoming docu-podcast, The Blast Zone.
As co-director of BBHH, Cassie will create shot lists and storyboards, and work with the DP to develop a visual filming style that celebrates the writer’s visions. She will be responsible for logistics and coordinating with departments so that during filming her co-director, Zach, can be free to work with the cast and give feedback on camera shots.
ANTHONY LOMBARD (Director of Photography)
Anthony Lombard is an Actor, Producer, Filmmaker, and Writer living in Los Angeles, CA. As the son of a choreographer, he *probably* spent too much time in the theater as a kid, but at least now he can confidently fake his way through a triple time step. He has a degree in Entertainment Business from Full Sail University, and spent the last two decades working in theaters, arts organizations, and television. Anthony takes pride in creating spaces where artists feel valued and listened to. In 2008, Anthony worked with Asolo Rep Theater’s Kaleidoscope Program; Acting in musicals written and directed by adults with developmental disabilities. In 2018, he devised and performed in the Chicago Children’s Theater production of X Marks The Spot, an “Extrasensory Sensory” play designed for blind and low vision audiences. Most recently, he served as an acting coach for Nickelodeon.
KARLY BERGMANN (Executive Producer)
Karly is an experienced teaching artist who has worked with artists of all ages and abilities. She has been the Art Instructor at Partnership Resources Inc - a day services program for adults with developmental and intellectual disabilities - since 2023. In her own practice, Karly is a puppet builder and performer whose work has been seen on stages in Chicago, Los Angeles, Minneapolis and Italy. She is a recipient of the Edes Prize for Emerging Artists, and an alumna of the The National Puppetry Conference at The Eugene O’Neill Theater Center, and her writing has been published in Puppetry International (coming Fall of 2024).
Current Team
Incentives
- The Story
- Wishlist
- Updates
- The Team
- Community
Mission Statement
The Story
After a particularly bad show, the members of a famous Boy Band are summoned by their manager to a spooky hotel to patch things up. They’ve got one night to settle their differences and learn to work together, or else they’re going to lose their record deal, their tour, and the band! If that wasn’t enough, the hotel is suuuuper haunted, and the bandmates are tormented through the night by a creepy noise, a terrifying monster, and a myriad of unexplainable occurrences. Will they make it to morning and their next concert? Or has their 15 minutes of fame come to an eerie end?
Our film is like if The Backstreet Boys guest starred in an episode of Scooby Doo. It has all the shiny allure of your favorite 90s boy band paired with the supernatural intrigue of a macabre horror.
Our film is inspired by cult, midnight movies, like The Rocky Horror Picture Show, Evil Dead, and artists like John Waters and Alvira. We want to carry on the campy tradition of these low budget genre films, and much like them, our limitations will inspire creative solutions that lend itself to a unique style and voice. We aren’t trying to be a multi-million dollar blockbuster film. We’re making the kind of film you sneak out of your parent’s house to see with friends on the one night it’s playing in town. A film where people shout at the screen urging the characters to run away or watch out for the monster lurking just around the corner.
You may sometimes see the seams and the brushstrokes, but that is precisely what makes our film special. It’s DIY. It’s punk rock. It’s camp. It’s spooky. And most importantly, it’s fun.
In January of 2024, we began meeting every Friday for "Movie Making Class" at Partnership Resources Inc- a day services center for adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities. Together, we collaboratively wrote a script over the course of six months!
During pre-production, we wrote and recorded an original song for the film (it's a banger!). We also cast our film, bringing in other actors from PRI. Chris S. was inspired to begin designing sets and the backdrop for the concert scene and we all helped transform his original sketch on cardboard into a painted backdrop and build a ton of tombstones. We even screen printed movie posters while some of the artists were taking classes at Highpoint Center for Printmaking (check out our incentives if you want to get one for yourself!)
Our friends at Heart of the Beast Theatre let us use their space for free every Friday in July! We had a lot of fun filming concert scene footage and doing camera tests.
However, we soon realized that we were going to need more help to make this movie everything we were imagining. We need a wheelchair accessible hotel location, a crew of professionals, and a post-production team to make this thing happen before Halloween, when Heart of the Beast has once again donated their space for a screening with our friends and family.
With your help, we will film the week of Sept. 23 - 27. Your support means you will receive an invitation to attend our friends and family premiere in Minneapolis around Halloween 2024, and supporting us with $50 or more gets you an early-access link to the finished film! Every dollar helps us make independent, inclusive cinema- and if we are able to surpass our goal we will be able to rent additional equipment like video monitors that will make the filming process easier and more accessible for our crew and artists. Even if you are unable to pledge financial support, please share this project with your networks by copying and pasting the link to this page.
Since fine arts programs for people with disabilities began only 50-some years ago, it’s more commonly understood by the world at large that artists with disabilities make Art- and I mean Art with a capital “A”. Much less common is when artists with disabilities make culture: low-brow, pop culture that appeals to the masses. That’s exactly what we’re doing with this movie. It is not the artists' intent to make high Art or "outsider art." We're making culture and it has the potential to reach audiences who will love it for what it is. I’m proud of these artists for writing the kind of film they want to see in the world- that’s always how the best art gets made, and I’m committed to seeing their vision realized.
Thank you for being a part of our journey. We are nothing without our creative communities, and I am so happy to welcome you into ours.
In community,
Karly (Executive Producer/PRI Art Instructor)
Wishlist
Use the WishList to Pledge cash and Loan items - or - Make a pledge by selecting an Incentive directly.
Talent, Crew Fees
Costs $2,550
We gotta pay our crew! They have donated half of their labor in-kind because they are the best.
Set and Prop supplies
Costs $500
We gotta build a monster trap! Zach has drawn up some plans, and now we gotta bring it to life!
Hair, makeup, wardrobe
Costs $200
We want to have the full experience of movie making and that means being ready for our close up.
Film gear and equipment
Costs $400
Cassie and Anthony are donating equipment in-kind but we gotta shoot multi-cam to get this thing made within our time restrictions.
Post-production expenses
Costs $2,000
We have an amazing editor lined up! We need to record sound effects, and add horror scoring as well.
Screening and festival fees
Costs $400
This is what we've been working for! The chance to see our movie on the big screen, surrounded by family and friends!
Wheelchair ramp
Costs $200
We gotta make our filming location accessible for our whole team! This means renting a ramp for five days.
Share this update!
About This Team
THE ARTISTS:
Allison Baldridge - Writer/Creator, Original concept, Elizabeth (the hotel clerk)
Dupree Edwards - Writer/Creator, Lenny (the goofy one)
Brad Isenhower - Writer/Creator, Cookie (the manager)
Geordy Levin - Writer/Creator, various roles
Chris Nomland - Writer/Creator, Travis (the smart one)
Debbie Parish - Writer/Creator, Monster
Chris Savarese - Writer/Creator, Matthew (the sensitive one)
Alex Schnarr - Ryan (the hot one)
Zach Schwartz - Writer/Creator, Director
Kamia White - Writer/Creator, Choreographer
CASSIE AHIERS (Co-Director, Producer)
Cassie Ahiers is a director, writer, and comedian from Minnesota. She has a degree in Theater Directing from Columbia College Chicago and spent way too much time on improv classes in her early twenties. Some career highlights include directing a Second City National Touring Company, working as an Acting Coach for Nickelodeon, and teaching improv and sketch comedy to hundreds of students from ages 4 to 80.
At present, Cassie lives in LA with her incredible husband and dog, and is:
- Developing her award winning musical, The Mountain Digby.
- In post production for her newest short film, Aloneness.
- Climbing a Volcano, for her upcoming docu-podcast, The Blast Zone.
As co-director of BBHH, Cassie will create shot lists and storyboards, and work with the DP to develop a visual filming style that celebrates the writer’s visions. She will be responsible for logistics and coordinating with departments so that during filming her co-director, Zach, can be free to work with the cast and give feedback on camera shots.
ANTHONY LOMBARD (Director of Photography)
Anthony Lombard is an Actor, Producer, Filmmaker, and Writer living in Los Angeles, CA. As the son of a choreographer, he *probably* spent too much time in the theater as a kid, but at least now he can confidently fake his way through a triple time step. He has a degree in Entertainment Business from Full Sail University, and spent the last two decades working in theaters, arts organizations, and television. Anthony takes pride in creating spaces where artists feel valued and listened to. In 2008, Anthony worked with Asolo Rep Theater’s Kaleidoscope Program; Acting in musicals written and directed by adults with developmental disabilities. In 2018, he devised and performed in the Chicago Children’s Theater production of X Marks The Spot, an “Extrasensory Sensory” play designed for blind and low vision audiences. Most recently, he served as an acting coach for Nickelodeon.
KARLY BERGMANN (Executive Producer)
Karly is an experienced teaching artist who has worked with artists of all ages and abilities. She has been the Art Instructor at Partnership Resources Inc - a day services program for adults with developmental and intellectual disabilities - since 2023. In her own practice, Karly is a puppet builder and performer whose work has been seen on stages in Chicago, Los Angeles, Minneapolis and Italy. She is a recipient of the Edes Prize for Emerging Artists, and an alumna of the The National Puppetry Conference at The Eugene O’Neill Theater Center, and her writing has been published in Puppetry International (coming Fall of 2024).