Clementine

Portland, Oregon | Film Feature

Drama, LGBTQ

Karina Ripper

1 Campaigns | Oregon, United States

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This campaign raised $44,586 for production. Follow the filmmaker to receive future updates on this project.

374 supporters | followers

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CLEMENTINE is a feature film that simply and cinematically explores the cyclical nature of relationships and a rarely seen Lolita-like dynamic between two women. Equal parts psychological drama and sexual coming-of-age story, Clementine is a tense rumination on who to love and how to let go.

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About The Project

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Mission Statement

Clementine is a character-based film about three strong, willful, complicated female characters. It explores the multi-faceted nature of female relationships beyond a salacious depiction of lesbian affairs. It has the potential to be made almost entirely by women and about women.

The Story

Good news, your contribution is tax deductible! Clementine is a fiscally sponsored project of Film Independent a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization. Contributions on behalf of Clementine are payable to Film Independent and are tax deductible less the value of any goods or services received, as allowed by law. The value of goods and services being offered in noted under each donation level.

story

Unable to let go of her failing relationship with an older and more successful woman, KAREN, 29, stows away to her estranged lover’s lake house in a remote and beautiful forest in the Pacific Northwest. Here she meets LANA, a young girl in short shorts hell-bent on moving to California and cultivating an identity that lives up to her expectations of the world outside of her shitty little town. Lana’s yarns captivate Karen as she tries to figure out who she is and who she’ll become outside of an all-consuming, destructive relationship.

 

The narrative follows the development of Lana and Karen’s complex attachment. As Karen grapples with her past and expectations for the future, her relationship with Lana oscillates between that of friends, mother/daughter, sisters, lovers, beholder and beheld.

 

“Those who allow themselves to be hurt in the name of love must understand better than anyone the desire to hurt.” -Yiyun Li

director’s statement

My work centers on naturalistic visuals and the kind of relationships that emerge when everything else is screwed up. I’m commited to creating strong, willful, and complicated female characters and striving to craft deceptively simple stories that have not yet been seen.

 

I want to tell a subjective and emotionally complex story about a woman (KAREN) who is devastated, but not yet able to let go of an all-consuming and destructive relationship with an older, much more successful woman (D.). I want to do this completely in the present and almost entirely through a new relationship with a mysterious, young girl (LANA). Although the source of Karen’s hurt is primarily in the past and offscreen, I’m interested in constructing a narrative weighed down by this almost haunting past that the audience (like a new lover) can only catch glimpses of through the choices and actions of the present. I want to use the heaviness of this past to explore the cyclical nature of relationships alongside the multi-faceted nature of specifically female relationships. I’m interested in showing how female sexuality and foreplay can be expressed by intimate storytelling, listening, and being seen...before ever being touched. In a departure from other Lolita-like dynamics between male and female characters, I want to emphasize ambition, the need for validation, and sense of talent and worth with the same level of seduction associated with purely sexual interest.

 

Clementine is an emotionally charged story that I believe will be at its most truthful and powerful in its silences and sustained shots. For Karen, this story begins and ends in a moment when she doesn’t know what to do with her past or how to move into the future. I want her growth and change through the course of the film to mirror a forest -- it’s fully alive and buzzing, but appears almost completely still. Karen is going to be different, she’s going to be changed, but she’ll only be able to tell much, much later.

 

-Lara Jean Gallagher, writer/director

characters

project status

Clementine is writer/director Lara Jean Gallagher’s first feature film. She was named one of IFP’s 2015 Emerging Storytellers and Clementine was the only US project to be selected for the 2016/2017 edition of the Venice Biennale College Cinema Program.

 

Principle photography will take place in Florence and Portland, Oregon and is scheduled for mid September, 2017.

where your money goes

Our goal is to raise $40,000 through a dedicated audience on Seed&Spark. This is the minimum amount we need to get this movie in the can. Yes, this is a microbudget movie, but one that was conceived to be told simply, efficiently, and powerfully. Our producers have years of experience working with budgets of various shapes and sizes. Therefore, we know some awesome tricks on how to get the most out of our money while never sacrificing production value. Simply put, we're dedicated to making sure what goes on screen is always there to serve the story and the performances, first and foremost. 

 

We're very excited to be partnering with the Oregon State Film Office to take advantage of a tax incentive program specifically for Oregon-based filmmakers. This rebate will enable us to carry this film directly into post-production this fall!

 

stretch goals

In the event that we reach our $40k goal early on during our campaign (fingers crossed! lets DO this!!) we have stretch goals that will allow us to pay for more prep time, more shooting days, and beef up our talented cast and crew's payments. Here's a look at those numbers: 

we're supported by:

Venice Biennale College Cinema, Film Independent, IFP, Film Fatales and the Sundance Institute.

+you! :)

Wishlist

Use the WishList to Pledge cash and Loan items - or - Make a pledge by selecting an Incentive directly.

Cash Pledge

Costs $0

Cast

Costs $10,000

Our three leading experienced/talented female actors and our supporting actor.

Catering

Costs $5,000

A well fed crew is a happy crew!

Set Dressing

Costs $5,000

Dressing the inside of our main location, a lake house to look and feel like an artist's home and work space.

Location Fees

Costs $5,000

Filming in Florence, Oregon as well as in Portland, Oregon, these fees will cover our locations for the shoot.

Equipment Rental

Costs $4,000

All of our lighting, grip and electric gear.

Hair, Makeup & Wardrobe

Costs $2,000

We'll need wardrobe and HMU for our actors and to keep continuity for the water scenes.

Sound Equipment

Costs $1,000

Location sound mixer, boom, lavs, mics and batteries...lots and lots of batteries!

Crew

Costs $8,000

Our All-Star, badass crew of production ninjas! Camera dept, AD dept, Art department, PAs and more...together we are team CLEMENTINE!

About This Team

Your donation is tax deductible! Clementine is a fiscally sponsored project of Film Independent, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization. Contributions on behalf of Clementine are payable to Film Independent and are tax deductible less the value of any goods or services received, as allowed by law. The value of goods and services being offered is noted under each donation level. If you would like to deduct the entire donation, you have the option to simply decline the reward at check out.

 

LARA JEAN GALLAGHER / WRITER & DIRECTOR

Lara Jean Gallagher is a writer and director originally from rural Pennsylvania where she was raised on a steady stream of television, polka, processed food, and wooded warfare with her three sisters. Her work focuses on small towns, dysfunctional families, and the kind of humor and relationships that are only possible when everything else is screwed up. Her shorts and music videos have screened at SXSW, Palm Springs Shortfest, Mill Valley, Portland International, DC Shorts and online via Pitchfork, Spin, Rolling Stone and NPR, among others. Lara earned her Directing MFA (with honors!) from Columbia University and was named one of IFP’s 2015 Emerging Storytellers. She is currently living in Portland, Oregon and developing Clementine, with the support of the Venice Biennale College.

 

KARINA RIPPER / PRODUCER

Karina Ripper is a first-generation Mexican-American and former Texan, where she studied film production at the University of North Texas while hustling nights in a newsroom as a floor director and camera operator. In New York City, she worked on television series productions for National Geographic WILD and the Discovery Channel. Her most recent short film, The Child and The Dead (Producer, Co-Director), screened at the 2016 Mill Valley, Maryland, St. Louis and Indie Memphis Film Festivals and received awards for best short at the Bend Film Festival and Oregon Independent Film Festivals. She works as a producer and post supervisor on commercial campaigns for clients such as Nike and Adidas and was an Associate Producer on Beware the Slenderman, a feature length documentary for HBO Films, premiering in early 2017.

 

AIMEE LYNN BARNEBURG / PRODUCER

An independent producer now based in Portland, OR, Aimee Lynn Barneburg got her start working in Los Angeles on large-scale film productions such as Raising Helen and the Princess Diaries franchise under writer/director Garry Marshall. Since then, Aimee Lynn has UPM’d independent feature films and produced numerous projects ranging from short films and indie music videos to multimillion dollar ad campaigns for leading global brands such as Nike, Adidas, Amazon and Google. She is a story-driven producer able to work within a variety of budgets and locations, having shot all over the U.S. as well as in Europe and Asia. Most recently, Aimee Lynn was the Associate Producer on Andrew Haigh’s latest feature, Lean On Pete, which filmed in Oregon and will premier worldwide in 2017. 

 

DAVIS PRIESTLEY / PRODUCER

Davis Priestley has a long background in storytelling. Starting in Los Angeles, he has worked as an Assistant Director, Unit Production Manager, Line Producer, and Producer for many film and TV projects. Select credits include the independent feature, The Auteur, which premiered at Tribeca, the interactive web film, The Build, Gus Van Sant’s Paranoid Park, Craig Lucas’ The Dying Gaul, HBO’s Entourage, Tommy Harden's short film, Passage, premiering Cannes 2017, and the Emmy-nominated Bravo series Project Runway. As a member of the development team at Mythgarden, Davis also helped produce the Sundance-premiering film Save Me. His background also includes extensive corporate and commercial production for clients such as Nike, Google, Cartoon Network, Adobe and Audi, as well as several live event projects with music talents like Madonna and Paul McCartney. He founded a production company in Oregon in 2013.

 

KELLY FORD / MARKETING STRATEGIST

Kelly Ford is a Marketing Strategist based in Portland, OR. Originally hailing from Minnesota, she studied Art History and Sociology at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, before heading out West to purse a career as an Art Consultant. She spent five years in the art world; representing artists by curating and selling a diverse range of fine art to a dedicated clientele. In 2013, Kelly segued into a more focused role in marketing at creative agencies. As an Account Executive, she has managed marketing strategy and execution for Global and Boutique brands such as Adidas, Herschel Supply Co., Converse and Rapha Cycles. But her heart remains rooted in art, as she spends her nights and weekends helping to craft narratives and strategic planning across all media -- and above all else, advocating for -- Creatives, Artists and Storytellers.

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