Darla owes the IRS $349,000.22. Her burgeoning business Kitty Kasket will never generate that kind of revenue in one month. Enter Mother; your typical sentient yeast mass who grants mind-blowing orgasms. Will she be willing to help? "The most PG-13 R-rated movie of all time!" -Future Reviewer
Darla owes the IRS $349,000.22. Her burgeoning business Kitty Kasket will never generate that kind of revenue in one month. Enter Mother; your typical sentient yeast mass who grants mind-blowing orgasms. Will she be willing to help? "The most PG-13 R-rated movie of all time!" -Future Reviewer
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Story
Mission Statement
This project began while we were all trapped at home during the early months of Covid in 2020. We wanted to create something thats embraces the Power Of Weird. After all it's a weird time and when better to deliver a story that embraces new perspectives on life?About The Project
Hello! Do you like orgasms?
If so, you might want to talk to Darla Peterson and her sentient yeast mass named Mother. But you might want to be prepared to say adios to your spouse, partner, or vibrating egg.
Let's back it up a smidge.
Darla Peterson is living with her mom Leona when they learn they have accrued a tax debt of $349,000.22.
How in the heck is that even possible for someone who cleans offices for a living and runs a business called Kitty Kasket LLC?
Surprisingly, the IRS doesn't care how Darla's debt happened, they only want it paid. In a month!
Undaunted, Darla gets right to work cleaning the warehouse of Mr. Arnot Pickens with her trusty self-help book “Yeah, Ok” to keep her inspired. Dozens of people vow that it changed their life for the better.
It's hard to not notice an ominous shipping container set right smack in the middle of the warehouse. Both Mr. Pickens and Leona tell her to steer clear of it, so of course Darla heads right over.
Inside, there is a large tub full of brown liquid and... a huge yeast mass. This is Mother: a sentient Kombucha SCOBY (Symbiotic Culture of Bacteria and Yeast). Oh, and one more thing: Mother can grant people orgasms!
It's all so simple: Darla will monetize Mother's ability to give orgasms in order to pay off her debt. Mother has her own conditions, though. She wants Darla to help her get to space.
"Yeah, Ok".
The process is nothing like sex as we know it, so it's not even called sex. It is Menaging. And the clientele are Menagers.
Darla will have run-ins with all walks of life, mysterious mega-conglomerate companies, and possibly even pay her debt in full.
Alex, Susie, and Eric working super hard. (credit: Tracey B. Wilson)
HISTORY
Hi, we are Susie and Eric, and we have been collaborating on scripts for a thousand years (in yeast-time). During that time, Eric married a wonderful actress named Alex Harris. Alex created a wonderfully weird and endearing sketch character named Darla Peterson. We were instantly taken with Darla and her business "Kitty Kasket". We couldn't help but wonder what the rest of her life was like.
About this same time Eric was making kombucha and Susie was making bread. This shared interest in yeast led us to ponder its origins, which are billions and BILLIONS of years old. What if during this co-evolution alongside bacteria and pine trees and shrimps and pterodactyls, yeast gained awareness? What would happen if a yeast fell in love with a human woman? Yeast might be able to survive without us, but we cannot survive without them! Can you imagine a life without beer or yogurt? Not us!
We have an affinity for worlds where there is no winking to the audience, worlds where all the characters take everything that comes at them at face value. It’s all terribly (and beautifully) real to them.
WHERE WE ARE ATIn November of 2021, we filmed the first section of Darla In Space, a chunk roughly 1/3rd of the whole script.
We are now looking for funding to complete the remaining 2/3rds of production in April of 2022.
An actual ungraded still from the first round of filming vs our mockup.
This crowdfunding will go to paying our cast, our crew, our locations, our props and set dressing, our craft services, our insurance, all of that stuff you need to make a movie! It will pay for fancy Covid tests that we have to provide to our cast and crew (which are unsurprisingly: expensive).
Upon getting all the footage in the 'can', we will be diving right into post-production, and then submitting to all the early film festival submissions for 2023!
Testing of different Prop Kombucha Mothers
First AC CJ Gardella sitting with set dog Betty Draper
THE CAST
The casting has been an incredibly rewarding experience. Alex E. Harris as Darla was of course a no-brainer. Connie Shulman was one of the very first to join our little world. Thereafter we were able to slowly amass the other creative talent:
Jenn Lyon as Brittney St. Clair, the soap opera megastar-cum-businesswoman
Thomas Jay Ryan as the world's sleepiest boss Arnot Pickens
Woody Fu as Darla's ex-boyfriend Stu the model
Rasheda Crockett as she-boss extraordinaire of Legitimate CPA LLC
Eamon O'Connell as business partner and emotional support neighbor, 10-year-old Phil Foss
Onur Tukel as eager-beaver early-menager Nathan Ellison (perhaps like you, a potential eager-beaver supporter of Darla?)
Molly Camp as chakra-reading, crystal-wearing Winnie
Who's going to be the voice of Mother you ask? Someone as great and memorable as the rest of our cast. That casting and voice recording will very likely occur after we are well into editing.
Q&A
Q. What’s the tone of Darla In Space?
Darla has a madcap view on life, and we hope the movie more than matches that madcap energy, both with the characters and the story. Think of it in the world of Charlie Kaufmann, with a bit of David Cronenberg, and the dry humor of the Coen brothers. A dash of "Little Shop of Horrors" in there too.
Q. Do I need to know anything in particular about yeast…?
Yeast are living things that occur in a wide range of systems and structures. They are vitally important to a lot of biological processes and aspects of life, not only to humans. Yeasts have been around for hundreds of millions of years and now they are ready to tell us puny people a thing or two. So to answer your question: no.
Q. How does a Yeast Mother talk without a mouth or vocal cords?
You ask a lot of questions.
Testing.....lighting.
RISKS/MITIGATIONS
Micro budget feature films are great because you see your efforts directly influence the project. While we are very adept at making movies at this level, there is always an element of the unknown....an actor losing availability, a location falling through, etc that can cause delays or pivots on the production, but that's part of the fun of making of movies, the problem solving.
A big risk as of 2020 is a little thing called Covid. Per requirements, we had a Covid Compliance Officer on set every day of the shoot in November and will have one again in April. This person ensures everyone on set knows how to obtain a Covid test prior to arrival. During the shoot, the Officer administers at-home Covid tests to all cast and crew and compiles all results, as per SAG regulations. All this being said, we are well-prepared to successfully bring Darla to life, Covid-be-damned.
So many negative Covid tests, oolalaaa.
IN CONCLUSION
We could not be more excited to keep Darla's journey going into the next phase, and would love to share that adventure with you!
Don't get Darla FOMO! Keep up with her here:
Thank you so much for stopping by! Feel free to spread the word and share this project with anyone you think might be interested in movies about kombucha scobys, self-help books, and orgasms. It would mean everything to us!
Seed&Spark Darla In Space Movie
Incentives
$15
The Wayfarer
- Special thanks in the credits
- Private IG Behind-The-Scenes of the production
$25
Wax Knife
- Darla's favorite author of all time is Georgette Abigail Gnash, acclaimed self-help author of "No, Thanks", "Who, You", "Why, Now", and most recently, "Yeah, OK". In addition to everything from The Wayfarer, Darla has arranged for Dr. Gnash to create a customized affirmation on your behalf.
$50
The Wimple Pig
- Everything from Wax Knife + digital link to the movie after its festival run.
$100
The Font Mouse
- Everything from The Wimple Pig + the option to provide your voice in the form of your favorite orgasm sound, to be mixed into the movie's soundscape. Or, if that doesn't interest you, a Kitty Kasket postcard.
$200
Rag Horse
- Everything from Font Mouse + Darla will give you a customized eulogy for your pet (past, present, or future).
$350
Clam Lung
- Everything from Rag Horse + a four piece section of a custom-made jigsaw puzzle from Bosch's The Garden of Earthly Delights, a painting that intrigues both Darla and Mother. (Available after film's completion)
$500
Hysterocrits
- Everything from Clam Lung + one of our test prop Mothers (sizes, shapes, colors, and textures all vary!)
$888
WryNeck
- Everything from Clam Lung, plus the ability to have an on-screen cameo as one of the lonely souls that menages with Mother (NYC-area production, lodging and travel not included).
$1,250
The Last Judgment
- Everything from Clam Lung + Custom Kitty Kasket + an Associate Producer credit!
$2,500
The Garden of Earthly Delights
- Everything from Clam Lung + a custom embroidery from Darla Peterson + Executive Producer credit!
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Wishlist
Use the WishList to pledge cash and loan items - or - Make a pledge by selecting an incentive directly.
$15
The Wayfarer
- Special thanks in the credits
- Private IG Behind-The-Scenes of the production
$25
Wax Knife
- Darla's favorite author of all time is Georgette Abigail Gnash, acclaimed self-help author of "No, Thanks", "Who, You", "Why, Now", and most recently, "Yeah, OK". In addition to everything from The Wayfarer, Darla has arranged for Dr. Gnash to create a customized affirmation on your behalf.
$50
The Wimple Pig
- Everything from Wax Knife + digital link to the movie after its festival run.
$100
The Font Mouse
- Everything from The Wimple Pig + the option to provide your voice in the form of your favorite orgasm sound, to be mixed into the movie's soundscape. Or, if that doesn't interest you, a Kitty Kasket postcard.
$200
Rag Horse
- Everything from Font Mouse + Darla will give you a customized eulogy for your pet (past, present, or future).
$350
Clam Lung
- Everything from Rag Horse + a four piece section of a custom-made jigsaw puzzle from Bosch's The Garden of Earthly Delights, a painting that intrigues both Darla and Mother. (Available after film's completion)
$500
Hysterocrits
- Everything from Clam Lung + one of our test prop Mothers (sizes, shapes, colors, and textures all vary!)
$888
WryNeck
- Everything from Clam Lung, plus the ability to have an on-screen cameo as one of the lonely souls that menages with Mother (NYC-area production, lodging and travel not included).
$1,250
The Last Judgment
- Everything from Clam Lung + Custom Kitty Kasket + an Associate Producer credit!
$2,500
The Garden of Earthly Delights
- Everything from Clam Lung + a custom embroidery from Darla Peterson + Executive Producer credit!
- Updates
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Current Team
About This Team
- Eric Laplante is a director/cinematographer based out of New York City. He’s been the cinematographer on the feature “Sylvio", which debuted at SXSW, contributed cinematography to “I Used To Be Normal”, a feature doc that has played all over the world, and of Onur Tukel’s latest feature, “That Cold Dead Look In Your Eyes”. Things he has directed have been Vimeo Staff picks and been featured on Funny Or Die. He recently shared the win with his cohorts at Calyer and earned a New England Emmy® for their commercial made for Kayem Bacon (now only owing a New England Oscar, Tony, and Grammy in order to earn a New England EGOT). "Darla In Space" is his feature directorial debut.
- Susie Moon received a degree in dramatic writing from NYU's Tisch School of the Arts. She took a hiatus from films to pursue business interests and recently returned to her first love. "Darla In Space" is her feature directorial debut.
- Peter Davis is an actor, director, and production designer based in Brooklyn. Peter directs with the popular comedic directing team, Calyer, and is most known for being the man behind the mask in those lovable Simplisafe commercials. What people don't know is that Peter has spent a lot of time Behind the camera, production designing and art directing multiple independant films as well as countless commercial and print campaigns. He's jazzed about getting back into the world of Darla and hopes that a little extra funding will go a long way in bringing this wild and wonderful story to life.
- Thomas/Gretchen Hughes/Lohse produce, compose and record music in Philadelphia, PA. They scored the feature length film Sylvio in 2017, and short films Great Light (2018) and Heavens Leg (2018). Lohse is a musical contributor to the documentary The Pine Barrens (2021). Their original compositions will be used in the movie and they are featured throughout the campaign video.
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