Headshots
Los Angeles, California | Film Short
Action, Satire
When two hit men kidnap Jeff, an aspiring actor whose father put him up as collateral for an unpaid gambling debt, his life depends on the kindness of strangers... who want him dead.
Green Light
This campaign raised $24,275 for production. Follow the filmmaker to receive future updates on this project.
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When two hit men kidnap Jeff, an aspiring actor whose father put him up as collateral for an unpaid gambling debt, his life depends on the kindness of strangers... who want him dead.
In Partnership With
About The Project
- The Story
- Wishlist
- Updates
- The Team
- Community
The Story
As a native New Yorker, I view Los Angeles with a cynical eye, and HEADSHOTS is deeply reflective of my personal experience as an outsider in LA trying to find a balance in the art and commerce of the film industry. I'm a fan of action films, which I feel are not frequently enough represented at major festivals, even though they historically genre films form the cornerstone of American cinema--we like to wrap our personal stories with a melodramatic cloak of kidnappings, explosions, serial killers, and drug cartels. Think of Sidney Lumet's DOG DAY AFTERNOON, or John McTiernan's DIE HARD; both deeply personal films involving love, family, gender identity--and hostage situations. However as Hollywood has grown away from an artistic, risk-taking business into a more conglomerated corporate business, genre films have become depersonalized, VFX driven rather than character driven.
I am passionate about creating an action film that is both artistically sound and enjoyable by a diverse audience, much like the RAID films of Gareth Evans, which have played at both Sundance and SXSW.
I wrote HEADSHOTS in 2011, intending to shoot it in the fall of that year; At the time I had interest from a wonderful producer friend who had relationships with an awesome cast. I've always wanted to make genre films, but I've never had the budget or resources to make an action film with real stunts; the last action film I made was in college and had a budget of $500.
I had only begun to wade into the crowd-funding waters in Summer 2011 when I was asked to participate in the development of the Digital Bolex, an innovative camera project that was also going to be raising funds on Kickstarter. Almost two years later, the Digital Bolex is about to be shipped, and I finally feel that it's time to return to this project that I'm so passionate about, but had to put on the sidelines to help make a friend's dream come true.
Wishlist
Use the WishList to Pledge cash and Loan items - or - Make a pledge by selecting an Incentive directly.
Production Insurance
Costs $1,200
Production insurance makes sure that everyone on set is covered in case of accident or emergency.
Realistic handguns
Costs $200
Purchase or rental of handgun props to be used by lead characters.
Set Decor: Old flats & ephemera
Costs $700
Theatrical ephemera for our second location where all the action takes place.
Production Crew
Costs $8,000
The crew is who makes the film really happen, from pre-production, through shooting, and into post!
Main Talent
Costs $2,500
Salaries for main talent and featured and background performers, because they are AWESOME!
FX Makeup Artist & FX expendables
Costs $150
You didn't think we'd miss the other kind of headshot, did you?
Stunt People & Safety Equipment
Costs $2,000
Stunt coordinator, safety equipment, and one stunt double. Because safety pays!
Travel for talent & crew
Costs $700
Gas stipends for cast & crew and other travel expenses.
Footage Backups/Hard Drives
Costs $200
So we don't lose the footage, and have copies for every person in post.
Publicity, Authoring, and Festival Fees
Costs $2,150
Authoring of Blu-Ray/DVD, Unit Publicity, Publicity materials, Festival submission fees.
10% Contingency
Costs $1,500
Dedicated to combating Murphy's Law. (Normally productions ask for 10%, but we're low-budget here!)
Lighting Package
Costs $1,500
Lighting & grip rentals, so we can make pretty and gritty images!
Crowdfunding Fees & Rewards
Costs $2,000
Cost of fulfilling all of our super neat rewards to our backers and the costs of the platform usage!
Sound Editor
Costs $500
Sound editing so all the dialog is clear, so you can hear all the jokes and all the bullet shots!
Catering
Costs $1,650
Catering, craft service, and craft people for 4 days of production plus rehearsal and table read.
Share this update!
About This Team
ELLE SCHNEIDER (Director/Writer) is a graduate of USC's Writing for Screen and Television program, and a two-time winner of the Marguerite Roberts award for feature screenwriting. As a cinematographer, she has shot documentaries including Jeffrey Schwarz' I AM DIVINE, which premiered at the 2013 SXSW Film Festival, and THAT GUY DICK MILLER, which premiered at SXSW 2014 and has played a dozen of other major festivals. She has directed music videos for the Emmy-nominated Gangstagrass and PA band Mock Sun, in addition to numerous shorts and commercials. Her first short film, CONFESSION, was a winner of the Duke City Shootout script competition, and premiered at the 2006 festival. Her short drama ONE SMALL STEP premiered at the Short Film Corner of the 2012 Cannes Film Festival, and her short CUDDLE premiered at the 2013 HollyShorts Film Festival at Grauman's Chinese Theater.
Born and raised in New York City, Elle is a disciple of Roger Corman and David Lean, mixing a love of the exploitation genre and low-budget filmmaking with a classically-educated storytelling background. She is the co-developer of the Digital Bolex cinema camera, currently being used by Spike Lee, Ondi Timoner, and Darren Aronofsky.
JACK BENNETT (Producer) is an avid genre fan and has produced and directed four horror features and numerous short films, most recently Fangoria marketing director Rebekah McKendry's Viscera award-winning directorial debut THE DUMP. He is currently the producer and director of Nerdist's BLOOD AND GUTS series, and recently produced the short film NANOBLOOD directed by Lindsey Haun starring Amanda Fuller. He is currently producing a feature adaptation of Moonstone Comics' graphic novel The Night Driver with Barry Navidi and director Jeremy Weiss and wrote the upcoming Sleep No More with director Robert Sexton.
LAUREN HAROUTUNIAN (Cinematographer) is a visually striking grene cinematographer who has shot a dozen narrative shorts and countless online sketches, including the hugely popular Flower Warfare for FreddieW's YouTube channel RocketJump, which has received over 10 million views and spawned a mobile game. A graduate of USC's School of Cinematic Arts, Lauren has been shooting professionally for nearly a decade, and was recently named Dean of RocketJump's new "Film School" initiative to teach aspiring web filmmakers how to create professional content with minimal resources.
Current Team
Incentives
- The Story
- Wishlist
- Updates
- The Team
- Community
The Story
As a native New Yorker, I view Los Angeles with a cynical eye, and HEADSHOTS is deeply reflective of my personal experience as an outsider in LA trying to find a balance in the art and commerce of the film industry. I'm a fan of action films, which I feel are not frequently enough represented at major festivals, even though they historically genre films form the cornerstone of American cinema--we like to wrap our personal stories with a melodramatic cloak of kidnappings, explosions, serial killers, and drug cartels. Think of Sidney Lumet's DOG DAY AFTERNOON, or John McTiernan's DIE HARD; both deeply personal films involving love, family, gender identity--and hostage situations. However as Hollywood has grown away from an artistic, risk-taking business into a more conglomerated corporate business, genre films have become depersonalized, VFX driven rather than character driven.
I am passionate about creating an action film that is both artistically sound and enjoyable by a diverse audience, much like the RAID films of Gareth Evans, which have played at both Sundance and SXSW.
I wrote HEADSHOTS in 2011, intending to shoot it in the fall of that year; At the time I had interest from a wonderful producer friend who had relationships with an awesome cast. I've always wanted to make genre films, but I've never had the budget or resources to make an action film with real stunts; the last action film I made was in college and had a budget of $500.
I had only begun to wade into the crowd-funding waters in Summer 2011 when I was asked to participate in the development of the Digital Bolex, an innovative camera project that was also going to be raising funds on Kickstarter. Almost two years later, the Digital Bolex is about to be shipped, and I finally feel that it's time to return to this project that I'm so passionate about, but had to put on the sidelines to help make a friend's dream come true.
Wishlist
Use the WishList to Pledge cash and Loan items - or - Make a pledge by selecting an Incentive directly.
Production Insurance
Costs $1,200
Production insurance makes sure that everyone on set is covered in case of accident or emergency.
Realistic handguns
Costs $200
Purchase or rental of handgun props to be used by lead characters.
Set Decor: Old flats & ephemera
Costs $700
Theatrical ephemera for our second location where all the action takes place.
Production Crew
Costs $8,000
The crew is who makes the film really happen, from pre-production, through shooting, and into post!
Main Talent
Costs $2,500
Salaries for main talent and featured and background performers, because they are AWESOME!
FX Makeup Artist & FX expendables
Costs $150
You didn't think we'd miss the other kind of headshot, did you?
Stunt People & Safety Equipment
Costs $2,000
Stunt coordinator, safety equipment, and one stunt double. Because safety pays!
Travel for talent & crew
Costs $700
Gas stipends for cast & crew and other travel expenses.
Footage Backups/Hard Drives
Costs $200
So we don't lose the footage, and have copies for every person in post.
Publicity, Authoring, and Festival Fees
Costs $2,150
Authoring of Blu-Ray/DVD, Unit Publicity, Publicity materials, Festival submission fees.
10% Contingency
Costs $1,500
Dedicated to combating Murphy's Law. (Normally productions ask for 10%, but we're low-budget here!)
Lighting Package
Costs $1,500
Lighting & grip rentals, so we can make pretty and gritty images!
Crowdfunding Fees & Rewards
Costs $2,000
Cost of fulfilling all of our super neat rewards to our backers and the costs of the platform usage!
Sound Editor
Costs $500
Sound editing so all the dialog is clear, so you can hear all the jokes and all the bullet shots!
Catering
Costs $1,650
Catering, craft service, and craft people for 4 days of production plus rehearsal and table read.
Share this update!
About This Team
ELLE SCHNEIDER (Director/Writer) is a graduate of USC's Writing for Screen and Television program, and a two-time winner of the Marguerite Roberts award for feature screenwriting. As a cinematographer, she has shot documentaries including Jeffrey Schwarz' I AM DIVINE, which premiered at the 2013 SXSW Film Festival, and THAT GUY DICK MILLER, which premiered at SXSW 2014 and has played a dozen of other major festivals. She has directed music videos for the Emmy-nominated Gangstagrass and PA band Mock Sun, in addition to numerous shorts and commercials. Her first short film, CONFESSION, was a winner of the Duke City Shootout script competition, and premiered at the 2006 festival. Her short drama ONE SMALL STEP premiered at the Short Film Corner of the 2012 Cannes Film Festival, and her short CUDDLE premiered at the 2013 HollyShorts Film Festival at Grauman's Chinese Theater.
Born and raised in New York City, Elle is a disciple of Roger Corman and David Lean, mixing a love of the exploitation genre and low-budget filmmaking with a classically-educated storytelling background. She is the co-developer of the Digital Bolex cinema camera, currently being used by Spike Lee, Ondi Timoner, and Darren Aronofsky.
JACK BENNETT (Producer) is an avid genre fan and has produced and directed four horror features and numerous short films, most recently Fangoria marketing director Rebekah McKendry's Viscera award-winning directorial debut THE DUMP. He is currently the producer and director of Nerdist's BLOOD AND GUTS series, and recently produced the short film NANOBLOOD directed by Lindsey Haun starring Amanda Fuller. He is currently producing a feature adaptation of Moonstone Comics' graphic novel The Night Driver with Barry Navidi and director Jeremy Weiss and wrote the upcoming Sleep No More with director Robert Sexton.
LAUREN HAROUTUNIAN (Cinematographer) is a visually striking grene cinematographer who has shot a dozen narrative shorts and countless online sketches, including the hugely popular Flower Warfare for FreddieW's YouTube channel RocketJump, which has received over 10 million views and spawned a mobile game. A graduate of USC's School of Cinematic Arts, Lauren has been shooting professionally for nearly a decade, and was recently named Dean of RocketJump's new "Film School" initiative to teach aspiring web filmmakers how to create professional content with minimal resources.