8/8/22 UPDATE: With only 3 days left, our crowdfunding campaign is finally coming to an end and we are SO grateful to each and every one of you who has donated and pushed us to our goal. We are still $7k short of making our complete budget (including post-production) so please if you can, pledge a few bucks, share our page with friends and family, we will forever be grateful. Those pledges, no matter how small, make the world of difference to our production. Here's where that money will be going to: 

Into the Thicket tells the story of a lonely lost young woman who comes from a broken home (absent father, abusive mother). As she tries to desperately cope with the need for a maternal love and presence in her life, she encounters a mysterious woman in the woods who embraces her and fills the absence in her heart. As time progresses, we learn that there’s more to this lady in the woods than meets the eye.

Our proof of concept is meant to be merely a glimpse into our protagonist's world. Our mission is to build enough magic & mystery to set the stage and be the springboard for the feature that is to come. 

Into the Thicket is a love letter to the singed parts of our soul, an ode to the past and present selves that work tirelessly to protect and nurture the purity of our essence. It is a prayer of gratitude to the healing power of language. A humbling reflection on the creation of our inner mothers, a celebration of the unconscious mind’s incredible (and sometimes terrifying) omniscience. It pays reverence to perseverance, self-love, and the many layers of forgiveness. 

Sometimes we write our stories, other times they write us. In early 2021, I abruptly came out of a creative drought that’s lasted well over seven years. I sat on the couch with my wife and told her this story that had been buzzing in my brain for quite some time. At that point, these characters were emaciated shadows existing solely in my head. They were intangible figures I hadn’t given much thought to. But the first time I ever let them see the light of day, something unimaginable happened. I dove into the darkness, into the unknown, into the bramble, the brush, the thicket, and it took over me. All of a sudden hours had passed, the sun had gone down, I was folded into pieces on the couch sobbing over the wounded part of my soul that I had been unknowingly strangling for decades. When I sat down to write it, I became completely possessed by the story. A story I never thought existed in me, lay dormant, waiting patiently for it’s time to come out. And it did, explosively. I looked at it and knew in my heart—this is my life’s work. If I don’t do a single other thing, I have to do this. And I have to see it through all the way to the very end. I am so honored to be able to share this story with you all and I hope it heals the singed parts of your own souls too.

ELOWYN - Our 17 year old protagonist who roughly navigates the tumultuous relationship with her mother by way of escapism. She comes from a broken family—abusive mother, absent father, and longs so desperately for a mother figure, something out of a fairy tale, but instead is met with the harsh reality of her own mother—detached, cold, controlling, and abusive. Her relationship with Eva, the mysterious lady in the woods, offers her much needed comfort, love, & security from her traumas. Elowyn’s main want is to be loved by others however her central need is to be loved by herself.

EVA - The mysterious lady in the woods. A witchy woman that lives harmoniously with nature. She practices earth magic and herbalism. She is ageless, maintaining a constant balance between her youth and wisdom, almost completely transcendent of time. 

MARIE - Elowyn’s mother, trapped in a loveless marriage. Her husband, Scott, has stripped her of her identity. She feels imprisoned by her life and by her family and takes it out on her daughter. If she can’t have an identity, neither can Elowyn. If she can’t have happiness or love, neither can Elowyn. She is a wounded, misguided individual, who desperately needs to be freed from the shackles she’s allowed herself to be put in.

The film centers quite a bit around duality. The fantasy of the forest vs the bleak suffocating reality of the home. Elowyn's want vs Elowyn's need. Each relationship in the film exists in this grey area that contains both multitudes of darkness and light. This is an exercise in understanding--both parent & child are simultaneously victims and perpetrators. Both parent & child deserve empathy and compassion. 

The overall funding goal for Into the Thicket is $28,000, including development, production, post-production, & festivals. 

I have spent the last year and a half saving every single penny I possibly can to put towards realizing this film. With the help of our incredible EP, we currently have $15,000 in the bank. 

The Seed&Spark goal is $6,000 which would take care of just production costs. If we are able to raise that $6k, we will be green lit to make this film. Any $$ made past that will be considered a stretch goal that helps us tremendously in minimizing our post-production costs.

Our budget is as follows:

• Production costs for Cast & Crew (including travel, food, permits, etc) - $21,000
• Post-Production costs (editing, sound mixing, score, & festivals) - $7,000 

Our timeline:

Production: September 10 - 13th
Post-Production: September 2022 - April 2023
Festival Distribution: May 2023 - May 2024

The ultimate goal is to utilize this proof of concept as a tool to spark interest in the feature film--attracting investors, production companies, & distributors along the way. A green light for this film is a step towards a green light for the feature.  

COVID-19 disclaimer: We are monitoring the COVID-19 situation very closely and despite the rollbacks on COVID requirements, we will still be enforcing masks and requiring proof of vaccination as a safety measure on set & we will prohibit anyone who displays flu-like symptoms from coming to set. Our team's health will always be priority. 

If you've made it this far and think this project sounds like the type of film you'd like to be involved with, we'd love your support!

PLEDGE:

Click the blue "Make a Pledge" button to kindly gift us a monetary contribution—a  dollar helps! We've got some cool incentives, so please check 'em out.

SHARE: 

Help us spread the word about our film by sharing our Campaign Page and Instagram page with your online communities. We are @intothethicket (IG). Have a friend who's obsessed with all things witchy? Pass our info along!

FOLLOW:

Follow our socials and like our Campaign Page. Did you know we unlock some extra cool features if we get 250 likes on Seed&Spark? 

↓ Here's a quick and easy message to copy and paste to Instagram: ↓ 

Help support indie female filmmaker @devanycalypso by pledging or following their film @intothethicket - a dark-leaved exploration of magic and self. Join her on @seedandspark: www.seedandspark.com/fund/into-the-thicket 

We hope you’ll join us on our journey into the thicket, whether it’s a pledge, following our socials or sharing our posts, every bit helps, and for that we are beyond grateful.

Thanks for being part of our film community and for supporting female filmmakers. You're not just supporting a short film, you're supporting a proof of concept for a feature film that has already made some serious waves on The Black List & WeScreenplay alike.