Joanne
Brussels, Belgium | Film Feature
Horror, Thriller
Joanne is an elevated genre one-room piece that's a rite of passage story for modern women. How does one be oneself despite misogyny + oppression: both overt and institutionalized? Joanne is a social and a genre film exploring identity, courage, and the strength it still takes to be a feminist.
Joanne
Brussels, Belgium | Film Feature
Horror, Thriller

1 Campaigns | Brussels, Belgium
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This campaign raised $8,096 for production. Follow the filmmaker to receive future updates on this project.
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Joanne is an elevated genre one-room piece that's a rite of passage story for modern women. How does one be oneself despite misogyny + oppression: both overt and institutionalized? Joanne is a social and a genre film exploring identity, courage, and the strength it still takes to be a feminist.
- The Story
- Wishlist
- Updates
- The Team
- Community
Mission Statement
The Story
“Joanne” is a modern right of passage story that modern women have to go through to become a whole human being: the passage of accepting oneself. On the surface JOANNE STEIGER seems like a normal, if outspoken, late 20's-mid 30's middle class woman. She was a lab scientist who quit to open her own sci-fi/fantasy bookstore. She's confident, intelligent, and self-assured. However, she harbors an enormous secret... even from herself. Then one day she is kidnapped, imprisoned, and impregnated by The Conspiracy... the shadow rulers of our reality whose purpose is to keep outspoken, confident women in line.
How does one be oneself in the face of massive misogyny and hatred (both overt and institutionalized) as well as only being defined by one's relationships and/or one's status of being a mother? “Joanne” takes the abstract problem of misogyny and makes it concrete in the form of 'The Conspiracy' who's purpose is to break outspoken women so that the whole population stays docile and easy to manipulate. “Joanne” is both a social and a genre film that explores identity, courage, and the strength it still takes to be a feminist.
Wishlist
Use the WishList to Pledge cash and Loan items - or - Make a pledge by selecting an Incentive directly.
Set Design
Costs $1,900
We want to use fabrics and tapestries to decorate the one location we will film into: the Chapel Marie la Miseable. $40/meter.
Catering
Costs $2,500
Buy a meal for our crew with 8$/meal. Very important for us that our crew has a warm and healthy meal.
Camera Rental
Costs $1,700
Gabi's (DoP) skills will shine so much better on a high end quality camera.
Grip Gear Rental
Costs $900
We will have nicer shots with a high quality grip gear. Every $40 buys us another piece of gear. Check out Caroline mastering her gear.
Score
Costs $700
"Joanne" story is told not only with image but also with sound. We want to compose a great score.
Special Effects
Costs $1,200
Joanne shell personalities need a bit of VFX boost post-production. Thomas is a great VFX designer, we want to enable him more.
Train tickets
Costs $400
Part of our crew is in UK. We are bringing them by train. Safer and environmentally friendly.
About This Team
Hello all! This is Christopher Morrison here writer/director of Joanne. It's such an honor to work with our amazing team... it's truly humbling. I worked in theater for 15+ years before transitioning over to film 8 years ago. I'm a vetran of Cirque du Soleil as well as Impact Theater (a basement theater I co-founded that ran for 20 years focusing on new work). I'm a distributed short film maker and Joanne marks my first directorial effort on the feature level. As this is my first I went out and surrounded myself with some amazing talent.
Portraying Joanne herself is the extremely talented Alex Reid. You many know her from her feature work on films like The Descent, or her stellar turns on many BBC shows, The Misfits being one of my personal favorites!
Next up is Gabi Norland, our wonderful award-winning Cinematographer. Her eye for capturing humanity and light is non-pareil. She's been working at the top of her game for years now and we are thrilled to have her lensing Joanne.
None of this would be possible without our producing team of Ioana Matei and Juri Koll. Ioana is a film-maker herself and her eye for detail is astounding. Mr. Koll has been bringing in high quality low-mid budget films for years and we are very excited he's decided to join us on our adventure.
If you want the more boring, less superlative filled versions please see below for bios!
Christopher Morrison is a multi-talented director-writer-actor who has worked on over 100 films and theatrical productions. He has worked with and trained top Hollywood talents such as Emily Deschanel, Lindsey Lohan, Dan Folger, Keith David, Zakes Mokae, and Diane Ladd. He has been a story editor and script consultant for Hollywood, “...less than kind” the award-winning short film he wrote and directed, premiered out of competition at the Cannes Film Festival and is distributed by OUAT! Media. He has been commissioned for six feature length screenplays and is slated to make is feature film directing debut within the year. In his theatrical career he has worked at some of the largest and well-respected theatre companies (Cirque du Soleil, The Berkeley Repertory Theatre, The Huntington Theatre Company). Four of his plays have been produced in California; Chicago; and Melbourne, Australia. Morrison is co-founder of Impact Theatre in Berkeley, California, which lasted 20 seasons. His directing has been called “A brave move towards a different style of theatre,” and Cirque du Soleil called him “A huge asset to the creative process.” His direction has been seen on both coasts and in Chicago. He has taught at two of the most prestigious art schools in America: The Los Angeles County High School for the Arts and Ruth Asawa San Francisco School of the Arts. He was a faculty member at each teaching: acting, movement, stage combat and directing plays. His students have matriculated at the most prestigious institutions in the world: Julliard, L'École Internationale de Théâtre Jacques Lecoq, The California School for the Arts, NYU Tisch, just to name a few. His students can be scene worldwide on tour, on Broadway, and in television and film. He will be shooting his first feature film as a writer/director in January of '17 in Brussels entitled, “Joanne”.
Gabi Norland:
Gabi is a London based cinematographer, who took the traditional apprenticeship route into the film industry. She has twice won best Cinematography at Underwire festival, once for 'Sis' – which was also BIFA nominated and won best short at Rushes in 2010- – and once for 'The Treehouse' in 2014.
The feature-length music film she shot in 2015 'Night Thoughts' for britpop band Suede, was reviewed in the Telegraph as being 'shot with a kind of Nan Goldin style veracity.'
Gabi shoots drama, documentary, music videos and commercials. Her work with artist filmmakers has been shown at Oberhausen, The Royal Academy in London, and most recently at the Kubrick exhibition at Somerset House. Her many years of experience enable her to easily adapt to every cinematographic challenge.
Gabi was mentored by Nina Kellgren BSC as part of the WFTV 2012 mentoring scheme.
Awards and nominations include:
"The Treehouse"
winner best cinematography Underwire festival 2014
“Sis”
winner best short Rushes Soho Shorts 2010
best short London United Film Festival 2010
winner best cinematography Underwire Film Festival 2010
official selection Slamdance, Encounters, WIFTI UK 2010
BIFA nominated 2010
WIFTI UK selection 2012
nominated best cinematography Underwire Film Festival 2011
Top Shelf Jazz “Gentlemen In Squalor”
best music video Limelight awards 2011
Best Sport Promo - Gold - Promax 2013
Best use of humour - Silver - Promax 2013
Juri Koll: After graduating from the California Institute of the Arts in 1984, Koll began directing documentaries on artists and other art and music world figures. He traveled across the country to work with major curators in their museums and galleries, such as the Metropolitan Museum of Art, The National Gallery in Washington, D.C., LACMA, and the Museum of Modern Art in San Francisco. As he continues to do this work, his subjects include world famous and infamous artists and curators from the Renaissance period to the present. Recently, Juri’s first documentary, In The Steel: A Portrait of Mark di Suvero, was curated into the Archives of American Art at the Smithsonian Institution.
He is the Director of the Fine Arts Film Festival, now in it's 4th year. He begins production on A Venice Tale in Spring, 2017, a film he wrote and will direct, featuring Peter Bogdonavich (Paper Moon, The Last Picture Show) and Bruce Davison (X Men). His other writing work has been featured in publications such as the New York Times and The Huffington Post. Koll has taught at universities across California, and does so regularly with the Fresco School at the J. Paul Getty Museum. Koll is a member of the Directors Guild of America and a regular signatory to SAG/AFTRA.
He is very proud to be working with Mr. Morrison once again.
Incentives
- The Story
- Wishlist
- Updates
- The Team
- Community
Mission Statement
The Story
“Joanne” is a modern right of passage story that modern women have to go through to become a whole human being: the passage of accepting oneself. On the surface JOANNE STEIGER seems like a normal, if outspoken, late 20's-mid 30's middle class woman. She was a lab scientist who quit to open her own sci-fi/fantasy bookstore. She's confident, intelligent, and self-assured. However, she harbors an enormous secret... even from herself. Then one day she is kidnapped, imprisoned, and impregnated by The Conspiracy... the shadow rulers of our reality whose purpose is to keep outspoken, confident women in line.
How does one be oneself in the face of massive misogyny and hatred (both overt and institutionalized) as well as only being defined by one's relationships and/or one's status of being a mother? “Joanne” takes the abstract problem of misogyny and makes it concrete in the form of 'The Conspiracy' who's purpose is to break outspoken women so that the whole population stays docile and easy to manipulate. “Joanne” is both a social and a genre film that explores identity, courage, and the strength it still takes to be a feminist.
Wishlist
Use the WishList to Pledge cash and Loan items - or - Make a pledge by selecting an Incentive directly.
Set Design
Costs $1,900
We want to use fabrics and tapestries to decorate the one location we will film into: the Chapel Marie la Miseable. $40/meter.
Catering
Costs $2,500
Buy a meal for our crew with 8$/meal. Very important for us that our crew has a warm and healthy meal.
Camera Rental
Costs $1,700
Gabi's (DoP) skills will shine so much better on a high end quality camera.
Grip Gear Rental
Costs $900
We will have nicer shots with a high quality grip gear. Every $40 buys us another piece of gear. Check out Caroline mastering her gear.
Score
Costs $700
"Joanne" story is told not only with image but also with sound. We want to compose a great score.
Special Effects
Costs $1,200
Joanne shell personalities need a bit of VFX boost post-production. Thomas is a great VFX designer, we want to enable him more.
Train tickets
Costs $400
Part of our crew is in UK. We are bringing them by train. Safer and environmentally friendly.
About This Team
Hello all! This is Christopher Morrison here writer/director of Joanne. It's such an honor to work with our amazing team... it's truly humbling. I worked in theater for 15+ years before transitioning over to film 8 years ago. I'm a vetran of Cirque du Soleil as well as Impact Theater (a basement theater I co-founded that ran for 20 years focusing on new work). I'm a distributed short film maker and Joanne marks my first directorial effort on the feature level. As this is my first I went out and surrounded myself with some amazing talent.
Portraying Joanne herself is the extremely talented Alex Reid. You many know her from her feature work on films like The Descent, or her stellar turns on many BBC shows, The Misfits being one of my personal favorites!
Next up is Gabi Norland, our wonderful award-winning Cinematographer. Her eye for capturing humanity and light is non-pareil. She's been working at the top of her game for years now and we are thrilled to have her lensing Joanne.
None of this would be possible without our producing team of Ioana Matei and Juri Koll. Ioana is a film-maker herself and her eye for detail is astounding. Mr. Koll has been bringing in high quality low-mid budget films for years and we are very excited he's decided to join us on our adventure.
If you want the more boring, less superlative filled versions please see below for bios!
Christopher Morrison is a multi-talented director-writer-actor who has worked on over 100 films and theatrical productions. He has worked with and trained top Hollywood talents such as Emily Deschanel, Lindsey Lohan, Dan Folger, Keith David, Zakes Mokae, and Diane Ladd. He has been a story editor and script consultant for Hollywood, “...less than kind” the award-winning short film he wrote and directed, premiered out of competition at the Cannes Film Festival and is distributed by OUAT! Media. He has been commissioned for six feature length screenplays and is slated to make is feature film directing debut within the year. In his theatrical career he has worked at some of the largest and well-respected theatre companies (Cirque du Soleil, The Berkeley Repertory Theatre, The Huntington Theatre Company). Four of his plays have been produced in California; Chicago; and Melbourne, Australia. Morrison is co-founder of Impact Theatre in Berkeley, California, which lasted 20 seasons. His directing has been called “A brave move towards a different style of theatre,” and Cirque du Soleil called him “A huge asset to the creative process.” His direction has been seen on both coasts and in Chicago. He has taught at two of the most prestigious art schools in America: The Los Angeles County High School for the Arts and Ruth Asawa San Francisco School of the Arts. He was a faculty member at each teaching: acting, movement, stage combat and directing plays. His students have matriculated at the most prestigious institutions in the world: Julliard, L'École Internationale de Théâtre Jacques Lecoq, The California School for the Arts, NYU Tisch, just to name a few. His students can be scene worldwide on tour, on Broadway, and in television and film. He will be shooting his first feature film as a writer/director in January of '17 in Brussels entitled, “Joanne”.
Gabi Norland:
Gabi is a London based cinematographer, who took the traditional apprenticeship route into the film industry. She has twice won best Cinematography at Underwire festival, once for 'Sis' – which was also BIFA nominated and won best short at Rushes in 2010- – and once for 'The Treehouse' in 2014.
The feature-length music film she shot in 2015 'Night Thoughts' for britpop band Suede, was reviewed in the Telegraph as being 'shot with a kind of Nan Goldin style veracity.'
Gabi shoots drama, documentary, music videos and commercials. Her work with artist filmmakers has been shown at Oberhausen, The Royal Academy in London, and most recently at the Kubrick exhibition at Somerset House. Her many years of experience enable her to easily adapt to every cinematographic challenge.
Gabi was mentored by Nina Kellgren BSC as part of the WFTV 2012 mentoring scheme.
Awards and nominations include:
"The Treehouse"
winner best cinematography Underwire festival 2014
“Sis”
winner best short Rushes Soho Shorts 2010
best short London United Film Festival 2010
winner best cinematography Underwire Film Festival 2010
official selection Slamdance, Encounters, WIFTI UK 2010
BIFA nominated 2010
WIFTI UK selection 2012
nominated best cinematography Underwire Film Festival 2011
Top Shelf Jazz “Gentlemen In Squalor”
best music video Limelight awards 2011
Best Sport Promo - Gold - Promax 2013
Best use of humour - Silver - Promax 2013
Juri Koll: After graduating from the California Institute of the Arts in 1984, Koll began directing documentaries on artists and other art and music world figures. He traveled across the country to work with major curators in their museums and galleries, such as the Metropolitan Museum of Art, The National Gallery in Washington, D.C., LACMA, and the Museum of Modern Art in San Francisco. As he continues to do this work, his subjects include world famous and infamous artists and curators from the Renaissance period to the present. Recently, Juri’s first documentary, In The Steel: A Portrait of Mark di Suvero, was curated into the Archives of American Art at the Smithsonian Institution.
He is the Director of the Fine Arts Film Festival, now in it's 4th year. He begins production on A Venice Tale in Spring, 2017, a film he wrote and will direct, featuring Peter Bogdonavich (Paper Moon, The Last Picture Show) and Bruce Davison (X Men). His other writing work has been featured in publications such as the New York Times and The Huffington Post. Koll has taught at universities across California, and does so regularly with the Fresco School at the J. Paul Getty Museum. Koll is a member of the Directors Guild of America and a regular signatory to SAG/AFTRA.
He is very proud to be working with Mr. Morrison once again.