KIN
Corvallis, Oregon | Film Short
Drama, Romance
What are the origins of violence? KIN tells the intimate story of three impoverished youths in rural Oregon, in the process exploring the psychology of living in an age of mass fear and violence.
KIN
Corvallis, Oregon | Film Short
Drama, Romance
Green Light
This campaign raised $13,175 for production. Follow the filmmaker to receive future updates on this project.
51 supporters | followers
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What are the origins of violence? KIN tells the intimate story of three impoverished youths in rural Oregon, in the process exploring the psychology of living in an age of mass fear and violence.
About The Project
- The Story
- Wishlist
- Updates
- The Team
- Community
Mission Statement
The Story
A HUGE and heartfelt THANK YOU to everyone who helped give KIN the GREENLIGHT on only the 2nd day of our campaign! We're not done yet though! Kin is now happy to announce a new set of STRETCH GOALS to help us make the BIGGEST and BEST film we can. Many of these goals are geared toward labor, which is generally the most expensive part of a film production. When making indie films on a shoe-string budget, then, we often have to rely on volunteers to do everything from Production Design to Publicity. Being able to compensate everyone who is working to make Kin come to life would really be a dream come true, and a great way to give something back in exchange for all the time and energy they put into our film!
Story
Three 20-somethings live together in beautiful rural Oregon, passing their time with beer, TV, home repairs, and dreams about a better future. A shy young man is enthralled by the overconfidence of the couple he lives with. While the men repair their neglected home, the young woman works at a small motel. The film tests how far along the audience can go in their ability to sympathize, identify with, and even forgive the characters as their love for one another hardens into hate. Abstract conversations about love, protection, and distaste for outsiders punctuate the film’s depiction of three young adults in a forgotten Pacific Northwest town.
Approach & Tone
KIN delves into the mundanity of evil and the banality of violence. In seeking to understand more fully the origins of the violence, it deals with and confronts themes of decay, decline, and notions of the other and self. To accomplish this, the film will feel both nostalgic and otherworldly, as if presenting a world frozen in time.
As a filmmaker, I like to use discomfort as a medium and aesthetic. I don't believe we can change the world unless we first interrogate our desires, so I like to make films that delve into the things about which we feel the most ashamed, embarassed, and secretive.
KIN explores the ways in which our romantic and sexual desires drive people to violence, while it also asks us to consider how fascistic ideology masquerades as love.
(still from Carnal Orient [Mila Zuo, 2016])
Project Status
Principal photography for KIN will take place in Oregon's Willamette Valley and is scheduled to begin in August 2019. Once the film is complete, we intend to submit it for festival consideration.
Please Follow & Share!
Sharing our campaign on your social media (Twitter: @KinOregonFilm and Facebook: @kinoregonfilm) is often just as helpful as a donation, and doing BOTH goes a long way to helping bring KIN to life!
THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR CONSIDERING OUR PROJECT AND FOR SUPPORTING INDIE CINEMA!
-Mila Zuo and the KIN Team
Wishlist
Use the WishList to Pledge cash and Loan items - or - Make a pledge by selecting an Incentive directly.
Lodging for cast and crew
Costs $1,000
To provide accommodations on location for our cast and crew.
Meals
Costs $1,500
To provide warm and healthy meals for our cast and crew throughout the shoot.
Locations
Costs $300
Some special out-of-the-way locations that require transportation and rental.
Payment for crew members
Costs $3,700
Production wouldn't be possible without talented and dedicated crew members.
Share this update!
About This Team
Writer and Director MILA ZUO
I'm currently an assistant profesor of film at Oregon State University, soon to join the faculty in the Department of Theatre and Film at UBC in Vancouver this summer. I earned my MA and PhD in Cinema and Media Studies from UCLA, and a BA in English and Film Studies from UC-Berkeley. In addition to teaching and writing about film, I also write, direct, and produce creative film and media works.
KIN is my second narrative short as a writer and director, and I've also directed and produced short documentaries, visual essays, and music videos that have been covered in publications including Bust, Paper magazine, and KoreAm journal.
CARNAL ORIENT (2016) was my first film, and it premiered at Slamdance International Film Festival and was an official selection at a dozen international film festivals, playing in locations including Los Angeles, New York, Chicago, San Diego, Atlanta, Portland, London, Singapore, Nagoya, Osaka, and the Czech Republic. CARNAL ORIENT also won Special Mention Experimental Film at the DisOrient Asian American Film Festival.
Co-writer WILLIAM BROWN of Beg Steal Borrow Films
William is a filmmaker, writer and academic. He began directing micro-budget features in 2009 – and has since directed 15+ features spanning fiction and documentary, together with various shorts and music videos. His first feature, En Attendant Godard, was named by Jonathan Rosenbaum as one of his top five films of 2009. His follow-up, Afterimages, featured in Sight & Sound magazine’s Films of the Year 2010, while his recent #randomaccessmemory also featured in Sight & Sound's Essay-Films of the Year 2018. His films have enjoyed numerous screenings around the world.
William also leads a life as an academic, having gained a doctorate in Modern Languages from the University of Oxford in 2007. He has taught at the Universities of Oxford, St Andrews and Roehampton, London, and has given talks on cinema across the globe. He has authored and/or edited various books, including Non-Cinema: Global Digital Filmmaking and the Multitude (Bloomsbury, 2018), Supercinema: Film-Philosophy for the Digital Age (Berghahn, 2013), Deleuze and Film (with David Martin-Jones, Edinburgh University Press, 2012) and Moving People, Moving Images: Cinema and Trafficking in the New Europe (with Dina Iordanova and Leshu Torchin, St Andrews University Press, 2010).
Editor and Assistant Director DOUGAL HENKEN of PublicNotice Design and Decreation Studio
Dougal Henken is a designer working across multiple media formats. He creates graphic and video work for a wide range of clients, including Mila with whom he collaborated on CARNAL ORIENT and several film and media projects. He lives on the internet. When not working, he is in sleep mode.
Director of Photography EDWARD PACK DAVEE
Edward P. Davee is an award winning writer/director whose films have screened in several film festivals and art galleries around the world. His first feature, How the Fire Fell won “Best Feature Film” at the Seattle Film Forum’s Local Sightings Film Festival and was distributed by FilmBuff. In 2012, Davee won the Oregon Media Arts Fellowship as well as additional grants from the Oregon Arts Commission and the Regional Arts and Culture Council. The proposal for his 2nd feature film, Lost Division, won him the annual RACC Innovation award as well. Davee’s films are quiet, unconventional, atmospheric character studies, commonly marked by subtle, low-dialog story telling with dense, dream-like sounds and imagery. Often, the atmosphere surrounding the events in his films are an important component of the story telling.
"Director Edward P. Davee has debuted with a strong first effort that’s a breath of fresh air...to say he marches to the beat of his own drum doesn’t begin to explain it; Davee appears to have thrown out the drumsticks." - Indiewire
Producer CAITLIN STOW of Stowaway Productions
I'm a writer, director, and producer from Corvallis, Oregon. Over the last three years I've made three independent short films on zero budget with non-professional cast and crew. Working from the ground up with no resources is my jam, and I'm excited to bring my DIY experience to a bigger production. In my own projects I focus mainly on simple, light, coming-of-age stories and rhythmic experimentation. It's a new experience for me to work on something so hard-hitting and topical, and I can't wait to dig into it!
Production Designer SASKIA MADLENER
Saskia Madlener is primarily a science documentary director and producer based in Oregon and the Netherlands. But she has also worked in narrative film in New York City and Pennsylvania since 2006, and is looking to expand into fiction in the future. She has experience working on set as part of production design and enjoys creating spaces for the characters to come alive in.
Associate Producer DEVIN FEBBRORIELLO
Devin Febbroriello is a Director / Producer and founder of Serpent Power Productions.
With over 15 years professional experience within the Film / Television / Commercial / Media Art industries Devin brings a wide range of skills and knowledge to support successful creative outcomes that impact, inspire, and motivate audiences.
Second DP DARRYL LAI!
Sound Engineer MATT KELLAM
Current Team
Incentives
- The Story
- Wishlist
- Updates
- The Team
- Community
Mission Statement
The Story
A HUGE and heartfelt THANK YOU to everyone who helped give KIN the GREENLIGHT on only the 2nd day of our campaign! We're not done yet though! Kin is now happy to announce a new set of STRETCH GOALS to help us make the BIGGEST and BEST film we can. Many of these goals are geared toward labor, which is generally the most expensive part of a film production. When making indie films on a shoe-string budget, then, we often have to rely on volunteers to do everything from Production Design to Publicity. Being able to compensate everyone who is working to make Kin come to life would really be a dream come true, and a great way to give something back in exchange for all the time and energy they put into our film!
Story
Three 20-somethings live together in beautiful rural Oregon, passing their time with beer, TV, home repairs, and dreams about a better future. A shy young man is enthralled by the overconfidence of the couple he lives with. While the men repair their neglected home, the young woman works at a small motel. The film tests how far along the audience can go in their ability to sympathize, identify with, and even forgive the characters as their love for one another hardens into hate. Abstract conversations about love, protection, and distaste for outsiders punctuate the film’s depiction of three young adults in a forgotten Pacific Northwest town.
Approach & Tone
KIN delves into the mundanity of evil and the banality of violence. In seeking to understand more fully the origins of the violence, it deals with and confronts themes of decay, decline, and notions of the other and self. To accomplish this, the film will feel both nostalgic and otherworldly, as if presenting a world frozen in time.
As a filmmaker, I like to use discomfort as a medium and aesthetic. I don't believe we can change the world unless we first interrogate our desires, so I like to make films that delve into the things about which we feel the most ashamed, embarassed, and secretive.
KIN explores the ways in which our romantic and sexual desires drive people to violence, while it also asks us to consider how fascistic ideology masquerades as love.
(still from Carnal Orient [Mila Zuo, 2016])
Project Status
Principal photography for KIN will take place in Oregon's Willamette Valley and is scheduled to begin in August 2019. Once the film is complete, we intend to submit it for festival consideration.
Please Follow & Share!
Sharing our campaign on your social media (Twitter: @KinOregonFilm and Facebook: @kinoregonfilm) is often just as helpful as a donation, and doing BOTH goes a long way to helping bring KIN to life!
THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR CONSIDERING OUR PROJECT AND FOR SUPPORTING INDIE CINEMA!
-Mila Zuo and the KIN Team
Wishlist
Use the WishList to Pledge cash and Loan items - or - Make a pledge by selecting an Incentive directly.
Lodging for cast and crew
Costs $1,000
To provide accommodations on location for our cast and crew.
Meals
Costs $1,500
To provide warm and healthy meals for our cast and crew throughout the shoot.
Locations
Costs $300
Some special out-of-the-way locations that require transportation and rental.
Payment for crew members
Costs $3,700
Production wouldn't be possible without talented and dedicated crew members.
Share this update!
About This Team
Writer and Director MILA ZUO
I'm currently an assistant profesor of film at Oregon State University, soon to join the faculty in the Department of Theatre and Film at UBC in Vancouver this summer. I earned my MA and PhD in Cinema and Media Studies from UCLA, and a BA in English and Film Studies from UC-Berkeley. In addition to teaching and writing about film, I also write, direct, and produce creative film and media works.
KIN is my second narrative short as a writer and director, and I've also directed and produced short documentaries, visual essays, and music videos that have been covered in publications including Bust, Paper magazine, and KoreAm journal.
CARNAL ORIENT (2016) was my first film, and it premiered at Slamdance International Film Festival and was an official selection at a dozen international film festivals, playing in locations including Los Angeles, New York, Chicago, San Diego, Atlanta, Portland, London, Singapore, Nagoya, Osaka, and the Czech Republic. CARNAL ORIENT also won Special Mention Experimental Film at the DisOrient Asian American Film Festival.
Co-writer WILLIAM BROWN of Beg Steal Borrow Films
William is a filmmaker, writer and academic. He began directing micro-budget features in 2009 – and has since directed 15+ features spanning fiction and documentary, together with various shorts and music videos. His first feature, En Attendant Godard, was named by Jonathan Rosenbaum as one of his top five films of 2009. His follow-up, Afterimages, featured in Sight & Sound magazine’s Films of the Year 2010, while his recent #randomaccessmemory also featured in Sight & Sound's Essay-Films of the Year 2018. His films have enjoyed numerous screenings around the world.
William also leads a life as an academic, having gained a doctorate in Modern Languages from the University of Oxford in 2007. He has taught at the Universities of Oxford, St Andrews and Roehampton, London, and has given talks on cinema across the globe. He has authored and/or edited various books, including Non-Cinema: Global Digital Filmmaking and the Multitude (Bloomsbury, 2018), Supercinema: Film-Philosophy for the Digital Age (Berghahn, 2013), Deleuze and Film (with David Martin-Jones, Edinburgh University Press, 2012) and Moving People, Moving Images: Cinema and Trafficking in the New Europe (with Dina Iordanova and Leshu Torchin, St Andrews University Press, 2010).
Editor and Assistant Director DOUGAL HENKEN of PublicNotice Design and Decreation Studio
Dougal Henken is a designer working across multiple media formats. He creates graphic and video work for a wide range of clients, including Mila with whom he collaborated on CARNAL ORIENT and several film and media projects. He lives on the internet. When not working, he is in sleep mode.
Director of Photography EDWARD PACK DAVEE
Edward P. Davee is an award winning writer/director whose films have screened in several film festivals and art galleries around the world. His first feature, How the Fire Fell won “Best Feature Film” at the Seattle Film Forum’s Local Sightings Film Festival and was distributed by FilmBuff. In 2012, Davee won the Oregon Media Arts Fellowship as well as additional grants from the Oregon Arts Commission and the Regional Arts and Culture Council. The proposal for his 2nd feature film, Lost Division, won him the annual RACC Innovation award as well. Davee’s films are quiet, unconventional, atmospheric character studies, commonly marked by subtle, low-dialog story telling with dense, dream-like sounds and imagery. Often, the atmosphere surrounding the events in his films are an important component of the story telling.
"Director Edward P. Davee has debuted with a strong first effort that’s a breath of fresh air...to say he marches to the beat of his own drum doesn’t begin to explain it; Davee appears to have thrown out the drumsticks." - Indiewire
Producer CAITLIN STOW of Stowaway Productions
I'm a writer, director, and producer from Corvallis, Oregon. Over the last three years I've made three independent short films on zero budget with non-professional cast and crew. Working from the ground up with no resources is my jam, and I'm excited to bring my DIY experience to a bigger production. In my own projects I focus mainly on simple, light, coming-of-age stories and rhythmic experimentation. It's a new experience for me to work on something so hard-hitting and topical, and I can't wait to dig into it!
Production Designer SASKIA MADLENER
Saskia Madlener is primarily a science documentary director and producer based in Oregon and the Netherlands. But she has also worked in narrative film in New York City and Pennsylvania since 2006, and is looking to expand into fiction in the future. She has experience working on set as part of production design and enjoys creating spaces for the characters to come alive in.
Associate Producer DEVIN FEBBRORIELLO
Devin Febbroriello is a Director / Producer and founder of Serpent Power Productions.
With over 15 years professional experience within the Film / Television / Commercial / Media Art industries Devin brings a wide range of skills and knowledge to support successful creative outcomes that impact, inspire, and motivate audiences.
Second DP DARRYL LAI!
Sound Engineer MATT KELLAM