ABOUT THE PROJECT

Approximately 6.5 million people in the USA have an intellectual disability. Globally, about 1-3 percent (as many as 200 million) of the population has an intellectual disability.

MIKE is the story of one man and his mission to accomplish a dream. Along the way, he is presented with many difficult challenges he must overcome to accomplish his dream (much like the process of filmmaking). Throughout the journey, he comes across some of the most diverse characters that help him in indescribable ways.

This film was a passion project for Kent Smith (Homeland, The Last Passport, Mr. Mercedes).  He jumped in full force after he and Patrick G. Keenan (The Blind Side, Tropical Cop Tales) finished up one of their Adult Beverage Podcasts.  After talking to Patrick, he realized that he had the perfect actor to play the incredible role of MIKE. At that point, he jumped back into writing mode and developed the story for MIKE. It was a few days after that meeting, that the script had its first draft… after that, it was time to gather the rest of the cast for this inspiring script. That is when Jonathan Bedford (An Evergreen Christmas), Johanna Jowett (Life as we Know it, One Tree Hill), Lacey Caroline (NBC Nascar, A Christmas Love Song), Bryan Pierce (Gun Runner), Gina Travis (On the Market), Marilyn Carter (The Prince of Tides), Katie Shonts, Chris Amick, and John Lawrence Amick were added to the mix.

Now that we had an incredible cast, it was time to put together the crew. First on board was Steve Saxon (Cold Storage) as our Director of Photography and then we added some of the best crew in the business to support him. Frank Perez was next on board to lead the sound mixing on set with his incredible audio skills showcased to the max. We understood that the score and sound design was going to be one of the biggest parts of this film, so we brought in Emmy award-winning composer, Jason Hausman, known for his hip, edgy and complex sound.  Then we added the incredible Ross Wissbaum (The Walking Dead, Grey’s Anatomy) as our chief audio engineer and sound designer.

Since we had gathered the best crew, it was time to dig into the hot summer and start making this dream a reality. From the very start, our team worked like a well-oiled machine. We jumped into shooting in the hottest part of the summer, but this just added to the realities that MIKE handles along his journey. The crew laughed, had fun, and showed pure joy along the path to accomplish a really heartfelt story. It was three full days of working with a cast/crew of over 25 team members working together in harmony. The story continued with a much smaller crew after that (between 3-5), working to accomplish the finer parts of the story of love, hope, and adventure.

Once we had all the footage in the can, it was up to editing to take the story to the next level.  Kent had been editing all along the way, but now it was time to finesse the film. Hours and hours of editing has been done, and we have put all the pieces of the film together, including sound design and our original score. At this point, it was time to premiere the film to a sold-out crowd at the Charlotte Film Festival.

The response from the showing was outstanding:

“It’s a moving (and not maudlin) story, beautifully acted (especially “MIKE”), with natural dialogue, professionally filmed, and well-directed.” – JB

“Loved “MIKE”! It brought tears to my eyes, and let me add that Patrick Keenan was brilliant.  Best Performance ever.”- JW

DIRECTOR’S STATEMENT

It's been my goal to shed light on the issues of having a family member with an intellectual disability. My four-year-old nephew, John Lawrence Amick, who plays the younger version of MIKE in the film, has been diagnosed with Apraxia. Apraxia is a motor disorder caused by damage to the brain in which the individual has difficulty with motor planning to perform tasks or movements when asked. When routine skills such as walking and talking are slow to grow, other skills are developing faster and faster.

What John Lawrence has developed is an ability that reaches straight to the heart of people around him with his smile. He has developed a unique gift that so many humans have disregarded, love.

I wondered what his journey would be as he grew into a man. That is how the story for MIKE was born. The idea was very clear from the beginning; what would Mike, an intellectually challenged man in his mid 50's, be like when he grew older? What trials would he overcome while he finds his life's dream? What conflicts would come between him and his goal?

Let's face it, MIKE's dreams and goals are not unlike each of our own thoughts and desires. I wanted MIKE’s story to be about finding yourself while experiencing the moment. I wanted this film to feel and look real, so you could relate the story back to our own lives. It needed to express life's ups and downs while still having those moments we call living. I wanted you to feel like you were on the journey with MIKE, and that way, we could all tell his story to others for years to come.

It's my hope and desire that this film will make people laugh, cry, and celebrate... while opening the hearts to what is sometimes overlooked. We are all challenged in some aspect. We should never let that stop us from having a dream.

John Lawrence Amick (Young MIKE)

REVIEWS FROM THE MEDIA

"Mike’s unwavering innocence and curiosity is certain to cure any dry eyes in the house. The brilliant Patrick G. Keenan (The Blind Side) does a phenomenal job bringing Mike to life. You just instantly connect with Mike and that has so much to do with the wonderful storytelling of Kent Smith, and the masterful portrayal of Mike by Patrick G. Keenan." -Lena Lamoray: Your Source for Entertainment

“Overall, MIKE is a very well-done short film that really benefits from the experience and honed skill of both its cast and crew. It’s a heartwarming and genuine journey that will undoubtedly see quite a bit of success on its festival run, as well as hopefully far beyond that. Highly recommended. -9.0/10”- Dave Harlequin: Nerd Nation

WHERE DOES THE MONEY GO?

From the very start of this film, our cast and crew have believed in the power of the story. We have had so many donate their time and gear to make this incredible journey. Your donation goes to food, wardrobe, props, any equipment we can’t get by begging or borrowing, ADR, color correction, film festival cost, Digital Cinema Package, website hosting, and advertising materials for promotion.

SUPPORT THE PROJECT

crowd·fund·ing

/ˈkroudˌfəndiNG/

The practice of funding a project by raising many small amounts of money from a large number of people.

There are three incredible ways you can help make this project a success:

Follow – By hitting the follow button above as well as on all of our social media outlets, it helps us promote the story and campaign to additional exposure opportunities here on Seed & Spark, as well as the possibility of additional financial rewards. It will also help you see the advancement toward our funding goal and follow what's happening during, and after production.

Share – Without your help, many folks will not know about this film project. It’s important you share on social media to help us spread the word about our campaign and film because this is a lifeline of independent filmmaking

Fund - Your contribution supports everything that it takes to make a movie, plus it helps us continue to make films about heartfelt issues. Regardless of the amount you're able to give, every dollar of financial support adds to the heart and soul of getting this film finished. We are so grateful for any and all contributions that are made to MIKE.

HOW CAN YOU HELP?

$2- Will help cover printing expenses.

$5- Will help our crew and cast have drinks for the day.

$15 - Will feed a Cast/Crew member for a day.

$25 - Will buy us a prop for Mike.

$50 - Will pay for shipping for film festivals.

$75 – Will help pay for one film festival fee.

$100 - Will buy a cast member a costume.

$200 - Will handle all of our parking costs.

$500 - Will help us get professional cast and crew to make this film the best it can be.

$1,200 – Will cover the cost of ADR (Automated Dialog Replacement).

$1,500 – Will cover the cost of the Color Correction.

$3,000 - Will pay for our camera and lighting gear, very important parts of creating a beautiful film.

By donating to our production, you are supporting a group of diverse filmmakers who aim to create a film that both entertains and spreads an important social and emotional message. Like we have previously stated, this film is something special to all of us who have known, or had a friend or family member who is intellectually challenged. I’d like to thank every single person who shares or donates to our film, it cannot be made without your support, care, and love.

If you have any personal connection to our story or would like to share your experiences about someone you know and love who is intellectually challenged, we’d love to hear from you. Please feel free to contact me personally at [email protected].

Please click through the tabs at the top of our page to learn more about our crew, wishlist, and media from the project and how you can help make MIKE’S DREAM a reality. If you would like to learn more about MIKE, please check out our website for more information.

www.dreammike.com