Retch
Seattle, Washington | Film Short
Horror, Sci-Fi
RETCH is a short horror film about perceptions and biases. More importantly, it's about how those perceptions affect our base human nature and responses in life and death situations.
Retch
Seattle, Washington | Film Short
Horror, Sci-Fi
1 Campaigns | Washington, United States
Green Light
This campaign raised $9,170 for production. Follow the filmmaker to receive future updates on this project.
57 supporters | followers
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RETCH is a short horror film about perceptions and biases. More importantly, it's about how those perceptions affect our base human nature and responses in life and death situations.
About The Project
- The Story
- Wishlist
- Updates
- The Team
- Community
Mission Statement
The Story
The bus. In an area like Seattle, the bus is many things to many people. It’s transportation for the college kids going from parents’ home to city classes. It’s a warm shelter for the homeless. It’s an easy ride for the commuter. It’s a political statement for today’s liberal. And, this Monday morning, when the bus breaks down, it’s a living tomb where the passengers die one by one from a sudden retching sickness. Everyone is suspicious when no one is to blame. And if they want to survive, Danny, Carrie, and every individual on the bus must figure out who’s next in line for death, and which person to sacrifice.
___________________
The Film
Danny and Carrie, two college students, have just gotten on the bus headed from rural Washington to Seattle. Traveling from his parents' home, they're late for class and she's sniffling from a miserable cold.
The bus backfires and rolls to a stop. No one is going anywhere. As the fog rolls in, the bus driver goes outside to check the engine. He's the first to retch and die. Soon, passenger after passenger falls victim to the retching sickness, swelling and dying one after another.
Cell phone service is out. What do they do? Danny, Carrie, a liberal businessman, a tired female doctor, an overwhelmed soccer mom, a cranky nanny, a fidgety homeless man, and a frightened hipster are trapped on the bus. Tempers and suspicions soar as they panic, leading to assumptions based on each others' ethnicities and backgrounds.
RETCH is a short film that asks what you will do in a moment of terror and biases. Will you risk your life to help those in need? Will you fight to keep yourself safe? Will you give in to societal assumptions?
___________________
From the Director
What does a person vomiting sound like? Is it dry - throat closed, with the person fighting its ugly, imminent reality? Or gurgled, and full of liquid violence – imposing its will upon the throat in an instant? Is it a cough, and then a gag, and then an upchuck?
The questions might sound silly, but they’re just one of the small but important considerations we are working through as part of the pre-production on RETCH. It’s these small things, considered carefully, that can create a great experience for cast and crew on set, which in turn create that magic of a well-executed film. We have a great script, with three-dimensional people in a crazy intense short experience. It’s the kind of story that won’t let you catch your breath.
RETCH is the kind of short film that will make an indelible impact on viewers – it’s a familiar situation – both in its mundaneness, and its elements of the echoes of the walking daymares we all have bouncing around our minds right now. Even in an everyday circumstance, we are not safe from our greatest global and societal fears of pollution, terrorism, racism, and societal discrimination.
That’s what great science fiction and horror does for us – it gives us a spotlight on our behavior, by putting us in dramatic, intense, slightly unbelievable situations. We are interested in who we are as humans in those moments, and how we behave with one another. We will be asking the actors to consider these questions in their performances. We will also be asking them how their characters might have behaved at work, or at home, and how those small pieces of who else they were – outside of this situation – will be at play when they make the choices they make on the bus.
___________________
How You Can Help
There are many ways to get involved with RETCH:
- Donate! Every contribution helps.
- Help spread the word! A simple "Share" goes a long way toward our marketing gols.
- Follow RETCH on Seed&Spark! It costs nothing, and with every milestone of followers (250? 500? 1,000?), we get a boost of exposure plus amazing rewards like free film festival submissions and production assistance.
- Volunteer! Reach out to our team and help us out on set.
We appreciate every effort you make to support RETCH. Thank you!
___________________
Where the Money Goes
It's no secret that movies cost a lot to make. We all hear about the hundreds of millions of dollars spent on the latest comic-book based blockbusters. Though this short film won't break the bank, it's a hefty undertaking. We would greatly appreciate your help in funding it.
Our current budget is the barebones estimate of getting the film done. Financial contributions will support mostly volunteer actor and crew, equipment fees, meals, locale rentals, special effects, music licenses, marketing, and campaign incentives. If we are able to surpass our stated goal, we'll be able to pay our cast and crew the standard non-SAG local rates, market the short film to larger audiences, and submit to multiple festivals. Your extended help is crucial!
Thank you so much for your interest!
Wishlist
Use the WishList to Pledge cash and Loan items - or - Make a pledge by selecting an Incentive directly.
Actors
Costs $1,300
RETCH seeks to represent multiple points of view, and that takes lots of actors!
Film Crew
Costs $1,350
Our local crew includes gaffer, grip, hair/make-up artists, special effects, DP, AD, and more.
The Bus
Costs $1,500
The setting is a city bus, which is pretty hard to acquire. Do you have a tip? Contact us, please!
Production Supplies
Costs $1,000
Cameras, wardrobe, sound gear, make-up, catering, and yes, a fog machine. We need supplies!
Legal & Insurance Fees
Costs $800
We've all gotta pay it. Legal and insurance fees are required.
Post-Production Services
Costs $4,800
Here's where expertise is crucial: editing, color correction, sound mixing, VFX, score and more.
Share this update!
About This Team
Our team has worked on several award-winning short films over the past few years. Up-and-coming Seattle filmmakers, our goal is to make a film that can get people talking about the hard stuff, help people relate to each other, and just maybe set minds on the path to understanding.
__________
Nicole Pouchet, Writer and Producer
A former Broadway assistant director, Nicole is a published novelist and a screenwriter for Zombie Orpheus Entertainment’s fantasy TV series, Strowlers. Her screenplays have earned finalist placements in PAGE International Screenwriting Award and Tracking Board Launchpad’s Contest. Books from the novelist’s paranormal romance series have ranked #1 on Amazon bestseller lists and won second prize in the 2013 Amazon Breakthrough Novel Award contest. Her latest manuscript won first place in a 2017 Romance Writers of America contest.
__________
Tifa Tombs, Director and Editor
Tifa is an editor and director obsessed with the moving image. She has a previous career in education, and was selected as an emerging 360 video artist as part of the Oculus Facebook 2017 Launch Pad group.
__________
Leo Ramos, Producer
Leo is a producer that aims to be as productive as possible on every project he works on. He sees film as the most effective medium to change the world and he plans on doing that as effectively as he can.
__________
Monica Valenzuela, Producer
Based in L.A. and Seattle, Monica is a photographer and filmmaker who loves every aspect of the process from inception to screening. She’s a trusted, veteran script reader/editor who strongly believes there is nothing without great, original story, and values the power of film storytelling to break barriers. She’s worked on set fulfilling many roles including assisting NBC’s press and publicity photo crew to serving as a producer for the well-received short films “Tina Bobina” and “El Camino Solo”, both of which enjoyed great festival runs.
__________
Madison Njos, Assistant Director
Madison’s passion is storytelling, whether it’s writing short stories or producing scripts and giving them life on screen. She is in love with the whole production process that goes into making a film and is usually doing multiple jobs at once onset. Her current mission is to take any opportunity that comes her way to work with passionate filmmakers in the community and share stories that are waiting to be told.
Current Team
Incentives
- The Story
- Wishlist
- Updates
- The Team
- Community
Mission Statement
The Story
The bus. In an area like Seattle, the bus is many things to many people. It’s transportation for the college kids going from parents’ home to city classes. It’s a warm shelter for the homeless. It’s an easy ride for the commuter. It’s a political statement for today’s liberal. And, this Monday morning, when the bus breaks down, it’s a living tomb where the passengers die one by one from a sudden retching sickness. Everyone is suspicious when no one is to blame. And if they want to survive, Danny, Carrie, and every individual on the bus must figure out who’s next in line for death, and which person to sacrifice.
___________________
The Film
Danny and Carrie, two college students, have just gotten on the bus headed from rural Washington to Seattle. Traveling from his parents' home, they're late for class and she's sniffling from a miserable cold.
The bus backfires and rolls to a stop. No one is going anywhere. As the fog rolls in, the bus driver goes outside to check the engine. He's the first to retch and die. Soon, passenger after passenger falls victim to the retching sickness, swelling and dying one after another.
Cell phone service is out. What do they do? Danny, Carrie, a liberal businessman, a tired female doctor, an overwhelmed soccer mom, a cranky nanny, a fidgety homeless man, and a frightened hipster are trapped on the bus. Tempers and suspicions soar as they panic, leading to assumptions based on each others' ethnicities and backgrounds.
RETCH is a short film that asks what you will do in a moment of terror and biases. Will you risk your life to help those in need? Will you fight to keep yourself safe? Will you give in to societal assumptions?
___________________
From the Director
What does a person vomiting sound like? Is it dry - throat closed, with the person fighting its ugly, imminent reality? Or gurgled, and full of liquid violence – imposing its will upon the throat in an instant? Is it a cough, and then a gag, and then an upchuck?
The questions might sound silly, but they’re just one of the small but important considerations we are working through as part of the pre-production on RETCH. It’s these small things, considered carefully, that can create a great experience for cast and crew on set, which in turn create that magic of a well-executed film. We have a great script, with three-dimensional people in a crazy intense short experience. It’s the kind of story that won’t let you catch your breath.
RETCH is the kind of short film that will make an indelible impact on viewers – it’s a familiar situation – both in its mundaneness, and its elements of the echoes of the walking daymares we all have bouncing around our minds right now. Even in an everyday circumstance, we are not safe from our greatest global and societal fears of pollution, terrorism, racism, and societal discrimination.
That’s what great science fiction and horror does for us – it gives us a spotlight on our behavior, by putting us in dramatic, intense, slightly unbelievable situations. We are interested in who we are as humans in those moments, and how we behave with one another. We will be asking the actors to consider these questions in their performances. We will also be asking them how their characters might have behaved at work, or at home, and how those small pieces of who else they were – outside of this situation – will be at play when they make the choices they make on the bus.
___________________
How You Can Help
There are many ways to get involved with RETCH:
- Donate! Every contribution helps.
- Help spread the word! A simple "Share" goes a long way toward our marketing gols.
- Follow RETCH on Seed&Spark! It costs nothing, and with every milestone of followers (250? 500? 1,000?), we get a boost of exposure plus amazing rewards like free film festival submissions and production assistance.
- Volunteer! Reach out to our team and help us out on set.
We appreciate every effort you make to support RETCH. Thank you!
___________________
Where the Money Goes
It's no secret that movies cost a lot to make. We all hear about the hundreds of millions of dollars spent on the latest comic-book based blockbusters. Though this short film won't break the bank, it's a hefty undertaking. We would greatly appreciate your help in funding it.
Our current budget is the barebones estimate of getting the film done. Financial contributions will support mostly volunteer actor and crew, equipment fees, meals, locale rentals, special effects, music licenses, marketing, and campaign incentives. If we are able to surpass our stated goal, we'll be able to pay our cast and crew the standard non-SAG local rates, market the short film to larger audiences, and submit to multiple festivals. Your extended help is crucial!
Thank you so much for your interest!
Wishlist
Use the WishList to Pledge cash and Loan items - or - Make a pledge by selecting an Incentive directly.
Actors
Costs $1,300
RETCH seeks to represent multiple points of view, and that takes lots of actors!
Film Crew
Costs $1,350
Our local crew includes gaffer, grip, hair/make-up artists, special effects, DP, AD, and more.
The Bus
Costs $1,500
The setting is a city bus, which is pretty hard to acquire. Do you have a tip? Contact us, please!
Production Supplies
Costs $1,000
Cameras, wardrobe, sound gear, make-up, catering, and yes, a fog machine. We need supplies!
Legal & Insurance Fees
Costs $800
We've all gotta pay it. Legal and insurance fees are required.
Post-Production Services
Costs $4,800
Here's where expertise is crucial: editing, color correction, sound mixing, VFX, score and more.
Share this update!
About This Team
Our team has worked on several award-winning short films over the past few years. Up-and-coming Seattle filmmakers, our goal is to make a film that can get people talking about the hard stuff, help people relate to each other, and just maybe set minds on the path to understanding.
__________
Nicole Pouchet, Writer and Producer
A former Broadway assistant director, Nicole is a published novelist and a screenwriter for Zombie Orpheus Entertainment’s fantasy TV series, Strowlers. Her screenplays have earned finalist placements in PAGE International Screenwriting Award and Tracking Board Launchpad’s Contest. Books from the novelist’s paranormal romance series have ranked #1 on Amazon bestseller lists and won second prize in the 2013 Amazon Breakthrough Novel Award contest. Her latest manuscript won first place in a 2017 Romance Writers of America contest.
__________
Tifa Tombs, Director and Editor
Tifa is an editor and director obsessed with the moving image. She has a previous career in education, and was selected as an emerging 360 video artist as part of the Oculus Facebook 2017 Launch Pad group.
__________
Leo Ramos, Producer
Leo is a producer that aims to be as productive as possible on every project he works on. He sees film as the most effective medium to change the world and he plans on doing that as effectively as he can.
__________
Monica Valenzuela, Producer
Based in L.A. and Seattle, Monica is a photographer and filmmaker who loves every aspect of the process from inception to screening. She’s a trusted, veteran script reader/editor who strongly believes there is nothing without great, original story, and values the power of film storytelling to break barriers. She’s worked on set fulfilling many roles including assisting NBC’s press and publicity photo crew to serving as a producer for the well-received short films “Tina Bobina” and “El Camino Solo”, both of which enjoyed great festival runs.
__________
Madison Njos, Assistant Director
Madison’s passion is storytelling, whether it’s writing short stories or producing scripts and giving them life on screen. She is in love with the whole production process that goes into making a film and is usually doing multiple jobs at once onset. Her current mission is to take any opportunity that comes her way to work with passionate filmmakers in the community and share stories that are waiting to be told.