Our above-the-line is filled with women of color: writer, director, producers, three of our four leads. And, we are all committed to filming as much as possible in Puerto Rico to bring awareness and advocacy and dollars to the island as it recovers post-Maria. This campaign will help us do that.

 

Contribute to our project and get a tax deduction!

SEASON OF THE WITCHES is a fiscally sponsored project of Film Independent a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization. Contributions on behalf of SEASON OF THE WITCHES are payable to Film Independent and are tax deductible less the value of any goods or services received, as allowed by law. The value of goods and services being offered in noted under each donation level.

 

Sherri, our screenwriter, is a Graham Greene fan. Hemingway. Paul Theroux. V.S. Naipul, too. Yet, as much as she finds their combined canon of strangers-in-strange-lands tales intriguing—and, as a former military brat, familiar—she also found them ... lacking in the end. 

 

You see, women who look like Sherri and the rest of the SEASON OF THE WITCHES production team, women of color, appear in such stories only as minor characters. Neither the hero nor trickster.  Never fully-actualized. Never given, as the Dixie Chick’s sang, “room to make the big mistakes.”The same phenomenon is true in film: regardless of genre, the world of women of color on screen is often small, limited to home, office, or place of worship. Domestic in the global sense.

 

We are making SEASON OF THE WITCHES to change that. We wanted to see a film that reflected the nuanced and larger world we  inhabit. So, Sherri wroteone about three American women who kill a local playboy Puerto Rico and try to get away with it. And, then she tapped director Deborah Riley Draper and Liz Edwards and Ilene Liff Mier to help bring the story to life. 

 

At its core, SEASON OF THE WITCHES is about the dichotomy of people, how a person/situation/setting can be two things at once. Beautiful and ugly. Brilliant and dull. Controlled and chaotic.

 

The project is a thriller because thrillers perform well with movie-going audiences on screens worldwide. The film is  set in Puerto Rico because the island's stunning landscapes and  lush sounds provide a perfect backdrop to the ugliness of the crime committed and its aftermath. 

(Images by Melissa Alexander of @phyllis.iller)

 

The script was written before Maria, but the storm and its aftermath made its messages and the economic opportunity the film represents even more pertinent to the island’s future. It is our hope that viewers will not only be entertained but also educated. We want people to watch the film for the thrills and walk away with a bit more awareness of what's happening in Puerto Rico post-Maria and why. 

 

Which is why filming on the island and this campaign is so important to us. Shooting in Puerto Rico is more expensive than shooting domestically for a variety of reasons. Several stateside locations, including Savannah, Ga, could (and likely will for at least some scenes) "cheat" for the island without audience being any wiser. But every dollar we raise in this campaign means we can spend more time and money in Puerto Rico, supporting the island's economy and filmmaking community. 

 

 

 

SEASON OF THE WITCHES will be entered into select film festivals (LA Film Festival, Brooklyn Film Festival, Toronto International Film Festival, International Panafrican Film Festival, Pan African Film & Arts Festival, American Black Film Festival, Los Angeles Women's International Film Festival, Women’s International Film & Arts Festival) to create buzz and shopped to acquisition executives at major studios and content distributors (Netflix, Sony Pictures Classic, IFC Films, BH Tilt, A24, Entertainment Studios and STX Entertainment).

 

Our primary marketing objective will be to highlight the film’s unique story and storytellers to generate interest and drive distribution.

 

The film’s authentic, timely link to Puerto Rico and the island’s recovery will also be leveraged. To that end, we will visually document the filmmaking process from pre- to post-production with an eye toward social engagement and invite select media to embed w/ filmmakers throughout the process (NPR, CNN’s Great Big Stories, Blavity, Vice, Fader, Refinery 29).

 

Much like horror films, thrillers are not primarily star driven. However because the success of the film will hinge on quality-acting performances, we plan to approach a slate of talented, up-and - coming actors for lead roles.