Strange Trio Productions is an unlikely friendship of writers born from the throws of classical theatre. Now we seek to explore stories of our very own, full of questions and wonder. Our aim is for audiences to laugh along with us, embracing the beautiful absurdity of life.

 

AS OF MAY 29TH, WE MET OUR INITIAL PRE-PRODUCTION GOAL!

WE NOW NEED HELP MEETING OUR PRODUCTION/POST-PRODUCTION BUDGET.

Here's what we still need!

• Location Scouting
• Art Design
• Props
• Hair and Makeup
• Transportation To/From Set 
• Editing Costs
• Automated Dialogue Replacement
• Sound Design and Score 
• Film Festival Submission Fees
• Film Festival Travel and Housing

 

The Bootstrap Paradox (also known as the Grandfather Paradox) states that if time-travel is possible, it follows that something in the future may cause something in the past, which may stop the initial cause. The famous example goes, “if a man goes back in time and accidentally kills his grandfather, how was he born in the first place”?

 

 

Our story follows three friends who find themselves trapped in an extraordinary paradox they seem powerless to escape.  Encountering future versions of themselves along a desert highway, the trio continues to play out the same mistakes they just witnessed. Even worse, by trying to stop the loop, they may cause it to exist in the first place. 

Inspired by the stress of global events over the past few years and a diverse range of work, such as No Country For Old Men, Groundhog’s Day, Back to the Future, the Netflix series Dark, and FX’s It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia, The Bootstrap Cafe is a darkly comedic tale that explores themes of being “stuck in an loop”, history repeating itself in similar patterns, and feeling culprit in these cycles of repetition while feeling powerless to stop them repeating.

 

Our hope is that The Bootstrap Cafe will leave audiences with a cathartic release from the stress of the future and the guilt of the past while inspiring wonder at the beautiful absurdity right in front of them.

 

The three of us make our living as theatre actors. When the pandemic hit, we each lost theatre work we had lined up. So, we began meeting weekly over Zoom to work on some of our own scripts in an attempt to keep our sanity… at least somewhat… intact. Storytelling remains integral during these isolating times as a way of giving meaning to our narratives, but our traditional avenues had been shut down. What began as a weekly writers room grew into a full-time endeavor that has resulted in many short stories, a full-length movie script, two full-length plays, several one-act plays, and a very special short film script called The Bootstrap Cafe. 

Now, over a year later, we have officially incorporated Strange Trio Productions and have opened up our writers' room to help other writers in their creative journeys. 

Learn more about our company on our website HERE

 

Our mission is to uplift and amplify the creative voice, creating stories that expose, explore, and document the strangeness and beauty of life, with the goal of creating dialogue and widening perspectives in the world around us. Art from the heart is a powerful tool to record the consciousness of our time. We see direct parallels between how we inspire through our stories and how we promote diversity within our company. We foster a workplace that is diverse, equitable, and inclusive. 

 

The Bootstrap Cafe takes place in a car, on a highway, and at a gas station. We are exploring shooting locations near

San Diego...

in Oregon...

and in Utah...

We are searching for a gas station that will let us film near one of these locations! If you have any leads, don't hesitate to let us know! 

It is important to stay safe on set! Below are some safety protocols that we have in place to help ensure that filming The Bootstrap Cafe procedes safely.  

• Keep the crew small (under 10)
• Maintain social distancing
• Wear masks when not filming
• Encourage cast and crew to receive vaccinations (the three of us already have been vaccinated)
• Disinfect frequently touched items and surfaces
• Avoid sharing phones and equipment 
• Use video or teleconferencing

From the beginning, we have been mindful of the safety of shooting a project like The Bootstrap Cafe. We want to do all that we can to keep our community's health moving in the right direction.  

 

 

The good news is that we are able to keep our budget low because the three of us are volunteering all our time in order to bring this project to life. We've previously made five short films on zero budget, but we want to give this short film a finished look that we feel the script warrants. We're raising a starting budget of $6,000. The three of us will be donating out of our own pockets to help give The Bootstrap Cafe a final budget of $12,000. 

The pre-production budget will go toward...

• Location/Revenue Reimbursement 
• Crew
• Equipment
• Production Insurance
• Car Rentals
• Food for the crew
• Actors (although we won't pay ourselves, we do believe in paying actors for their work)
• Costumes

What can you do to help? 

1. FOLLOW US ON ALL OUR SOCIAL MEDIA CHANNELS

Follow us on Seed & Spark and all our other social media -

https://www.facebook.com/strangetrioproductions/

https://www.instagram.com/strangetrioproductions/

And our website - 

http://strangetrioproductions.com/

2. SPREAD THE WORD  

Tell your friends, family, colleagues, neighbors, or pets about the Bootstrap Cafe! 

3. KEEP FOLLOWING OUR CAMPAIGN

Regular visits to our Seed&Spark! 

 

Thank you for joining our filmmaking adventure!