Ultimate World references a specific moment in Austin culture, yet tells a story with universal themes. It captures the feelings of an old life slipping away while looking for a new one, and it follows a journey of events that are colorful, quiet, frantic, hilarious, heartfelt and unexpected.
Ultimate World references a specific moment in Austin culture, yet tells a story with universal themes. It captures the feelings of an old life slipping away while looking for a new one, and it follows a journey of events that are colorful, quiet, frantic, hilarious, heartfelt and unexpected.
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Story
Mission Statement
We are proud of how our film employed the diverse (race, gender, sexual orientation) talent without stereotyping anyone or using them as a checklist item. So few films we can think of feature a Latina female lead, and it was meaningful, especially to our half-Latino co-director, to change that.About The Project
The Story
Teddy and Phoebe are a young, recently split couple trying to survive the last few weeks of their lease together. When Phoebe gets a tip to call a mysterious number written on an arcade bathroom, it sends her on a sprawling, often surreal journey down a series of rabbit holes. In the meantime, Teddy navigates a new love (with the help of the kindly old man living in his closet). With their old lives coming to an end, both Phoebe and Teddy must do everything they can to find new ones.
Genesis of the World
This film was borne out of the anonimity of life in a new city (Austin, Texas), from late night encounters with interesting characters we never saw again, to seeing valued friends we once saw constantly, now only for a night or so as they passed through town onto bigger things. As writers and directors, we’ve pushed each other to be more personal, more precise, funnier, and to make less obvious creative choices. After several shorts and scripts, as well as years of bouncing ideas big and small off of each other, we decided we felt ready to create our own feature film. We wanted to channel universal emotions, but through a film that took chances and handled things differently than a standard micro-budget feature (such as having about 300,000 locations and a vast array of colorful characters).Growing the Population
What began as a synthesis of our two voices became something much bigger than the two of us, as we approached other key creatives for the project. We found that others were responding to what we’d come up with, relating to the feelings we’d baked into the script, sizzle reel, pitch slideshow. A line we dropped in our first meeting with our producer echoed something she’d been told a week before at a strange moment in her life. We went to bars with our lead actors and talked about the project, and were moved to see how much they were willing to open up to us to help build it. Our cinematographer even turned down working on the camera department of Martin Scorsese’s upcoming The Irishman, so if an insert of someone’s hand turning a doorknob in that film looks a little out of focus, feel free to yell at us. Our (Ultimate) world expanded as the cast and crew came together.The Shoot and Beyond
The shoot was an exhausting, exhilarating experience, everyone on set working half a dozen positions to get what we needed, while squeezing in new, important scenes into our already packed schedule because we knew the film would be better for them. We captured things with this film - the talents of a variety of people we’ve met over the years, some of the places that make Austin what it is (including a beloved video store the day before its closing). And since this vision grew beyond the two of us into this, we’re ready for it to grow more in the hands of our friends and other professionals. That’s why we’re here, raising money for post-production. We’re ready for people to experience the extreme specificity of the film, while feeling less alone with the weird transitional moments in life where certain things we’ve taken for granted seem to slip away from us, and we either fight to hold on or to hurry the process up. We hope you can all become a part of this, whether you simply watch it or enjoy it, show it to others, get inspired in some way, or make weird anime fan art (why not - we’d be glad to see it). It’s been great so far, but we know the best is yet to come!The Ultimate Future
Since we have all of our footage already shot, all we need are those final elements of post production to make this film the best it can be. With your help and pledges we can raise our goal of just under $25,000 to ensure that this film utilizes every penny to pay our dedicated post production staff as well as engage viewers at film festivals across the world and streaming platforms available in your hometown.
Join our pride in this Ultimate World as we seek to expand our community of artists, friends, and viewers across all walks of life!
Incentives
$10
Taking Thanks to the Streets
For $10 a key crew member of the film will take to the streets and record of video of themselves in a busy public setting loudly thanking you, the backer for your kindness. The video will then be posted on our social media page for all to see.
$15
Special Thanks in the Credits
Everyone is special, but does everyone get thanked for being special? You could be!
$25
Digital Copy of the Film
Pause whenever you want to catch background performances by people after they become famous. Sync it up with a Pink Floyd album - who knows, could work wonders with Ummagumma. The digital copy of the final film also includes a special thanks in our credits.
$50
DVD+Digital Copy of the Film
All the same stuff you can do with the digital copy plus you can play frisbee. If you like hearing us talk in the video but you hate the way we look, our commentary track is just the thing for you!
$75
Drawing
Spencer will lovingly labor over a drawing of whoever you want. You can even choose someone Spencer hates and he’ll have to stare at every detail of their stupid face. Check out his work on Instagram: sketchesbyspencer. As a bonus for supporting new art we will also throw in a digital copy of the film to accompany your new custom artwork.
$100
VHS Exclusive
VHS is back, baby. Old tapes of sword-and-sorcerey films are as important to our cinematic diet as seeing Kurosawa films on the big screen, and we want to put together a special, limited VHS edition of Ultimate World, with brand new exclusive content added. We want to create a weird, heartfelt package for a weird, heartfelt film.
$250
Media Lovers Extravaganza
When it comes to collecting media and supporting independent art you won't settle for a little, you want the whole WORLD. The Media Lovers Extravaganza gets you a DVD, Digital Copy, VHS Exclusive, a custom sketch by Spencer, and a Personal Shot Out on our social media page!
$500
Your Very Own Short Film
After such a huge, ambitious undertaking, we're ready to get back to the sandbox and get our hands dirty again. Give us a prompt (or two), and we'll let our imaginations run wild and make a 1-3 minute short film just for you (and your loved ones too, why not?).
$1,000
Executive Producer Credit
You're a real heavy-hitter, Ultimate Royalty. You could have bought nearly a thousand items off of the Wendy's dollar menu (nearly, because I'm factoring sales tax). Is Wendy's good? I don't know, I've never been. But you're good. You're great! And you'll be credited as an executive producer on a labor of love feature film. You could win a bet against someone who doesn't believe you are a producer. And with that money you could go to Wendy's. Or, more likely, somewhere else. We appreciate you!
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Wishlist
Use the WishList to pledge cash and loan items - or - Make a pledge by selecting an incentive directly.
$10
Taking Thanks to the Streets
For $10 a key crew member of the film will take to the streets and record of video of themselves in a busy public setting loudly thanking you, the backer for your kindness. The video will then be posted on our social media page for all to see.
$15
Special Thanks in the Credits
Everyone is special, but does everyone get thanked for being special? You could be!
$25
Digital Copy of the Film
Pause whenever you want to catch background performances by people after they become famous. Sync it up with a Pink Floyd album - who knows, could work wonders with Ummagumma. The digital copy of the final film also includes a special thanks in our credits.
$50
DVD+Digital Copy of the Film
All the same stuff you can do with the digital copy plus you can play frisbee. If you like hearing us talk in the video but you hate the way we look, our commentary track is just the thing for you!
$75
Drawing
Spencer will lovingly labor over a drawing of whoever you want. You can even choose someone Spencer hates and he’ll have to stare at every detail of their stupid face. Check out his work on Instagram: sketchesbyspencer. As a bonus for supporting new art we will also throw in a digital copy of the film to accompany your new custom artwork.
$100
VHS Exclusive
VHS is back, baby. Old tapes of sword-and-sorcerey films are as important to our cinematic diet as seeing Kurosawa films on the big screen, and we want to put together a special, limited VHS edition of Ultimate World, with brand new exclusive content added. We want to create a weird, heartfelt package for a weird, heartfelt film.
$250
Media Lovers Extravaganza
When it comes to collecting media and supporting independent art you won't settle for a little, you want the whole WORLD. The Media Lovers Extravaganza gets you a DVD, Digital Copy, VHS Exclusive, a custom sketch by Spencer, and a Personal Shot Out on our social media page!
$500
Your Very Own Short Film
After such a huge, ambitious undertaking, we're ready to get back to the sandbox and get our hands dirty again. Give us a prompt (or two), and we'll let our imaginations run wild and make a 1-3 minute short film just for you (and your loved ones too, why not?).
$1,000
Executive Producer Credit
You're a real heavy-hitter, Ultimate Royalty. You could have bought nearly a thousand items off of the Wendy's dollar menu (nearly, because I'm factoring sales tax). Is Wendy's good? I don't know, I've never been. But you're good. You're great! And you'll be credited as an executive producer on a labor of love feature film. You could win a bet against someone who doesn't believe you are a producer. And with that money you could go to Wendy's. Or, more likely, somewhere else. We appreciate you!
- Updates
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Current Team
About This Team
THE CREW
SPENCER LUCAS & NATHANIEL HENDRICKS
Writers/Directors
AMANDA PARKER
ProducerJACKSON WARNER LEWIS
Cinematographer
CHINWE OKORIE
EditorLILLY BYRD
Production DesignerVERONIKA PAYTON
Post Production Supervisor/Backrow Films Representative
MAX WILDE
Sound EditorTHE CAST
ELYANA BARRERA
Phoebe
ZACH DESUTTER
Teddy
CIARA PEACOCK
Victoria
DOUG HEINZ
PigeonFRANNY HAROLD
MeganJAZMYNE MORENO
ZariaLES BEST
The Closet Man
BABE MCGUIRE
Clementine
JOHN GHOLSON
The StrangerVANESSA GONZALEZ
Brenda
GABRIEL GUNDACKER
DJ
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