Over the weekend, MUBI and “Ebert Presents At the Movies” critic Ignatiy Vishnevetsky released the first teaser for his first film, “Ellie Lumme.” Here it is:
Vishnevetsky tells me the “medium-length movie” is about “a person who is disappointed with the way their life has turned out, and decides to take out their frustrations on a stranger,” and is a “kind of non-supernatural ghost story, though it does include some overtly supernatural elements.”
The production has one full day of shooting left on its schedule. After that, the plan is to submit “Ellie Lumme” to festivals, although the first people who’ll see the film will likely be the backers who crowdfunded the project on GoFundMe. Anyone who donated at least ten dollars will get to see the movie via stream or download as soon as the final cut is ready; donors who gave $100 earned the unusual right to not only watch the movie, but to organize their own screenings and even charge admission. “It seemed like a sensible way to distribute a film like this one, which is shorter than a feature but also too long for most festival shorts programs,” Vishnevetsky says.
The fundraiser was certainly a success; Vishnevetsky raised four times more money than he asked for. It’ll be interesting to see whether that distribution strategy is a success as well.
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