Hello dear backers and citizens of Nightmare City,
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We would like to give you another update on our project, as we know that most of you are eagerly waiting to hear some news, and we also want to give you a small insight into the world of independent filmmaking, so that you can hopefully understand what problems and challenges fimmakers these days have to face and why it often takes so long to get a good film, especially a horror movie produced:
Over the last few months we have tried our best (and still do) to get the highest possible budget for Nightmare City to make this a great movie and remake, but because of many factors like the collapsed DVD market, online movie piracy, and the oversaturation of cheap & bad horror & zombie films that have flooded the market over the past few years, it has become very, very difficult - almost impossible - for independent filmmakers to get a budget from studios and financiers above $ 1.5 million USD for such a movie, unless you have a big studio behind you and some big A-list stars like Brad Pitt attached. Even iconic filmmakers like the Godfather of Zombie films George A. Romero and John Carpenter are facing this problem these days. Of course, a zombie movie could be done with a low budget below 1.5 or even 1 million USD, but we would have to make drastic changes and save costs wherever possible, like reducing the amount of special effects and gore or work with very limited time and budget for cast, crew, locations and make up effects, etc.
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Also, we had to learn that one has to be very cautious with picking the right partners and with whom you're dealing and working with. We had some people and companies interested in our project, and we wasted a lot of time working with them, waiting and putting faith in them. But after doing some research and after warnings from other filmmakers who had made bad experiences with those people, we decided to look for other partners to not put our project at risk. There are many big mouths and shady people out there who are just trying to grab your project and take over all creative control, rights and money and then kick you out of your own project. We want to avoid that and we're very cautious, also because we witnessed some of those bad happenings on projects from other independent filmmakers, and because we also want to protect our beloved project and our backers.
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So, we started to think of new strategies on how we could still make this a great & impressive movie without many limitations and how to get better tax incentives and funds and the biggest bang for our buck.
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Our partners and line producers came up with various suggestions like making significant cuts & changes to the script, reducing the amount of gore and special effects, shooting it with a no-name cast & crew, or shooting the entire film in Eastern Europe, like Bulgaria, to save costs. We want to avoid all of that and we also want to take care of our backers, especially the multitude of backers from the US, who purchased a role in the movie and who might not be able to travel that far.
We’ve finally come up with a new option and plan that we are now working on and which could help us get a decent budget and make our film great:
We're now planning on shooting the movie mainly in Puerto Rico where we could benefit from very attractive film funds and tax incentives, which will be more attractive for partners and financiers, and the scenery & atmosphere there would be fantastic and perfect for our story. We might be able to save up to 60% of the production costs compared to other places in the US. As a Commonwealth of the United States, Puerto Rico also offers all of the benefits and protections available on the mainland, including applicability of U.S. labor, safety and minimum wage laws, U.S. intellectual property and banking protections and U.S. Dollar currency. No U.S. passport is required for United States citizens.
With the Puerto Rican tax benefits there's a much better chance to produce our film with a higher budget and it would be easier to get some A-list actors attached and financed.
We're now working on this strategy together with another experienced line producer and local production service companies, but this also means we have to work out a new budget and adapt the script and story to the new locations and resources. We're confident that this would be the best route for us to take and we're working diligently on moving forward with this new strategy as fast as possible.
Also, we're currently in talks with a Hollywood based company that is committed to independent films and specialized in handling distribution and acquiring production funds, and they are very interested in our project and would like to work with us and help us with the production budget and worldwide pre-sales.
We believe that shooting in Puerto Rico with the benefits of the big tax incentives and the great, tropical sceneries would be fantastic and make this film something special and add a unique atmosphere and tone to the remake in the tradition of the zombie classics of Lucio Fulci (Zombi 2), Marino Girolami (Zombi Holocaust), or Umberto Lenzi himself. And it will certainly make this a much greater experience and adventure for cast & crew and our role backers.
Of course we're also thinking and caring about those backers who got a role in the film, but maybe won't be able to travel to Puerto Rico: For those acting backers who won't be able to get to Puerto Rico, if we do indeed shoot there, we will shoot some scenes in the US, so that everyone can still participate and be in the movie, but most of the film would be shot in Puerto Rico.
We will of course support all of our actors & extras who backed us and help them with the travel, lodging, etc. We will help find & organize cheap rooms near the filming set (maybe organize rooms at the same hotel for everyone), help wherever we can with the organization of the travel, etc. Please note that Puerto Rico is not finalized yet as filming location, but at the moment it appears to be the best option for our project and budget and we're now focusing on shooting there. Of course, we will inform everyone in advance, at least 2-3 months before production starts, so that everyone can arrange and plan their travels accordingly with their work and everything.
We hope you will like our new plan as much as we do. It may not be how we originally planned it, but we just want to ensure to get the best out of a limited budget and to make the best film we can.
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Once again, we want to thank you all for your patience and your continuous support and faith in our project. We appreciate your loyalty and support and don’t take it for granted in the least. We know some of you may be concerned that this project now takes so long and maybe isn’t going to happen, but let us assure you that we’re working really hard on this project the whole time and we will do our best to not disappoint you. Knowing that we have so many supporters and fans waiting for this film puts a lot of additional pressure on us, but also keeps us pushing forward every day.
We have also backed many, many different crowdfunding projects on Kickstarter and Indiegogo for years, and so we know how frustrating it sometimes (or often) can be if one doesn't see any results or perks from a project, or if one never hears from a project again. We also made a lot of bad experiences when supporting other projects, but that's crowdfunding with its challenges and risks - as a backer you're funding and believing in an idea and great vision and you're becoming a part of it and its long, creative progress and journey, and often there will be unforeseen obstacles, setbacks, challenges and delays, like every project, every dream and all entrepeneurs have to face, especially when making a film.
We will always do our best to keep everyone informed and satisfied to the best of our ability, please don't get panicked if it sometimes takes longer to receive some news. We're working almost every day and night on our project and we will do our very best to make this a film everyone will be proud of, and make sure that everyone will get their perks as quickly as possible once the film has been shot and even more, even if the project may take longer and became more challenging and more work than we initially expected.
As said above, we will do our best to assist everyone, all of our role backers and set visitors, once we have finalized the filming location, budget and schedule, and we are doing our best to make this a great film and experience for everyone, and to get all of our backers some cool extras like opportunities to be part of some other upcoming movies on which we're working on and in which we will be involved, too.
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Please keep your faith in us and our project, your support and loyalty is so important for us and it helps us so much to have so many loyal, supportive and amazing backers and fans on our side, who already have become like a big family and a great community and friends for us. We hope that you can understand a little bit why this project takes longer than we expected. We're just ambitious, independent filmmakers with a great vision and an ambitious project that would never be realizable without you and your support. We're fans like you, and we want to make a great film for fans from fans and together with fans.
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If you have any questions you can send us an email anytime to: office@monstaworx.com
Thank you very much!
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Your NIGHTMARE CITY team
02-04-2016