We are very excited to announce the launch of a crowdfunding campaign for Kin, a new short film to be directed in August by the highly talented Mila Zuo – based on a script co-written by Zuo and Beg Steal Borrow’s William Brown.

The campaign comes on the back of Zuo winning the 2019 Oregon Media Arts Fellowship, sponsored by the Oregon Arts Commission and administered by the NW Film Center.

The crowdfund campaign is being run through Seed&Spark, a site dedicated uniquely to filmmakers. For more information about the campaign – and to donate – check it out here…!

It is only between your help and the award from the Oregon Arts Commission that Kin will get made.

About Kin
Kin tells the story of three 20-somethings who live together in beautiful rural Oregon, passing their time with beer, TV, home repairs, and vague dreams about a better future.

Conversations about love, security, and taste punctuate the film’s depiction of three young adults in a forgotten Pacific Northwest town, as a shy young man is enthralled by the overconfidence of the couple he lives with.

While the men repair their neglected home, the young woman works at a small motel, as Kin builds towards a violent climax, exploring its origins and testing how far audiences can go in their ability to sympathise, identify with, and even forgive characters.

Cast and crew
Kin looks set to feature various actors who are well known from the realms of American independent cinema – and it will be exciting to update people about that as soon as the cast is confirmed.

Meanwhile, the film’s director, Mila Zuo, is best known for her short film, Carnal Orient, which premiered at Slamdance in 2016 before going on to play at a host of other festivals in North America and further afield.

Mila Zuo preps a new film shoot

The film has since been picked up by online horror distributor ALTER, where Carnal… has thus far received over 77,000 views.

In addition, Zuo’s visual essay Détourning Asia/America premiered at CAAMfest 2019 in San Francisco. The film features and is made in collaboration with renowned Asian-American film director Valeria Soe.

Kin will be lensed by Edward P. Davee, who is an award winning writer/director whose films have screened in several film festivals and art galleries around the world.

His first feature, How the Fire Fell won Best Feature Film at the Seattle Film Forum’s Local Sightings Film Festival and was distributed by FilmBuff.

In 2012, Davee also won the Oregon Media Arts Fellowship as well as additional grants from the Oregon Arts Commission and the Regional Arts and Culture Council. The proposal for his 2nd feature film, Lost Division, won him the annual RACC Innovation award as well.

Beg Steal Borrow News, Crowd funding, Friends of Beg Steal Borrow, Kin, New projects, Screenplays, Scripts, Uncategorized

Scriptapalooza wants (to) Kiss and Make-Up

Beg Steal Borrow News, Festivals, Kiss and Make-Up, Screenplays, Uncategorized

William Brown’s screenplay, Kiss and Make-Up, has been accepted into the 2016 Scriptapalooza International Screenplay Competition.

Judges on the Scriptapalooza panel include representatives from Lawrence Bender Productions (Reservoir Dogs, Pulp Fiction), Ambush Entertainment (The Squid and the Whale), Bender-Spink (A History of Violence), Ghost House Pictures (Evil Dead), Cross Creek Pictures (Black Mass), Aperture (San Andreas), Industry Entertainment (Requiem for a Dream) and many more.

Founded by Mark Andrushko and running since 1998, Scriptapalooza has featured in Entertainment Weekly, Variety, Vanity Fair and The Hollywood Reporter, among others.

Over 90 scripts from Scriptapalooza have been optioned, with nearly 80 writers having been hired to write for film or television as a result of the competition. Furthermore, of participants in Scriptapalooza, 68 have gone on to have films released and/or moved into production, with nearly twice that number of writers also getting an agent or manager.

Needless to say, therefore, William is delighted to have had his script selected for the competition. Who knows what his chances are from here on in, but we shall see. Quarterfinalists are announced in late July, with the winners being announced in mid-August 2016.

Kiss and Make-Up is a screenplay about a man who disguises himself as different people in order to remain close to his ex-girlfriend. In October 2015, the script was selected as a finalist at the Oaxaca Film Festival.

Scriptapalooza

Kiss and Make-Up selected as finalist for Oaxaca FilmFest Global Script Challenge

Awards, Beg Steal Borrow News, Festivals, Kiss and Make-Up, New projects, Press and Blog Mentions, Prizes, Screenplays, Scripts

Beg Steal Borrow’s William Brown was selected as a finalist for the Global Script Challenge at the sixth Oaxaca FilmFest in Oaxaca, Mexico.

The top left positioning alas did not mean first prize.

William’s script, Kiss and Make-Up, was one of 12 scripts to be selected for the final – with William ultimately losing out to Dave Ryan for his script, Coffin.

Kiss and Make-Up is a script about a man who disguises himself as different people in order to remain close to his ex-girlfriend. It is the first script that William has submitted to a film festival – and he is delighted to have made it through to the final.

Indeed, as a finalist one can happily claim to have come second or joint second.

Now, all that remains is for someone to produce the film – be it specifically as a Beg Steal Borrow production or otherwise.

Oaxaca FilmFest’s curator, Enrrico Wood, described the script as ‘funny, well-written and witty.’ May such positive feedback continue – and may this be the first of many festival inclusions and perhaps even plaudits.

William relaxes with a beer after making it to the final of the Oaxaca FilmFest’s Global Script Challenge. Photo by María Villanueva.

Many thanks to the Oaxaca FilmFest for including the script and then for listing it as one of the 12 finalists. The Global Script Challenge’s panel of judges included Couch Fest founder Craig Downing, actor Orlando Moguel Granados, directors Ron Leach and Jorge Pérez Solano, screenwriter Mariana Musalem Ramos, Keya Khayatian of the United Talent Agency, and film critic José Quintanilla.

Furthermore, the Oaxaca FilmFest, which was founded in 2010 and which has already garnered a reputation as ‘Sundance south of the border’ also works in partnership with the Sundance Institute – thereby making it even more of an honour to have been selected and then included as a finalist.