Birdsong

An estranged daughter returns home to be with her father on the night of his death.

We need your help to create a moving story of love and loss.

BIRDSONG

BIRDSONG is a 10-15 min Family Drama bringing to the screen themes of Love, Loss and Regret. The short film follows the story of Sarah, an estranged daughter who abruptly returns to New Zealand after discovering that her father Earl only has a few days to live.

The pair haven’t spoken to each other following a massive fight over Sarah leaving on the night of her departure overseas. After learning about her father’s condition, Sarah returns home to spend the night at the edge of his bed. The two reconnect over fonder memories of a time now gone.

WHY WE NEED TO MAKE THIS FILM

In many ways, this story reflects our own experiences, so it has a deep meaning for all involved. We want to show that family is forever, even through hardships and divisions. 

In times during which families have been separated for years due to Covid, we feel it was the right moment to share this story. We all know someone who lost a family member and yet was not able to be there for them in their last moments.

WHY WE NEED YOUR HELP

This is our final creative project as students at SAE institute and is our biggest undertaking to date. We are all pouring our heart, soul and savings into this project to bring our vision to life. Despite this, we need your help in order to give this story the justice it deserves.

The proceeds from the campaign will go towards:

• Booking the perfect location: We need to book a house for 4x full days and 5x nights of filming at a cost of $1094.

• Hiring Costumes: We need multiple different costumes for each of our actors as our film spans numerous decades and time periods. For a cost of $300.

• Hiring Props: We have sourced many of the props needed for the film, but we are still missing some key props. Some include multiple paintings that will need to be custom made and FX Fake Glass to be safely broken on set. For a cost of $254

• Catering: With 15+ crew and 8+ actors over at least 6 full shoot days there are a lot of hungry mouths to feed. This is one of the most important parts of the project making sure everyone is well feed and hydrated throughout the long days. A cost estimated at around $1000.

• Transportation: 2x full shoot days will take place far out in the native bush. Our actors and crew will need one large van to carry them out to these locations, and all our equipment will need to be transported in another. At a cost of $296

• Hiring Equipment: We luckily already have access to the majority of the equipment we need through SAE Institute. However, we still need a few key pieces of equipment to do the film justice. The extra pieces of equipment needed are: 

1x set of Wireless Video Transmitters priced at $115 per day.

1x EasyRig STAB, priced at $258.75 per day.

THE TEAM

Levi Andreas Roberts-Brothers is the Writer, Producer and Director of this upcoming short film. Overflowing with imagination, Levi always brings to the audience stories that succeed in capturing one’s attention as soon as the title pops onto the big screen. 

Daniel Monckton will be the Director of Photography on this project. Daniel is not only technically talented but also brings a very distinct vision to this short film. 

Saman Tehrani is the First Assistant Director on this project. Saman is Levi’s long-term collaborator and knows exactly how to support him during production. 

Jacob Reid is the Producer, Mixing & Mastering Engineer on this project. Jacob brings his wide range of experience in the audio department to the project.

Lucie Lesnard is the Production Designer for this short film. Lucie has followed this script through all of its drafts and has a very definite vision for the look the director is going for. 

THANK YOU!

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