Filmmaker and NYU professor Pete Chatmon’s documentary follows five artists and their quests to make their films as the landscape changes.
New York City, NY, October 15, 2013–Seed&Spark, the world’s first crowdfunding and digital distribution platform made just for independent film, this week saw the launch of director Pete Chatmon’s “Click Here: Or How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love Making Movies.” Chatmon, a filmmaker (“Premium”) and NYU film production professor is embarking on a meta-narrative documentary: he is making a film about the changing landscape of filmmaking using many of the new tools available to filmmakers.
After directing his first feature “Premium” starring Dorian Missick, Zoe Saldana, and Hill Harper, and documentary “761st” about the first black tank battalion in WWII, Chatmon realized that the landscape was changing all around him. What was once the primary terrain of people that had attended film school, was now an open playing field for anyone with an idea, a little bit of money, and some friends with free time. Click Here was inspired, in part, by the opportunities and challenges of this new terrain: as he embarks on his next feature, “$FREE.99″, a small town heist screenplay for which I was awarded the Creative Promise Narrative Award at the Tribeca Film Institute, he will chronicle the overall experience of getting to production in this new version of the industry.
“The universal power of storytelling has infected more people than ever before and audiences have the ability to find the content they desire virtually any time of day,” said Chatmon. ”CLICK HERE is a feature length documentary that follows several emerging mediamakers as they navigate the minefield of taking a project from script to screen. It’s do or die for these artists and we want to give people the opportunity to ride shotgun on their journey. We chose Seed&Spark as our crowdfunding platform because of the scope it offers both storytellers and audiences. Supporters can see exactly where their contributions are going and after reaching our goal we can also distribute ‘Click Here’ to the same community that will have supported us along the way. The Seed&Spark team is always available for support, which was an important factor for us in choosing a platform.”
“If ever there were a documentary in the making that captures what Seed&Spark is trying to achieve, ‘Click Here’ would be it,” says Erica Anderson, Seed&Spark’s crowdfunding head and Chief Marketing Officer. ”Not only do they give an insiders’ view of the indie film world, but they also attempt to change the world through this behind-the-scenes reveal and help fellow filmmakers in the process. And that really speaks to us on many levels.”
Chatmon is aiming to raise $50,000 by November 15th 2013. Appearing in the pitch video and also the documentary are Nic Gonda of Tugg, Inc, Jennifer Anderson from Slated, Jeremy Boxer from Vimeo, James Belfer of Dogfish Accelerator, Casey Pugh, co-founder of VHX and representatives from ValDean Entertainment, Dark Arts, One Entertainment, Team Epiphany Prime Focus, NYU Tisch, NoBudge.com, Hand Held Films,Rosete Brothers,
TriBeCa Film Institute, SoundSpace, My Damn Channel, Simon Says Entertainment, Olive Juice Films / Section II.
“Click Here is one of the more important educational tools for filmmakers today. Much like how Indie Game: The Movie enlightened gamers of the trials, tribulations, and current trends of their independent craft, Chatmon brings to focus the major disrupters previously hidden in the shadows of our industry that are now at the forefront of economic, social, and artistic change.” – James Belfer, founder of Dogfish Accelerator
Projects in the Seed&Spark studio must raise 80% of their crowdfunding goal to keep their funds. Successful projects are guaranteed distribution. Currently, projects on Seed&Spark have a 67% success rate of funding.
About the filmmakers:
Pete Chatmon, Director/Executive Producer
Chatmon’s debut feature film, “Premium”, starring Dorian Missick, Zoe Saldana, and Hill Harper, is currently airing on The Showtime Networks. Chatmon also wrote, produced, and directed “761st”, a documentary on the first black tank battalion in WWII, narrated by Emmy-winner, Andre Braugher.
He has directed a variety of commercials and music videos including Grammy-winning artist Joe’s hit, “We’re Family”, from the soundtrack to “Welcome Home Roscoe Jenkins”, starring Martin Lawrence. Chatmon is also the recipient of the 2008 Tribeca Film Festival “All Access” Program’s Creative Promise Narrative Award for the bank heist screenplay “$FREE. 99”, written in collaboration with Candice Sanchez McFarlane. His filmmaking career began in 2001 with the official Sundance Film Festival selection of his thesis short film “3D”, starring Kerry Washington. A graduate of New York University’s, Tisch School of the Arts, Chatmon has been featured in Forbes Magazine, Variety, and NBC’s Weekend Today in NY.
Candice Sanchez McFarlane, Executive Producer
Candice Sanchez McFarlane is a communication expert. A trained writer, actress and marketing thought-leader, she honed her skills at Georgetown University, earning a dual degree. Armed with creative prowess, theatrical talent and a keen business savvy, she has developed and produced projects for Pepsi, McDonald’s, Visa, Wyndham Hotels, AT&T, Warner Brothers and HBO.
A true product of New York City, she began acting as early as Sesame Street and has appeared in the HBO Film “Everyday People” and Double7 Images’ “Premium”. She has starred in theater in New York, Los Angeles and Washington D.C. Her writing career advanced when the screenplay “$FREE.99”, written in collaboration with Pete Chatmon, was recognized at the Tribeca Film Festival.
Hannelore Williams, Producer
Hannelore Williams got her BFA in film & television at New York University’s, Tisch School of the Arts. During the fall and spring semesters, Hannelore teaches “Acting for the Camera” at Tisch as well. She has created over ten short form pieces, including the webseries “Queen Hussy” and “The Tutorialists”. Hannelore often works as an editor on both Avid and Final Cut Pro for commercial and narrative content. She can be caught pushing key frames around in AfterEffects as well. She spent the beginning of 2013 working on the projection graphics for the hit Broadway show “Motown: The Musical”. As an actress, she has guest starred on FX’s “Louie”, CBS’ “Blue Bloods”, and ABC’s “One Life to Live”.
About Seed&Spark:
Seed&Spark is building a truly independent filmmaking community where filmmakers and audiences come together for crowdfunding, production, and streaming distribution. Every time an audience member supports the making of a moving picture project (funding, following, sharing) they earn “Sparks” which can be redeemed to watch movies on the streaming platform.
Supporting films lets you watch more films: It’s the new ecosystem for filmmakers & audiences! For more information, go to http://www.seedandspark.com and http://www./seedandspark, or follow us on Twitter at @seedandspark.
