Kickstarter Movie: The Hades Pit

Got an email about a kickstarter project to make an independent film, The Hades Pit, that sounds kind of interesting.  Here's the synopsis (which doesn't quite grab me) and the introduction video (which, I think, does a better job of creating enthusiasm for the project).  The director, Tony Sebastian Ukpo, has made several films already and has some ambitious goals for this one if it's funded.

The story starts with a young woman and her dog on their way to the countryside with her father, on a regular annual father/daughter retreat where he works as a Park Ranger. On this trip however, something is not right, signalled by the smoke coming from behind the abandoned factory on the way to their home. They pay no heed to it, and things slowly start to get stranger and stranger in a suspenseful build up to the fathers abduction from their home in broad daylight by large masked figures. With all the communication posts down, and the nearby service station now manned by a fresh corpse, the daughter emerging from where she was hidden away by her father during the carnage, eventually takes matters into her own hands, heading with her dog towards the one place they must have taken him. She finds an underground facility filled with weird sinister scientists, experimental creatures and an unlikely ally in one of the test subjects, and is forced to put a lot of her gaming instincts (She's a gamer) to use in a real world situation.

Interesting Tidbits

I recently heard about two kickstarter campaigns that I thought I'd mention here, as they sound interesting.  I haven't committed to either one yet, but the first one especially interests me.

Bart Leib of Crossed Genres wants to fund an anthology with a very interesting theme:

Long Hidden: Speculative Fiction From the Margins of History 

Most written chronicles of history, and most speculative stories, put rulers, conquerors, and invaders front and center. People with less power, money, or status—enslaved people, indigenous people, people of color, queer people, laborers, women, people with disabilities, the very young and very old, and religious minorities, among others—are relegated to the margins. Today, mainstream history continues to perpetuate one-sided versions of the past while mistelling or erasing the stories of the rest of the world.

There is a long and honorable legacy of literary resistance to erasure. This anthology partakes of that legacy. It will feature stories from the margins of speculative history, each taking place between 1400 and the early 1900s and putting a speculative twist—an element of science fiction, fantasy, horror, or the unclassifiably strange—on real past events. 

Our plan is to include about 20 stories, or about 100,000 words. The anthology will be released in trade paperback and DRM-free digital formats in the first quarter of 2014. 

They've got quite a line-up of international authors for this, including Aliette de Bodard, Ken Liu and Nnedi Okorafor.  At the $10 pledge mark you get a digital copy of the collection.  Check out their page for more information.

The next kickstarter is for a film called Fire Clouds by Hawt Sawce, a Toronto director.  Here's a short video that shows the style of art they want to use and the film's premise:



I'm not sure I'm keen on the art style, but the story sounds interesting.  You don't get the film (even in digital format) until the $50 mark, which seems high to me.  You can find more info about the project here.

Finally, I love Old Spice's marketing.  They have fantastic commercials and then my husband noticed this on his deodorant:

Oh yeah. :D

Crossed Genres Kickstarter Campaign

Tor.com posted about this yesterday on facebook and it's pretty cool.  Crossed Genres Publications is a small press that is asking for money to continue publishing books through 2013.  Their benefits for pledging are quite good - especially at the $25 mark (where you can choose to get all their currently published titles or all their upcoming titles in non-DRM ebook format).

Click here to find out more about their kickstarter campaign.

What interests me about this is their anthologies.  They've taken unique but interesting topics and gathered stories about them.  Like these:

For every supermodel, there are thousands of women who have heard “Why don’t you just eat less?” far too often. Except as comic relief or the unattractive single BFF, those women’s stories are never told.

Crossed Genres Publications presents Fat Girl in a Strange Land, an anthology of fourteen stories of fat women protagonists traveling distant and undiscovered realms.

Subversion: Science Fiction & Fantasy tales of challenging the norm is an anthology of stories about striking back at the status quo – whatever that might be. The Authority can be real or perceived; the act of subversion subtle or overt; and the consequences minute yet significant, or immense and world-shaking. 

They've got submission calls for two new anthologies that also sound interesting.  Click the links to see the submission guidelines.

MENIAL: Skilled Labor in SF  

Other people treat laborers like the dirt they work with. But skilled labor is crucial to the continuation of human culture on earth – and if we ever wish to visit the stars, skilled labor will be indispensable.

We want stories about men and women who understand the nuts and bolts, the atmosphere and the water and the soil. You know – the things that keep us alive. We want characters who get their hands dirty every day; people who aren’t too proud to work their bodies at least as hard as their minds.

We welcome and strongly encourage submissions with underrepresented main characters: characters of color, LGBTQ characters, women characters, etc.!

And:

Winter Well: Speculative Novellas of Older Women

We’re looking for speculative stories featuring women of advancing age (late middle age and older). They’re smart, they’re tough, and they have wills of their own.

They may be warriors, politicians, adventurers, etc. Even if they are also wives, mothers, wise women or healers, those archetypes must not be their defining characteristics. Their motivations, their driving force, must be their own. Whatever was in their past, they’re not interested in being in the background now.

We want stories about women breaking free of suppression; we also want stories of women who’ve been empowered all their lives.