I have to admit, I was somewhat surprised by Urban Numina's popularity. Every day it just surged ahead of the other two films, and kept gaining momentum. With the interest in the film version growing, I started going over the original script revising and tightening the concept.
To win this competition it is going to take more than popularity - votes will get us to the big opportunity, but what Urban Numina needs is a strong script to win. I didn't want to simply paste the series together and polyfiller the gaps in the plot. I wanted the movie to stand on its own as a movie.
So my initial script was a tighter tale that cut out characters like Aoibheann, Moira, Carey and Jenna. But I felt it still lacked something. As I worked on rewrites, it struck me. What was Urban Numina the movie?
I had a story, and I had themes and a plot. But I felt that Urban Numina needed to have a clear identity that would make it different. Then it struck me - what if I took the gods out. What kind of a movie would that be?
Inspiration struck at the same time as I was contacted by Miranda Sadjack, who was following my twitter account and promoting her own short film - Gone. I pledged my support and got sent the script. It was a beautiful and incredibly well written script that I found inspiring from a writer's voice perspective. Seriously, go to that link and pledge the project. That film needs to be made. I can wait here...
Pledged? Great. So what was my big idea.
Urban Numina the movie is an indie relationship comedy movie that ends up having a god fall in the middle of it and send it careening off into an unexpected direction.
As a result, I have been thinking about what would have happened if Deus never showed up, then let that direct where things go because he does show up. Following? Well I'll be posting regularly about the development of the script as I go along.
The other big change is focusing more on Andrea, Devon and Mel as individuals. The webseries went off track when we were forced to make last minute rewrites due to unforeseen circumstances. As a result the show became a bit unfocused, in my view. With the movie I can return to what I really wanted to do with the story.
There are three key relationships that Deus' arrival disrupts. Devon and Rhys. Andrea and Carey. Mel and Jenna.
I will be posting more about the relationships at a later date.
Voting
Just a reminder about how the voting in Make My Movie works.
Stage One
This is the open stage where anyone can pitch a film. The judges will pick twelve films out of the hundreds of applicants. The decision will be based on a combination of popularity, the idea itself and whether the judges feel that the film can be made for the funding provided. (Or something like that.)
So while the votes aren't directly linked to success, they will be used to decide the likely popularity of the film and will have an influence on the decision. So obviously more votes are still a good thing if we can get them. So get your friends voting. I will be spending the month of October discussing the rewrites of the film, both out of interest but also to help give you - the fans - resources to direct friends to in order to convince them to vote for us.
I really do believe that Urban Numina can be made for $100,000 and will be a hilarious and broadly appealing film. So do your part to help us! :)
Stage Two
Once the judges have chosen twelve films to go through to the next stage, then the competition really heats up. The public are in full control here. The votes are reset to zero and the two films that get the most votes win. Simple as that.
I have already started work on plans to campaign for Urban Numina in the event of getting through to this round. This includes the enticements I mentioned last post, along with some cool little ideas and promotional materials. Naturally I will discuss these in more detail in November.
Stage Three
The toughest stage. This is when the two winners have to present their scripts and materials to the judges. The judges will then pick the winner, who will receive the $100,000 funding to make their movie. That is why I'm doing rewrites now - a feature film script is a big challenge, and to be up to scratch it needs to go through a few rewrites.
I believe in Urban Numina, and I want to provide the best script possible for this film. Hence getting it done now and spending the rest of this year tightening and improving. While it does have a strong gay storyline, I want to make the film have a much broader appeal. I want this to be a comedy that isn't just shelved as "gay comedy." I want people to look at this as something fresh and fun.
Remember, every person you convince to vote now is getting us that little bit closer to getting the funding. Also remind your friends Urban Numina the webseries was made for around $150. Imagine what we can achieve with $100,000, professional crew, professional producer, script supervisor and backing.
And because I like to keep reminding people of the link. :)
http://www.makemymovie.co.nz/entry/urban-numina
See you later!
Conan
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