Feature Film about Homeless Man, To Donate Half of Film’s Profits to Homeless. Print
News Releases - Music & Entertainment
Written by Becky Adams   
Tuesday, 13 September 2011 12:14
Hi, I wanted to let you know about a movie we're working on.  The film is called “The Guitar Player”.  The story is about a homeless street performer who gets a second chance in life but struggles with his painful past.  It seems only fitting that a film about someone who is homeless in a bad economy, will be funded by the public.  That is the intention of the filmmaker Michael Stein.  He has created an elaborate fund raising campaign to finance the film and intends on giving half his profits to homeless causes.  In this day and age where film companies are taking what they can get, it seems like a grand gesture.

The film scheduled to be shot January 9th in Los Angeles.  Due to the content and the film’s cause many contributions have been made but the production still lacks liquid funds, so the filmmakers decided to raise funds publicly.

The Guitar Player is based on a fictional character named Robert Shiller (a.k.a “Robert Shiller The Killer”) a seventeen year old champion high school wrestler in a small town in Northern California. One week before the state championship, Robert accidentally killed his best friend and team mate, during practice. The loss of his friend and the social stigma in a small town was more than he could bear, so he ran away from home, grabbing only what he could fit in his wresting bag and his best friend’s guitar even though he did not know how to play.  Our story begins twenty years later with Robert living on the streets.  The screenplay was written by the director Michael Stein.

Stein has a knack for making lower budget films with a larger budget look and feel.  His last film, “Love Hollywood Style” starred Faye Dunaway, Andy Dick, Coolio and Stephen Tobolowsky and has become a cult comedy classic.  Stein’s, first role came when he was cast by his friend Paul Thomas Anderson to play the lead role of Dirk Diggler in the original short film “The Dirk Diggler Story”, that later became the feature film “Boogie Nights” which Michael Appears in as well.

“Getting funding has always been a struggle”, Stein says.  “The past several years in Hollywood have seen a major change.”  "They are not handing out movie deals like hotcakes the way they use to in the 90s."  It’s been four years since Stein made his last film.  The problem was self funding a film in a bad economy along with the obligations of supporting his family.  He knew about crowd funding websites like kickstarter.com but did not feel that any of his scripts would go well with a crowd funding concept.  He then came up with an idea that he felt would be with the right vehicle.  A film that would be funded 100% by the public about someone who is homeless and the earnings of the film benefiting homeless causes.

The film’s production is contingent upon the funds being raised.  The film’s kickstarter campaign also has a high concept.  One of the packages, a thirty five hundred dollar pledge allows businesses to promote their products at each of the premieres, which will be in several major cities, including L.A. and New York.  Another package, a ten thousand dollar pledge includes “An Event for a Day” where one thousand tarps will be donated to a local homeless shelter and a screening in a movie theater in the city of your choice, all being promoted in honor of the pledge contributor.  There are many other elaborate incentives built around the premieres and promotion of the film.  Tricks of the trade Stein learned working with Peter Guber and John Peters on movie promotions when he was a twenty years old nightclub promoter.

The minimal funding goal for the film was set at one hundred and fifty thousand.  A typical low amount is always set for projects on kickstarter due to their “all of nothing” policy.  Stein and the Line Producer Aimee Flaherty hope to break the kickstarter’s funding record for a film, which is approximately half a million.  Once funding is in place, Stein hopes to sell the film to one of the larger film companies and donate fifty percent of his profits to the homeless.

The fund raising campaign is being held for fifty days and expires on October 21st.  Tarp drives will be held in 14 cities around the country in order to bring more awareness to the project.  The tarp drives consist of one thousand tarps will be handed out at homeless shelters for people that are living on the streets.

If you are interested in learning more about the film or how you can help, you can visit the website at: www.theguitarplayermovie.com or contact me directly at 310-281-6946.  We need all the exposure we can get! Thanks.