Tales

Hello!

We are two young filmmakers, Ella Jones and Rob Thorman, whose film company ‘More Films’ is producing a trilogy of ‘Tales’ – reworked fairytales set against the backdrop of a surreal, majestic, and timeless modern world. We believe the genre of the short film perfectly matches the brevity and simplicity of the fairytale and allows us to recreate these magical and beloved stories through a highly stylised visual language.

Each of our ‘Tales’ strikes a different tone, with ‘Hansel and Gretel’ touching on the sinister, and ultimately deadly, eccentricities of strangers, ‘The Ugly Duckling’ telling a warming and colourful coming-of-age story about the pressures to conform, and ‘The Seven Dancing Princesses’ thrusting our audiences into a high energy, surreal world of passion and repression.

TRAILER FOR THE SECOND FILM IN THE TRILOGY - 'THE SEVEN PRINCESSES' IS NOW UP! https://vimeo.com/48234609

THE HANSEL AND GRETEL TRAILER CAN ALSO BE VIEWED HERE!

About Us

We set up ‘More Films’ as an independent film company in November 2011. We first worked together in 2010 when we co-produced and directed Rob’s ‘When in Rome’, a new musical comedy at the Edinburgh Fringe. Together we created a company that raised £11,000 and took a 28-strong cast, crew and band to the festival, regularly selling out our 120-seat venue and received a clutch of 4/5* reviews.  With the profits made from the show our company, ‘The Cambridge Fools’ have helped fund several other theatrical productions by Cambridge students. After graduating with a Double First, Ella now works at Bonafide Films as development assistant and Rob currently reads for an MPhil in Gender Studies. We are also excited to recently welcome to our team assistant producer Tilly Wilding Coulson, another former Cambridge student who is now pursuing a career in film production and is currently assisting the development team at Element Pictures. For more information about ‘More Films’, please see our website – www.more-films.co.uk. 

About Our Project

Last January, we shot ‘Hansel and Gretel’ which is currently in post-production. We are now trying to raise funding to shoot ‘The Seven Dancing Princesses’ and ‘The Ugly Duckling’ in August and September respectively. Our completed ‘Tales’ will be screened in December to coincide with the 200th Anniversary of the first Grimm’s fairytales volume, in front of a handful of industry professionals, cast, crew, investors and their families. We also plan to approach commissioners at BBC education, other channels, and local schools regarding the prospect of showing our ‘Tales’ to children.

We are fortunate enough to be working with ‘Brodie Films’, established in 2006 by Tasha Bertram and award-winning actor Thomas Sangster (Love Actually, Nowhere Boy, Phineas and Ferb), who is starring as our Ugly Duckling.

Our crew consists of about twenty young and aspiring creatives including our Director of Photography, David Pimm, (www.davidpimm.com), who recently won Best Film in the 48 hour category at the Two Short Nights Festival and composer Hazel Askew, an award-winning composer, best known for her work on the folk scene with BBC Radio 2 Folk Award-nominated Lady Maisery (www.ladymaisery.com). Art Director Sophie Jones is a young, London-based artist and her beautiful artwork inspired by the film will be available to certain contributors. She is also offering a limited number of free, original commissions for our most generous investors (see perks)!

Why Our Project Matters

In our busy modern lifestyles it is easy to underestimate the importance of fairytales. We live in a world where tower blocks, not castles, loom over us, we speed along motorways, not winding dirt tracks, and harsh reality has replaced the magic and wonder of the days when princesses and dragons were real.
But we believe that fairytales are not dated stories from a bygone era. They have a power to simultaneously provide a means of escapism, and to offer a way of exploring society’s tensions and dreams in miniature; an experience that stays with us from childhood.

‘More Films’ is committed to creating fresh, stylish and beautiful productions that tell meaningful stories, immerse the watcher in a world of colour and sound, and surprise and stimulate our audiences. We believe we are the right storytellers to bring these ‘Tales’ to the next generation.

Who the Project Will Affect

We would like to think that every member of our crew and our large cast will be gaining a valuable opportunity, working together on a set with a professional and passionate atmosphere to create something special that we are all extremely proud of. Our films will allow these individuals to develop their skills and interests – creatively and professionally – and end up with an exciting showcase for their work. This is especially important to us in a climate of high unemployment, where it is very hard for talented young people to break into the creative, and highly competitive industries.

We have are approaching ballet and dance schools through our choreographer Tasha Bertram to cast ‘The Seven Dancing Princesses’, and the remainder of our cast and crew will be assembled from a combination of our friends, contacts, advertisements and auditions, through websites such as ‘Shooting People’, ‘Talent Circle’ and ‘IdeasTap’.

How the Project Will be Showcased

Aside from the industry screening, we plan to submit our films across the film festival circuit over the course of the following year, hoping to gain wider recognition and exposure.

We will also approach commissioners from BBC education, other education channels, and schools to propose showing our ‘Tales’ to children as part of their literacy and cultural education, and even extending the format into a whole series for children to watch with their parents.

What We Need

The calibre of film we wish to create means that despite working to an extremely tight budget we still need to raise about £6000 for each film. We are hoping to raise at least half of this through crowd funding, and the other we have begun to make up through various charitable and arts organisations, and private investors.

This money will go towards equipment expenses (camera, lighting, sound), costume and set, including location hire, and post-production processes such as original music composition, recording and editing. Everyone is working for free but on a set with a large cast and crew, it is imperative that everyone is well-fed and rested.

What You Get

Raising this money largely relies on the kindness and generosity of enthusiasts – every little helps! To show our gratitude for your donation, we have a number of exciting perks and goodies to offer you, from opportunities to appear in the films to original artwork by a London-based upcoming artist (see the column on the right).

Other Ways You Can Help

Please support our film by spreading the words to your friends and family, and by posting this link on Facebook, Twitter, Linked In etc. You can also follow us by liking our Facebook page www.facebook.com/talesmorefilms, and visiting our website www.more-films.co.uk. The more you spread the word, the more potential donors the campaign reaches, and the closer we are to making these films happen.

We also would welcome help in other capacities beyond financial so if you are from around the south east of England, or Nottingham, and would - or know anyone who would - be interested in contributing with locations, food, beverages, transportation or anything you think, we would love to hear from you! We are really grateful for any support you can give, monetary or otherwise…

FAQs

• How can I learn more about the project?
If you would like more information about these next two films, please do visit our website (www.more-films.co.uk) or contact us on , and we would love to answer any questions you may have. We are also very happy to send you a handmade funding pack, just drop us an email with your address.

• The perks imply that my money will only be used for a specific aspect of the budget. Is this true?
Not at all. We only wanted to give you an idea of the possible areas where your money could be used. All contributions will be put towards the overall budget.

• If I contribute, when can I redeem my perks?
After our deadline we will endeavour to manufacture and send all physical perks to you. Some of the gifts, such as the DVD or the signed photos, will of course only be available once the film has been made, but please bear with us and we promise to keep you updated on our progress!

• What if I don’t want a perk, I just want to contribute?
That is very generous of you! Just let us know. You are also able to gift your perk to someone else who you deem deserving. To do this, go through the normal process of making a donation in your name.  For billing purposes, this action must be in your name.  After our deadline, we will send a message to you through Sponsume to the e-mail address you provided.  We will request your address from you at that time.  Please reply with the information of the person who should receive the perk, and we will make sure it gets to them.

• Can I increase my pledge once it has been made?
Yes please! If you are feeling incredibly – and increasingly – inspired then please do give as much as you want!

• Can you exceed your financial target?
Absolutely! Any funds in excess of our target will go towards improving the quality of the final product. Detailed financial breakdowns of our budgets are available on request.

• Can I pledge from anywhere in the world?
Yes. All contributions are handled through PayPal, all you need is a bank account.

• Any other questions?
Please don’t hesitate to get in touch. You can email us at and we will get back to you as quickly as possible. We look forward to hearing from you.