Insider #052
In a world of CGI there's something totally magical about practical effects. Imagine saying to a producer-- "I need a budget for giant bees" and that producer saying "well, of course!" (Behind the Scenes on Honey, I Shrunk The Kids).
NEWS FROM AROUND THE LEGION
Round 9 - Coming Soon
Several weeks ago we reached out to our investors with a survey about the proposed terms for our upcoming Round 9. These include potential perks such as a free movie ticket with every Round 9 investment, upgraded bonus shares, and the lowest minimum investment in StartEngine’s history (less than $40) to make Legion M even more accessible to ALL investors. While the launch date for Round 9 is TBD, you can make a non-binding reservation today if you'd like to reserve your spot and be first on the list once final terms are announced.
My Dead Friend Zoe
Legion M is honored to partner with ReCre8 Entertainment and director Kyle Hausmann-Stokes on the feature film My Dead Friend Zoe. Kyle Hausmann-Stokes is a veteran of the war in Iraq and an accomplished commercial director who has produced numerous PSAs and other works for various branches of the military. We hope you’ll take a few minutes to watch his video message about his career and pitch for MDFZ — we believe you’ll agree that his take on the modern veteran story is both powerful and something unseen so far in Hollywood.
Legion M investors were given a chance to attend a screening of Merit & Zoe (the acclaimed short film upon which this feature film is based) in Washington, DC last week!
ISA & Film Scout
The results for our latest Film Scout program are in! Legion M’s development team will read 4 of the top 16 screenplays from ISA’s “Table Read My Screenplay 2022” Competition, chosen by our Legion of Film Scouts. With more than 15,000 votes on the Legion M Film Scout app, our community has selected the following scripts:
LIFECLOCK by Scott Nabat
PLAGUE WALKERS by Heather Wilk
BLOOD AND DREAMS by Suzanne Griffin
I’M A PRISONER IN AN ALIEN ZOO by Adam Kaiser
Fantastic Fest & Film Scout
Legion M launches Film Scout as an Official Partner of Fantastic Fest 2022! Fantastic Fest is one of our favorite festivals, and we’re thrilled to not only be the official online portal for their 2022 merch, but to be able to offer Epic Prizes And Eternal Glory to those courageous Film Scouts who would dare to test their mettle in open gladiatorial combat… In other words: rate and rank their favorite films of the fest. Download Film Scout Now!
DEVELOPMENT DIARIES
William Shatner Documentary
The William Shatner documentary is proceeding according to schedule. Director Alexandre O. Philippe has completed his "paper cut" of the film, which he makes by sifting through transcripts of all the footage we've recorded and laying out the sequence of segments to create a rough "script" for the film. From there, the editors lay in footage to create a rough cut, while Alexandre and his team scour history for external footage (e.g. clips of old movies, tv shows, news broadcasts, etc) that will be used to accentuate the storytelling. We're currently on track for a complete cut of the film by the end of the year, and hope to premier sometime in the first half of 2023 (keeping in mind that movie-making is a crazy, crazy, crazy business, and all dates are subject to change).
We're still on track to finance this film directly from fans that want to own a direct stake in this project that with profit sharing from the film. We haven't announced final terms yet, but you can make a reservation here to be first on the list and receive priority treatment if the offering sells out.
The Man In White Van
There is a LOT going on behind the scenes and here is the latest! We are refining a new cut of the film with our fantastic editor Billy Gaggins and director Warren Skeels, where we worked to tighten the narrative and amp up the thriller elements to solidify our tone. We’ve been listening to lots of film scores to find comp music to share with our composer, and we’re about to share this new cut with our financier’s team to get their final notes. We have interest from a couple of buyers, and we’re pushing hard to lock this cut so we can move into sound and color and start sales in earnest. We signed an agreement with a wonderful charity that we’ll be supporting via a social impact campaign to be announced in the future. The importance of that partnership is illustrated by the fact that one of serial killer Billy Mansfield’s “Jane Doe” victims was just positively identified in July. Read that article here.
Ghosts Of Manhattan
In the last newsletter, we mentioned that we’re developing this amazing book series as an animated feature film, and that we were looking to do a proof of concept. On that front, we’ve had two meetings in the last week. One is an animation house that does really interesting work that would dovetail very nicely with our “coalpunk neo-noir” vibe. The other is a potential technology and financing partner. The former looks like it’s on board and the latter is interested pending a review of all of our material. More to come as this project has become very active.
INVESTOR SPOTLIGHT
This week we're highlighting Legion M Investor Marlisa VanKemseke.
Hometown: Shawnee, KS
Why do you love Legion M? Because they decided this antiquated system needed an update. They decided to take on this industry that seemed exclusive. They wanted the fans that actually fund this industry to be more involved. Something that fans have wanted from the beginning.
What's your all time favorite movie or TV show? The Thin Man series.
Favorite movie quote to live by? “May the force be with you.”
What is it about movies that inspires you? There is more to our lives than our little area.
What is your profession/bio? 20+ years in the non-profit sector and wore lots of hats.
Learn more about Marlisa at: https://www.linkedin.com/in/marlisavankemseke/
We want to put YOU in the spotlight. To submit to be featured in a future newsletter (and to view previous investor spotlights and comments) submit your info here.