THE BEGINNING
Zombies are everywhere. From the early days of film to ZOMBIELAND and the WALKING DEAD, zombie movies have been moneymakers. And that’s the key to our web series. In this age where a viral video on the Internet can mean millions of dollars, how far would a struggling film crew go to get real footage of real zombies? Would they risk their own lives? And more to the point, would they risk yours?
THE WEB SERIES
A financially struggling film company begins documenting the onset of a real zombie outbreak. After posting the first gory attacks, they are convinced they are going to be rich megastars, but Internet commenters describe the clips as “fake” and “unrealistic.” Determined to get hits by any means necessary, the production company enlists the help of a Zen priest, a soft-porn star, and a Hollywood stuntman to help them get the hits they need to survive.
THE PLAN
Phase One – The Production!
Your investment will allow us to begin pre-production in Los Angeles in February 2013. Support will allow us to enrich the web series by hiring actors, obtaining equipment and transportation, and creating unique backer awards for donators.
Phase Two – Distribution!
We will hold a secondary fundraiser in August 2013 to raise finishing costs for digital effects, audio engineering, and an original musical score.
THE RELEASE
Once the production has completed filming, we will release the series into a 12-part webisode series for immediate virtual release on ilikenirvana.com and other web delivery platforms, such as funnyordie and youtube.
All donaters will receive links prior to public launches via e-mail.
Webisodes will release by October 2013 or sooner.
THE TALK
Throughout the production, we’ll maintain a project blog about the webisodes series’ progress and post plenty of photos and bonus videos.
These will be available through SHIKOW and the ZOMBIE BOUNTY HUNTER M.D. BLOG (coming soon).
OUR HISTORY
SHOPLIFTING FROM AMERICAN APPAREL (2012) was our first film and was successfully funded on Indiegogo last year at a little over 13K. The film had a limited release throughout the United States on December 7, 2012. (see trailer).
THE HUMAN WAR (2013) was a co-production with Sangha Films. It is currently being submitted to the international film festival circuit for a release in 2013 (see trailer).
BRAD WARNER’S HARDCORE ZEN is currently being submitted to the festival circuit.
FAQ’s:
1. Why crowdfund and source your films?
We’ve always believed in involving local communities in the movies and web content we’ve made, from bringing interns onboard to giving lectures/holding discussions at schools as well as supporting local businesses. Crowdfunding gives us the opportunity to reach out globally and enable supporters like you to be part of our movie making process.
2. Will there be any famous actors in the movie?
This is an indie production. It’s highly unlikely.
3. Can I come to a day of shooting on the web series? Can I be in it?
The series has been almost fully cast. There are still opportunities to play extras and some speaking roles when we film in June. We will be posting casting and audition notices through the Screen Actors Guild and Shikow Blog.
About ILIKENIRVANA PRODUCTIONS
ILIKENIRVANA is a production label formed in 2011 by filmmaker Pirooz Kalayeh to house films, webisodes, and other media projects.
Production Team Members
Pirooz Kalayeh – Writer/Director/Producer
Pirooz Kalayeh received an MFA in Creative Writing from the Jack Kerouac School of Disembodied Poetics. He has been published in Looking Back (New Brighton Books, 2003); was granted a Zora Neale Hurston Award (Naropa University, 2002) and has published work in Wigleaf, Ducts, Past Simple, Horseless Press, and No Tell Motel. His comic book Golden Ashtray recounts the author’s adventures living in Los Angeles. He is the founding member and proprietor behind the musical group, The Slipshod Swingers, and the records Orange Lamborghini (2006) and Transistor Radio (2008). He has worked on several television programs, including STRICTLY SEX WITH DR. DREW (DISC), CRAFTLAB (DIY), and LOOK WHAT I DID (HGTV). In 2009, Kalayeh produced and directed THE HUMAN WAR into a full-length feature with Sangha Films. SHOPLIFTING FROM AMERICAN APPAREL is his second feature released under his personal label ILIKENIRVANA. He is currently working on a documentary about Buddhist teacher Brad Warner, entitled BRAD WARNER’s HARDCORE ZEN, along with several other narrative features, including the horror series, ZOMBIE BOUNTY HUNTER, M.D. He lives with his wife in Los Angeles and South Korea. He interviews various entertainers and artists on his blog, Shikow.
Charles Currier – Producer / Stunt Coordinator
With more than 20 years of experience coordinating sword and stunt sequences, Charles is one of the industry’s foremost authorities on the art of combat. During the course of his impressive film and theatre career, he’s worked as the military technical advisor on HBO’s award-winning miniseries The Pacific, conceptualized complex military formations for Oliver Stone’s Alexander, and choreographed fight scenes featuring Milla Jovovich in Resident Evil: Extinction.
Brad Warner – Creative Producer / Actor
Brad Warner is an ordained Zen monk and the author of Hardcore Zen, Sit Down and Shut Up, Zen Wrapped in Karma Dipped in Chocolate and Sex Sin and Zen. He’s the bass player for the hardcore punk rock group Zero Defex and worked for 15 years in Tokyo and Los Angeles for the company founded by the man who created Godzilla. He’s a featured blogger for the Suicide Girls website. In 2011 Brad starred in the indie comedy Shoplifting From American Apparel. He has also appeared in several Japanese monster movies, usually as a guy running away from some radioactive mutant brontosaurus. His next book will be about God.
Andrew Crighton – Cinematographer
Born and raised in the San Francisco Bay Area, Andrew Crighton was inspired by the world around him at an early age. He took this fascination with him when he headed south to Los Angeles for film school at Loyola Marymount. There he quickly learned that his love of cinema was rooted specifically in his love of powerful images and thus decided to become a cinematographer. He spent his undergraduate years honing his skills as a DP, shooting numerous short films and documentaries for his fellow classmates while building a network of colleagues and friends who shared the same passion for cinematography. After spending a summer studying cinematography at NYU, he spent four months in Europe shooting his own short documentary on bike messengers in Berlin, Paris, and Barcelona which went on to be screened in festivals across the globe. Shortly after graduating from film school he was accepted into the Budapest cinematography master class in Hungary where he studied under the legendary cinematographer, Vilmos Zsigmond. Today he works as a Los Angeles-based cinematographer, gaffer, and camera operator and his career has taken him all over the U.S., and even Trinidad and Tobago. He seeks out projects that push the boundaries of conventional cinema, telling stories that illustrate the complexities of our ever-changing world.
