***Special Request, before it was even thought out to be a final finished project of a poetry book, was a way for me to make restaurant work more material, more fulfilling. On the job, I take customer orders using an iPad-based POS, their coffee orders and my poems are sent to an Epson TM-U220 two-color printer for preparation. The result is an object that resembles the image below. The first poem of the series was written on August 14, 2016.
After months of working, writing, and printing, I now have a collection of receipt paper poems, of which I would like to turn into a self-published art and poetry book. The costs of printing and shipping, as well as the prices for rewards, are: $173.11 for printing 45 copies, $34.99 for shipping the books to me, $46.20 for purchasing and mailing the rewards, and $25 to compensate for Kickstarter fees.
Risks and challenges
Given the moderate scope of the project and funding goal, there is little to no risk involved, lest the postal service loses my package.
So I've backed this book on poetry ....
Kickatarter link : https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/53932193/coordinates/posts/1678486
http://kck.st/2cCc31R
By the way I myself self publish books by the brand name : Poets' Choice.
https://www.facebook.com/poetschoice : Facebook Page ... I've even published an international poet.
I am self-publishing my first collection of poems!
About this project
Origins
Over the past few years I have been whisked on many travels, both within and without. As I found myself penning down poetry more often, I took inspiration from the film Before Sunrise and began writing for others - sometimes when I met someone, I asked them for a random word which I then used to create a poem for them. I carried this brown-papered notepad with me everywhere I went - it accumulated words, captured moments and slowly began to fall apart...
I was sharing my poems with individual people and those experiences were intimate, tender and magical, but somewhere along the way I felt that it was time I shared it differently...
So then came this little creation which is just about to be born into this world..! Every time I share a poem with someone I feel like I am giving them a part of myself. So I did have to muster some big courage for this project, and I'm thankful for the support I have had on the way.
The Project
Because this project is born simply out of love, and because I don’t have much money myself, I have to keep it on a very tight budget. I have been doing basically everything (and learning in the process) from conceptualising to editing to designing to the artwork (let’s hope this works out). Of course I have received great help on the way from family and friends, and all these have helped me to cut costs greatly.
This is a fundraiser, but also a pre-order of my collection of poems, titled Coordinates. Each book will be sold at $10 SGD when it is published, but just for Kickstarter it is priced at $8 SGD. I am hoping to get at least 150 pre-orders, which would give me the green light (the funds) to send them for printing.
Of course, you are very welcome to make a further donation if you wish to support my humble project! Please suggest rewards that you would like to receive as I am out of ideas for that...
Do watch the video for a reading of some of my poems!
Risks and challenges
The book is almost ready for printing, and I am quite certain that nothing else will go wrong at this stage! Apart from the funds for printing, I am also waiting for the approval for the ISBN code and working on the cover pages.
I know I have friends all over the world... As such I know a big part of my sales will not be in Singapore. You guys will have to pay a little more if I have to mail the books out to you, but i'll see what I can do about this (I travel quite a bit and also have friends who travel lots) so we can all be happy! :)
A disgruntled female carpenter becomes disillusioned with the world and paints her entire body with woodgrain to liberate herself.
About this project
I want to tell a story that reaches a wide audience, and for the first time, I feel that video is a necessary medium for me to tackle. I am in the incredible position to have a very strong filmmaking team around me, having worked in film with Court 13 (with pros like Benh Zeitlin and Ray Tintori) and having my creative community full of exceptionally talented artists who are often collaborating on film projects.
The movie is full of my art, and me, but also about making art, about creating something beyond your control, and losing control of yourself.
We are shooting on 16mm Celluloid and KODAK has agreed to sponsor the project through a matching grant that provides a donation of filmstock in proportion to what we raise here on Kickstarter. The more we raise- the more film we can shoot!
Raising questions about multiple selves and the commodification of "artist" and "woman," Pinocchio's Candy Lust is a treatise on gender in relation to artistic identity.
Gepetto
Gepetto, a disgruntled female craftsmen, is confronted with the choice between acting responsibly and hating her life or (re)producing herself as Pinocchio.
Self-Transformation
Carving a paintbrush and painting her body with wood-grain she undergoes a transformation so wild she destroys her whole village. Fleeing in fear, Pinocchio dives into a candy fountain and becomes a victim of the underwater world of candy. Playing in this narcotic dreamland until her body starts to melt away, only Gepetto has the power to save Pinocchio from death.
Fake-Italy Location
Director of Photography and Co-director Sam Kuhn will shoot 16mm film to add texture and history to the aesthetic world. When Pinocchio dives underwater, the sudden shift to digital footage will give a contemporary saturated feeling to the tempting candy world.
Prosthetic Hand
Academy Award Nominated Director Benh Zeitlin has signed on to the film as my project advisor, continuing our long time collaboration that dates back to nights working in the original Wesleyan squash Court 13.
Workman #1
Minimal but exaggerated movement, choreographed by dance artist Laurie Berg, will lend the film a unique visual style, allowing dramatic gesture to stand in for extensive dialogue.
Gepetto's Worksite
Musical Supervision by record digging DJ duo Chances with Wolves will add a strange, beautiful, foreign yet familiar score. Tone Tank is also super-excited about writing and performing an operatic track for the Workmen.
Fake-Italy: Tree Pinocchio climbs
After raising funds to shoot underwater sequences and some test footage for the project back in June, we are now preparing for the next phase of our shoot.
Underwater Swim-Through
Our principal photography is scheduled for this fall and I have already crewed up. Now we just need to raise the funds to get the biggest chunk of the project in motion. We set our goal at $18,000 as an absolute minimum. REMEMBER I have to pay about 10% of what we make in fees.
I am hoping we can manage to raise above and beyond $18,000, and really make a super strong film- which would require asking the most from my crew, which would require paying them better wages, paying my actors to miss work, hiring a script supervisor to make sure we get usable, consistent shots, and more.
This fundraising campaign does not even begin to cover the cost of post-production, editing, adding effects, finishing sound and color.
The more you are willing and able to give, the better the project will be. I am throwing myself physically, financially and emotionally into this as hard as I can, and I expect to make it worth everybody's while. Otherwise I wouldn't ask.
Discussing Storyboards with Crew
To learn more about my work you can watch this short biopic made by my collaborator Sam Kuhn. It was our first project together and he went above and beyond-- even earning some notice from Vimeo as staff pick.
Feeling moved by the tableaus of Female Surrealist painters I modeled dream sequence compositions off of the work of Leanor Fini. The brazenness and animal femaleness that I see coming out of her work, and that of other women in that period (Dorothea Tanning, Remedios Varo, Leonora Carrington) feels relevant to me today, and I'd like to move that energy from painting into film.
Art Department
There is no archetypal artist's novel about a woman. I cast myself as both artist and art object in my own Jungian adaptation of the picaresque novel, (the original) Adventures of Pinocchio.
If you want to know more about the project, please feel free to message me and I will be happy to answer your questions.
Additionally, you can download this Pitchdeck to see more.
And if you are interested in making a tax-deductible donation through my fiscal sponsor - the Solo Foundation- you can let me know and I can facilitate that as well. THANK YOU !!!!!
Risks and challenges
Lots of special effects will be tricky and not go as planned. For this reason, I have budgeted for talented animators and digital artists to rework any ambitious sequences that read too abstractly once captured.
Being an experimental film, and long at 20 minutes for a short, making sure an audience beyond my personal network has access to the film will take research and determination.
Although this is my first film, it is hardly my first ambitious art project, and I have never abandoned a piece halfway through.
Why Kickstarter? We want the fans to be involved from day 1 in recreating this beloved game. We can't think of a better place than Kickstarter to bring new and old fans of the game together to help us spread the Gloom... What's the money for you ask?
Our primary and most important expense will be development support for the game, itself. In order to make Gloom: Digital Edition into the online experience it deserves to be, we'll need to contract music composers, voice actors, and a number of other specialists onto the project. A small portion of our funds will go towards marketing, helping to make sure the world will know when Gloom is coming, and finally, a very small amount will go towards operational expenses, helping us keep the lights on.
What's the release plan? We plan on getting the PC release of the game to you in the summer of 2017, although we plan on delivering many of the backer rewards as soon as possible. We are planning on tablet releases for Apple, Android, and Windows as well, but will be announcing their release date later in development.
With friends like these... Sky Ship Studios was formed with the vision of bringing our favorite table top games into the digital space. We've set out to bring you the same level of quality that you would expect from other titles our members have worked on, such as Bioshock Infinite and Guild Wars 2, to Gloom. We're excited to bring our 111 years of collective game development experience to bear on a project we're deeply...darkly...passionate about! Titles our team members have contributed to: Bioshock Infinite , Guild Wars & Guild Wars 2, Scary Girl, Natural Selection 2, Space Quest 5, Sub Nautica, Singularity, Kick-Ass, and many, many others!
In addition, we contribute to various gaming blogs such as Blogcritics,Trugameheadz and Gamepositive and are active members of IGDA and the Madison Games Alliance.
Risks and challenges
Although we will do everything in our power to deliver Gloom: Digital Edition in the Summer of 2017, we reserve the right to adjust that timeline if it becomes apparent that the game needs more testing or refinement before it hits the market. Above all else, we want to ensure that Gloom: Digital Edition is the best game it can be. We don't expect the need for a time extension at present, but if it becomes necessary, we promise you it will be worth the wait!
Choose one or both of these projects as your rewards for helping publish them.
All of the artwork is completely finished, we now need your support in publishing them! As your reward for making this happen, you will receive SIGNED advance copies before anyone else plus additional goodies.
Color Your Own Tarot Deck
Echo Chernik's Color Your Own Tarot Deck
UPDATE! Echo will create a KICKSTARTER ONLY Magician Card. In addition to the full tarot deck, you will also receive an alternate magician card, which you can only get through Kickstarter.
In 2006, Echo was hired by a major publisher to create a Color Your Own Tarot Deck. They licensed the right to publish it once - and then the copyrights reverted back to Echo. The art has been lost in the studio for many years, and the original deck is out of print. We need your help to bring this beautiful gem back to life!
Echo Chernik's Color Your Own Tarot
As you can see, it is beautiful deck and definitely worthy of a reprint.
Echo Chernik's Color Your Tarot Cards and Deck
The Tarot Deck will be in a lovely box. The more funds received, the better the box will be with exotic details like embossing and foil stamping. Fans of the original deck call it "easy to color" and "beautifully illustrated". We are excited to see this deck come back to life, but need your help!
Two of Swords - Work in Progress
Cards colored with markers and colored pencils.
The Folio of 12 Artworks ("Coloring Book")
Goddesses of Cuisine
In 2012, Echo completed one of her master compilations - the Goddesses of Cuisine. Each international goddess stood over 6 feet tall and represents a different category of cuisine: Tea, Coffee, Cheese, Pasta, Spices, Herbs, Bread, Rice, Fruit, Vegetables, Seafood, and Meat. The detail is impeccable.
By popular demand, we would love to print these works (plus bonus designs) to be colored by adults (or young artists-to-be!!). These incredible works of art will be provided as one sided loose leaf coloring pages on art paper in a gorgeous full-color portfolio.
The Folio (Coloring Book) of Loose Leaf Art Prints
Tea, Rice, Seafood, and Vegetable and Eight More!
For only $20, you may receive all 12 images on fine art paper.
We chose the folio option as opposed to a bound book for a few reasons: Images are easy to frame. They are perfect for left handed artists - who normally run into trouble with the spine of a book. Additional prints can easily be added. The folio will store your artwork safely. The prints are one sided.
REWARDS
In order to produce both projects, we are offering rewards to backers that include signed copies of finished products and some juicy extras that only Kickstarter backers are eligible for. When backing, you may choose to receive Folios, Decks, prints of Echo's original art, and other great add-ons as we imagine them (depending on demand).
Including:
• Color Your Own Tarot Decks valued at $20
• Coloring Folios value at $20
• Fine Art Prints valued at $20
• Original Drawings by the Artist Echo Chernik
(^Original Drawings are already drawn. There is no customization.)
• Custom Tarot Cards featuring your face (or a loved one)
(^Provide a photo and the artist (Echo Chernik) will draw that face on a tarot card.)
STRETCH GOALS
We intend to only produce the best quality products for Echo's fans and collectors - but there are some dreams we have for the finished works.
If we reach...
• At $8,000 every Folio backer will receive larger Folio images that will be at least 14" tall.
• At $10,000 every Tarot backer will receive an higher quality box with foil stamping!
• At $12,000 every Folio will contain 18 images instead of 12.
And more will be added!
Future stretch goals may include Kickstarter Only cards, Kickstarter Only Boxes, or Coloring Pages of Echo's Dessert Cthulhu Series.
About Echo Chernik
Echo Chernik is a renowned artist who has graced countless products, books, magazines, and posters. My name is Lazarus, and Echo is my studio partner and wife.
Echo Chernik at Comic Con International
Over the past few years, we have successfully run and funded many Kickstarter campaigns, including three books, two calendars, and four incredible Kickstarter-only art projects.
Among her famous works are a series of Kickstarter-only works of art featuring woman with wings inspired by different birds: Swan, Raven, Crane, and most recently Falcon.
Details
Echo has teamed up with artist Emma Garside to reproduce her stunning artwork in a coloring-ready format.
For instance, Echo's finished Goddess of Tea:
Goddess of Tea by Echo Chernik
And Emma's Coloring-Ready line-art:
Goddess of Tea to Color
Among the other works of art to be included in the Coloring Folio are: Echo's Wine Dryad, Chocolate, and a variety of Emma Garside's exquisite designs.
Great Gifts!
The artwork is completed on both projects - we just need your help producing them. That means that they will ship just as quickly as they get back from the printers! It also allows Echo more time to do some really special custom rewards. We have received many requests for the tarot to come back to life - and need your help to make it happen! Thank you!
Originals Sketches
Rewards are posted for the following one of a kind (on handmade paper) original sketches:
King of Cups
The Lovers
Lazarus Chernik is a member in good standing with the Tarot Association.
Echo and I have successfully managed, funded, and delivered on 10 or so Kickstarter projects so far. We know exactly how to produce the decks and folios and reward our backers for their contributions. We need approximately $8,000 for the decks ($3-$6 each for 1,000-3,000) and another $4.000 for the folios - plus shipping and handling. This means that we are only asking for about 75% of the actual costs needed. We have the other 25% ourselves.
