UPDATE:
We hit our first and main goal!  One way or another, this movie was going to happen, and a few really awesome contributors have made it that much better!  Because of them, we will now be working with professional sound quality forth the first time, and on our first original feature-length film.  THANK YOU!  We still have other stretch goals below, so we're going to keep the campaign running in hopes that we can hit those as well, but we're ready to rock.  Stay tuned!

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In the past, I've always produced things in house.  Sketches, short films, even a feature length, low budget remake of Die Hard, all in the effort to show people in Portsmouth, OH that film is possible here.

That finally paid off when C.D. Bailey brought me his idea for a comedic, but real film set in Portsmouth, that tells the story of a side of town most people would rather ignore.  That's what drew me to this project more than anything, so for the last year I've been helping him get the script where it needs to be and, as soon as we were ready to start applying for grants, the country changed, and we were denied.

"Rat Songs" follows three disaffected young adults on the "wrong side of town" and the shenanigans they find themselves in when the simple goal of dropping acid doesn't go according to plan.  When I tell you these characters are real, it's because I've met and spent time with people who act like them, who talk like them.  I've seen some of these situations play out, maybe not verbatim, but closely enough for me to feel like I was there when reading the pages of this script.

None of our equipment is "top-of-the-line", but all of it will suffice to bring this story to life, exceeeept the sound department.  Currently, all we have is two lav mics and a camera mountable, old shotgun mic.  That is the #1 reason this campaign exists, to give us just one extra production quality boost in the form of a boom mic, a portable Tascam recorder and the accessories to go with them.

Listed below is everything we intend to buy with our main goal and a few stretch goals beyond that:

Main Goal: $400 - Sound Equipment
-A Sennheiser MKE 600 Shotgun Mic w/ a Universal Shock Mount & Windshield
-4-Channel Portable DR-70D Tascam Recorder
-LyxPro MPL-10 Portable Boom Pole
-Superlux HD-681 EVO Headphones
-Gearlux 25' XLR Cable 2-Pack

Stretch Goal 1: $550 ($950) - Props
-25 Fake Lottery Tickets from Madhatter Magic Co.
-2 Packs of Prop Cigarettes from Honey Rose London
-1 Carton of Earth Impact Smoking Mixture from Honey Rose London (Fake Prop Weed)
-2 Bricks of Fake Prop Cocaine from RollingWP
-1 Sheet of Fake Prop Edible LSD from RollingWP
-1 Retractable Stunt Syringe 2-Pack from Raptor Props
-$3700 New Style Mixed Fake Bills from Prop Movie Money
-1 20Gallon Galvanized Steel Trash Can from Lowes

Stretch Goal 2: $200 ($1,150) - Wishlist Props
-1 Prop V Cougar 9MM Pistol from RollingWP
-25 Blank Rounds from RollingWP

Stretch Goal 3: $400 ($1,550) - Advertising
-30 Rubber Rats (We will paint "Rat Songs on them and put a tag with a QR code for the trailer on them and place them in participating local businesses)
-Screenings Flyers
-Poster Prints
-Triangle Table Adverts
-A Large Vinyl Poster to Advertise in out Local Theater where we will have our Premiere
-Promo Stickers with a QR Code for the Trailer
-Advertising On Various Platforms (Instagram, Facebook, etc.)
(Note: Most of this will be purchased from a local print shop, KC Printing, who we've worked with in the past)

Stretch Goal 4: $500 ($2,050) - Crafty
-Enough 24 Packs of Water to last 78 Days of Shooting
-2 Dozen Donuts for Three 1 AM to 7 AM Shoot Days
-2 Twelve Serving Coffee Boxes for Three 1 AM to 7 AM Shoot Days

Again, the sound equipment is the big player here, but everything listed is something important to us in some way or another.  Additionally, a personal friend ordered the batteries I mentioned and sent them to us, so we no longer need that Stretch Goal and have adjusted the above ones accordingly.

But what do you get?  I did enough research to know that a lot of times people like perks.  I'll try my best to set these up the way the platform does it, but a lot of this will be on the back end and likely made by hand and bought out of my personal pocket, but it's totally worth it!

For anyone that donates:
$50+ - You'll receive a DVD or Blu-Ray copy of the film, a poster, and other goodies we may or may not have to throw in the package

$75+ - The previous stuff, but the poster will be signed by the cast and director

$200+ - All of that previous stuff, and if you're local or local-ish, or wanna travel this far, and the dates work with your schedule, we'll put you in the background!  

For All Contributors - Because we appreciate even $1, you will be shouted out as a "Crowdfundr Producer" in this film!

I apologize if that's not enough.  At this moment, we don't have anything to give away, and on the back end we'll only have so much.  Money doesn't come easy around these parts for the artist types.  I also apologize if I did this wrong, or didn't make it flashy enough, I'm new to the crowdfunding scene.  We're typically resource filmmakers and have never tried to go this big before, as small as it is.

All the same, I appreciate anything you give and hope you spread the word so we can reach out main goal quickly!  Thank you, thank you, THANK YOU!

-Vincent Herman, Subject To Change Entertainment LLC