Running a crowdfunding campaign is tough work. We Are Indie Horror learned just how difficult it is to spread the word on your project and get your goal met when we attempted our first crowdfunding campaign for Inked: A Prologue. According to a statistic late last year approximately 46% of film projects meet their goal and today we have a special treat for you. Sandy Collora stops by and speaks with us about his recently successfully funded project Shallow Water.
The story that has taken us to here is incredible and inspiring. Late last year, in October of 2015, Sandy Collora launched a campaign for his feature length creature flick Shallow Water. He ran it as a Kickstarter project which is all or nothing while he was asking for $650,000. Unfortunately the goal was not met, sending Sandy back to the drawing board. Fellow artist friend Mike Hill suggested that he go back to the roots of his film career and turn it into a short. Not keen to the idea at first, due to his need to want to branch away from short films, Sandy racked his brain and thought creatively to ensure this project got made. Failure is not an option for him.
Sandy Collora is best known for his short film Batman: Dead End, a true piece of Batman fan art that pushes the boundaries and caught the attention of 100’s of thousands including the man who we quote often here, Kevin Smith. You can check out his epic little short which includes two horror franchise favorites for free right below.
Back to Shallow Water. Mike Hill continued to push to get this made and turned to Sandy‘s other tales of terror to help convince him to continue. Shallow Water was born into a short again but this time as part of a bigger whole. Sandy is more excited about the project than ever before because now he will take five of his stories and produce them all to make an anthology like film and Shallow Water is the first. The anthology is the feature that he needs to make. The ideas for the other four stories are already in motion and all involve heavy incredible makeup and practical effects.
May 25, 2016 saw the launch of the Shallow Water 2.0 Kickstarter project. Within the next 33 days Sandy pushed and promoted and as of June 29, 2016 he became fully funded plus some. We Are Indie Horror spoke to Sandy Collora about the successful campaign and here is the exclusive interview just for you.
WAIH: First and foremost CONGRATULATIONS on the amazing campaign. How did you do it?
SC: Thank you. It’s a lot of hard work. Lots of preparation— great rewards— most importantly, a positive attitude. The support of friends and family who believe not only in me, but in indie horror. I just put the best I can out there, and people seem to respond. It’s very rewarding and truly a wonderful experience.
WAIH: What challenges were presented when cutting down your feature to a short film?
SC: None, really. The short is kind of a separate thing from how I would approach the feature. Yes, there are elements like the creature and certain cast members, but my idea for this short is quite unique and not what people are expecting. It will be moody, creepy, gory, quite visceral and VERY scary. I can’t wait to get started!!!
WAIH: Where did your love of creatures and physical horror come from?
The films and art of the 70’s and early 80’s, when I was a kid. Heavy Metal Magazine, Star Wars, Alien, Blade Runner— toys too! The Micronauts, Shogun Warriors, etc… It all started there and grew as I got older. I was addicted to magazines— Creepy, Eerie, Famous Monsters, Tales of the Zombie, etc… Great stuff. Frazetta, Boris Vallejo, MOEBIUS. The Star Wars design team— Johnston, McQuarrie— too many to mention. A great time to be a kid and absorb all this great art. The 70’s and early 80’s will always hold a special place in my heart. Truly a wonderful time in my life.
WAIH: How did your talented production team come about?
SC: After many years of looking— the right people always seem to materialize. I am truly surrounded by very talented and dedicated people. They make all this stuff possible. Filmmaking is such a collaborative thing, you need the right people around you. I’m fortunate to have them. They make me a better filmmaker and they make the films better.
WAIH: Since this is part of an anthology story now, do you have the other stories planned out?
SC: Yes. They are all at different levels of development, but I do know what they are— The order in which I’m gonna try to make them needs to be figured out, but I think CYBERTRIBE will be next. We’ll see— I gotta get SW done first! LOL! I’m really looking forward to it…
WAIH: What advice do you have for future up and coming horror artists?
SC: Make something original and unique. Stay the course and do what you love, no matter what other people think. Make what YOU wanna make and have fun— learn along the way and build a team around you that help bring your visions to life in the bet way possible. Grow with every project you do and make yourself better. Stay off the beaten path and be a maverick. Follow your heart and follow your dreams— NEVER give up!
Thank you Sandy for the insightful and inspiring words. Check out the trailer which he made for the first project to get an idea as what to expect from Shallow Water.
Shallow Water will be an intense, horror film, which will include a physical practical creature designed from scratch. The photo below depicts the horrifyingly amazing creature.
Inspired by the classic horror films, the story of Shallow Water starts on an innocent fishing excursion among friends. Six fisherman look for a magical fishing hole but when finally reaching their destination, some sea life is encountered which was unexpected. Quickly the fun adventure turns into every man for himself pinning Mother Nature versus Human Nature.
To find out more about the project follow the links below. Although the project is fully funded it is still important to remember to support. After all this is We Are Indie Horror‘s Blood Bank Where Every Drop Counts.
